Chapter Six
The knock at the bedroom door woke me from my sleep. I was not intending on staying in bed so long, but somehow I could not climb out of the fluffiness of the space.
I pulled the pillow tightly over my head, trying to drown out the knocking. Unfortunately, it did not work. The only thing that would still the noise was if I actually crawled out of bed and answered the knocking.
Swinging the door open. "Yes."
When I saw Blake standing there in some jeans that fit him in the most outstanding way and a white t-shirt that allowed his muscles to bulge from underneath, I was suddenly aware that I probably looked like hell.
"Get dressed." He looked me up and down from head to toe. "Meet me outside."
He did not say anything else, turning on his heels to walk away. I could hear his heels from his cowboy boots padding down the hallway. Outside? I did not want to go outside or do anything right now besides relax in the softness of my bed.
There was no way that I could stay in the bed after Blake summoned me. Throwing the covers off of me was going to be the hardest thing that I would do all day. Sliding on my shorts, a tank top, and some sneakers, I made my way outside.
"What could be so important that you had to wake me up so early?" I was trying not to appear too indignant as I crossed my arms across my chest.
Blake did not appear phased by any of it. He tossed me a large brimmed cowboy hat like his own. "Here. Put this on. You'll appreciate a little shade from the Arizona sun."
He stared at me as I caught the hat, twirling it over in my hands. Raising his eyebrows was my cue to put on the hat. I did as I was told and sat it on top of my head.
"Better now?"
"I was not aware that you could pout so well."
"What?" My brain was foggy from waking so early.
"I'm going to show you around the ranch. Show you what I do for a living."
"Oh. Okay. Fine. I'm paying attention."
"Are you sure about that, Christy?"
I tried to calm down my attitude. Blake did not deserve my pouting.
"Sorry," I said in an almost whisper.
"Here." Blake had a way of ignoring my tantrums already. Smart man. He passed me some gloves. I didn't dare ask what we were going to be doing this morning. I was already on Blake's bad list for coming down here with an attitude.
How much could it hurt? If anything, I would end up with a few calluses and a story to tell.
Blake looked out over the hills. "Obviously you are not the kind of girl to do manual labor, so you can go inside if you want to. I would understand."
"Is that a challenge?"
That sly grin again. He did not verbally respond. Instead he started walking out of the shed where we were getting ready for work.
I was not ready for what he may suggest we do.
"First, I want to take you over to the stables. Have you ever ridden a horse before?"
"No. As a matter of fact, I have not."
"Great," he clasped his humongous hands together. "That's first on the list."
I asked for adventure and I was most certainly going to get it. Blake showed me how to groom the horses and how to feed them. Surprisingly, I did not do too badly.
"Now, choose your horse."
"How?"
"Your horse will most likely choose you anyway. Here. I see that Sheba has been taking a liking to you."
He brought the gentle creature over to me and he was right. Sheba had taken to me from the moment I walked into the stable.
"Okay. Let's get this going. I want to go ahead and make a fool of myself and get it over with."
"You won't make a fool of yourself. And if you do, I promise not to laugh too long."
"Blake, you aren't making me feel any better about this."
"Come on," he chuckled. "I'm going to show you how to saddle her up and get on."
Anxiety set in, but I was not going to let Blake know that I was terrified of getting on Sheba and riding. And I did not want Sheba to know that I was afraid either. I'd read somewhere that animals instinctually sensed fear, so I did my best to suppress it.
"Put your foot here," he pointed. I did as I was told.
"Now, swing using your body weight to throw your other leg over the saddle."
It got a little more difficult at that point. Awkwardly, I swung my leg and missed and had to start the process over again. Only with Blake's help could I get my leg over to the other side. His hand securely on my butt, he pushed me so I could mount. Then his hands on my waist, he made sure that I was on the horse safely.
It took away the fear, but introduced the feel of his touch and I did not want it to end.
"Are you comfortable up there?"
"I don't want you to leave me. Where are you going?"
"Let me get my own horse. I'm not going far."
I panicked, thinking that the horse would move without my command, but Sheba must have sensed that I was a mess so she sat still.
Blake on the other hand came gallivanting out; the expert rider and I almost wanted to cry out in frustration.
"Let's go."
That was my only command. No specifics on how to make the horse go. I had to rely on what I had seen on television. I dug my heels in Sheba's side gently and she started trotting. The pace was perfect for a novice like me. And besides, I had no clue where we were going.
Once I got my balance, the ride was actually very pleasant.
"You have way more land back here than I though."
"My family has owned this land for generations. We've been asked to sell, but my parents don't want to. I think we could stand to let go of some of it. But then again, if we sell, it will most certainly destroy the beauty of it all. We don't need a building development in my backyard."
"No. You don't." I pulled the reigns on Sheba and she came to a slowing stop. The scenery was breathtaking. Lush green grasses tucked against the mountains that were so very majestic. The array of colors; red, orange, green, all meshed together in a symphony of beauty. There was no way that I would give all of this up if it belonged in my family.
"Why don't we get back? There are a few other things that we need to do."
"I kind of think Sheba and I were bonding."
"You will have a chance to take her out again."
Taking it all in, I did not bother to let the anxiety about riding Sheba get in the way of me enjoying the ride. There was so much out here that I was beginning to love.
"Well, I have to say that you have done a great job for that to be your first ride, Christy."
"Thank you. It was a bit nerve wrecking at first, but it got better as time went on. And besides, it was absolutely beautiful out there."
"One of the many jewels of Arizona."
I sat there, wondering about the right technique to dismount. "I could use a little help getting down," I eventually asked.
Playfully rolling his eyes, Blake dismounted his horse like a pro. I knew that I would not look so sensational when I got off. And of course I didn't. Trying to get down, I was pretty sure that I was going to take Blake down in the process. Instead, he grabbed me by the waist and helped me slide down safely.
"There you are."
I was not happy until my two feet were touching the ground.
"Thank you."
It did not go unnoticed that he did not take his hands off of my waist. It also did not go unnoticed that he did not take his eyes off of me. And I loved every second of it.
"Let's go over here. I have something else to show you."
This time he grabbed my hand, leading the way. I practically stumbled over my own feet, trying to keep up with his stride.
"What? Are you pulling me this fast to get over to the pig pen? No way."
Digging my heels into the grass did not help me to slow down.
"Yes. The pig pen. I need to clean up."
Just as we got to the gate, I caught my balance and held myself up ag
ainst the rail. "I'm not going in there."
"Yes. You are."
"No. Really Blake. That is not my thing."
"It wasn't mine either. But sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to do."
I had to pause for a moment because I was trying to figure out why he thought that I had to do any of this.
"Why don't I let you handle this while I tend to something that is a little more my style?"
He smiled at me. "And what would that be, Christy?"
I knew that I was pouting. "I'm not sure what that would be, but it's not getting in the pig pen. Besides, I'm not messing up my shoes going in there."
Blake rolled his eyes, shaking his head. With a sigh, he opened the pen and slid inside as the animals began to rush toward him. That was exactly what I was afraid of.
I could not deny that I wanted a closer look, so I climbed up on the top rail and perched up there. It would get me a better view of whatever Blake was about to do. My goal was to look attentive if I was not going to get hands on.
That worked for a minute, but after wrangling the pigs, Blake raised his hands, beckoning me to come his way. I shook my head no.
"Christy, come on."
When was the next time I would get a chance to play around in a pig pen?
"Fine." I did not want to jump in head first, but I did want to get this over with.
First problem, getting down off of the rail. I almost fell face first into the mud. Second problem, I kept thinking about how dirty my sneakers were going to be. These were the ones that I used when I did not mind getting them dirty, but after stepping in to the pig pen, there would be no coming back. Third problem, I had Blake staring at me so intensely, I felt like I had no choice but to complete whatever task he gave me the right way.
"What am I doing?"
"We're going to feed them," he responded.
I don't know what I expected him to say. My feet were sinking in the cool mud, the sun was starting to bare down, and thoughts of a luxurious bubble bath ran through my mind.
"Let's get started."
Blake handed me a bucket that will filled with all kinds of veggies and some other things that I did not recognize. I always heard that pigs eat slop and for some reason envisioned it as something in a soup like consistency. I followed Blake's lead as he threw buckets of feed out to the pigs.
We dipped and threw the feed in to the trough and the pigs made their way over to their dinner table. I was about eighty-five percent sure that I could get through the task when one of the pigs decided to get friendly with me. He came over, nudging me and when I lost my balance, all hell broke loose.
Fortunately, the mud was soft when I hit the ground. But what was unfortunate was that the soft cool mud ended up oozing up my back and splashing all over my body, including my hair. The pig sniffed, his whiskers tickling my arm. The closest I'd been to a pig was bacon for breakfast.
And when Blake broke out into a gut busting laughter from somewhere deep within, I wanted to be angry. But it was impossible to do so because I realized how helpless I had to look, sitting there in the middle of a pig pen with mud plastered all over me and a pig sniffing me. If it had happened to someone else, I would have laughed as well.
"Let me help you." When he extended his hand, I felt relieved.
"My knight in shining armor."
The first inclination was to wipe the excess mud off of me, but I thought twice and realized that maybe being hosed off would be more effective.
"There is a hose near the barn where I can help you clean off before we go in the house."
"That sounds wonderful."
Blake led the way, still snickering at my misfortune.
"Can we call all of this outside work a wrap?"
He turned to look at me, those blue eyes sparkling. "Why, yes Christy. We certainly can."