Page 7 of Far From Sherwood Forest
“Hey, buddy!”
Usually, I might roll my eyes at how excited she gets to talktome. I might be a little nicer to her than I am to others, but I’m still nowhere near being much of a conversationalist. Especially now when I’m too fucking focused on Robin’s smiling face.
“I need you to do me another favor.”
“And here I thought you were calling because you missed me.”
This time, I do roll my eyes at the pout in her voice. “I know it’s been a couple months, but—”
“Aw. You’re keeping track. Youdomiss me.”
“Ivy, this is important.”
“Fine,” she sighs. “What do you need, big guy?”
“What would it take to get me transferred to another park?”
There’s a brief pause before she speaks again. “You found him, didn’t you?”
Like I said, I told hereverything.
“And if I said I did?”
She knows every single one of my grievances with Robin Hood, and she’s well aware of what I’d do to him if I ever found him. She may know what he did to me and was nearly witness to that low point he brought me to, but…maybe she won’t help me with this after all.
Then she surprises me by saying, “Which park?”
It looks like I’m transferring to Colorado.
The sun beats down on the back of my neck, and sweat rolls down my temples as I tighten the barbed wire on the last bit of fencing that needs repairing for the day. John hands me a bottle of water, and I chug half of it in one go.
“Do you want me to go with you to check on the horses?” he asks.
I wipe the sweat from my brow with my shirt sleeve. “Nah. I’ll take care of it. You can head to the bunkhouse. You stink.”
“You’re one to talk.”
I laugh before finishing off the bottle of water. “We’re still going out, right?”
“Of course. I need a drink after today.”
“So do I.”
It’s definitely been a long day with a lot of work to do around the ranch. And if there’s one thing that hasn’t changed in the past five years, we still enjoy a good drink.
We part ways, and on my way to the stables, I give Lucas a call to let him know the fence is finished. He’s the one who gaveJohn and I jobs on his ranch, and he’s a great guy considering he pays us under the table, lets us live in the bunkhouse, and gave us an old white and blue pickup truck to borrow when we need to. He thanks me for the work we did and says to enjoy our evening.
At the stables, I do a quick check on the horses, stopping by Marley’s stall last.
“Hey, girl,” I say as I brush my hand down the dark bay horse’s neck.
Marley is the same horse that I stole from the prince, and she feels like the last little piece of Sherwood Forest I have left. John and I have both changed so much since we’ve been here that that feels like a whole other life ago. Sometimes it feels as though it wasn’t even mine. Like it was all a dream.
Or maybe that’s just what I’ve convinced myself because I prefer not to think about the past too much.
“I’ll take you out for a nice, long ride tomorrow, okay?”
Marley lets out a little nicker—a soft, low vibrating sound—and shakes her head. I give her a gentle pat on the neck and head out of the stables.
