Page 85 of West Bound
“Square knots don’t hold, sweetheart. They’re fine if you’re tying your shoes or a present, but not much else.” He takes the rope from me and redoes the knot before grabbing the picnic and blanket off his horse. I brought a book and some water in my bag so I could keep him company while he works.
“Well, it’s the only knot I know. It’s been perfectly good until now.” I follow him down the bank a little way and luckily there’s a nice spot near the fence that’s in need of mending with a view of the mountains.
“The fact that you’re standing here says otherwise. If you would’ve put me in something stronger, I might still be on thatbed back at the convent.” He winks at me as he lays the blanket down in the grass.
“I still think you worked some sort of magic to get out of those.” I flash him a suspicious look.
“Nah. Square knots just have a loose hold with rope like that. Here, I’ll show you.” He grabs a set of extra ropes off the saddle and walks back.
The sun illuminates him from behind like he’s an angel—one with lots of tattoos, a cute butt, and a cowboy hat and boots, but honestly, that’s my kind of angel anyway. He grins when he sees me staring as he gets back to me.
“What’s that look for?”
“Just admiring the view.” I shrug as he holds out his hand to help me back to my feet.
“It’s a good one, isn’t it?” He glances back over his shoulder at the mountains.
“Perfect.” I grin, not bothering to correct him.
“All right, well, come here. I’ll show you how to tie one that’ll hold real quick. You never know when you might need something like this.”
“I thought we were having a picnic before we started work. That was the bribe wasn’t it?”
“We are. But you’re on a ranch now, cowgirl. You have to earn your supper.” He flashes a boyish grin, and it makes my stomach flutter.
“Yes, sir.” I roll my eyes and laugh, but I follow him to the fence. I’m more interested in getting to watch him work than I am in learning knots, but if it makes him happy, I’ll try.
“Did you all work out here when you were younger? Or did you just have it as more of a playground as kids?” I ask, peering out at the vast sprawling acres of land that seem to go in every direction.
“We worked it. We still had some cattle here when I was a kid, before we sold them off. Grant and I got put through the wringer, but he made Aspen learn too. Ramsey got off a little easier than the rest. My dad wanted us all to learn to run the ranch though. He used to say we couldn’t hold anyone else accountable for the work if we couldn’t do it ourselves.” Levi follows my line of sight and stares out at the field as a small group of mule deer takes their supper a couple of hundred yards away.
“Do you miss it? Or do you like the casino better?”
“Casino is definitely less hard labor. But I miss the ranch too. Ramsey and Hazel are gone quite a bit now with him playing back in Ohio, so I’m here plenty to keep things going. It’s been nice to get back a little more than I was when they were separated.”
“They’re the ones whose wedding was attacked when they were getting remarried?” I ask. I haven’t had a chance to meet them yet, but I’m curious about all the Stockton siblings.
“Almost, yeah.”
“Did they get to finish the wedding?”
“No. Not yet. Everyone was a little too worried about your father making a second go of it.”
“But they will? I hate that he ruins so much.” I wish I could fix everything he’s broken.
“They will. They’re just trying to plan it, and now that Grant and Dakota are engaged, I’m not sure what they’ve got going. Dakota and Hazel are real close, and they were talking about having a double wedding.” He squints in the sun while he looks at me. “You’d have to ask Dakota. I don’t keep up with all that. I just take my marching orders when they tell me to get things done.” He grins.
“Does that make you the last one then? That isn’t married or about to be, I mean.”
“Yeah, I guess it does. I hadn’t thought of it that way. But last I heard, Aspen might be calling it quits, so maybe not.”
“Do you think you’ll ever get married?” I realize what an awkward thing it is to ask after the words leave my lips. We aren’t exactly together, but our complicated mess of a situation certainly isn’t headed down any aisles. “I don’t mean—I’m just curious, to be clear.” I laugh nervously, and he smiles sympathetically in return.
“So this isn’t a proposal?” He grabs his heart, massaging it like I might have broken it.
“Very funny. But it was a halfway serious question. You seem very lone-man-on-the-mountain, at least what I’ve known of you. I suppose I haven’t seen you under normal circumstances,” I ramble out loud, realizing I might not even know the real version of him. I haven’t seen the everyday version of Levi. The one who goes to work each morning and heads up security at the Avarice, a guy who probably grabs his coffee out of a break room and validates time cards during the week.
“It’s not something I’ve thought a lot about.” He shrugs. “Grant and I have always been so focused on the business side of things. The normal side is a lot more paperwork and time in front of the computer, and a lot less time in the cabin or outdoors. It’s been nice to have the break.”
