Page 33 of Light on Love

“No sudden movements, we don’t want them to realize we are circling them,” from Grey.

“Don’t move in a direct line at them,” from Floyd.

“I’d just stay behind Brett if I were you,” from Cooper.

Brett turns over his shoulder to face Laurel at Cooper’s comment, “you can just stay behind me if you want. Otherwise, just let Dune take you on a stroll.”

“Who typically rides Dune?” she asks, curious why no one seems to mind her taking their horse.

“No one, actually,” Brett replies. “He was a wild horse caught in a fence my senior year of high school. Real young, maybe a year old at the time. I brought him home, fixed him up and tried to make him mine. I made some good headway and rode him the last few months I lived here. Then when I left, no one else rode him, he was still too unpredictable. I got Maverick when I came back, he was bred and trained to lead a ranch. But I started trying to get reacquainted with Dune, too. He seemed indifferent to me and well, everyone, until you came along.”

Laurel looks down at the horse beneath her, speechless.

Hurriedly Brett adds, “I wouldn’t have you on him if I thought he’d hurt you.”

She rubs her hand along Dune’s withers, “oh I know, I’m just shocked. He’s so darn sweet with me.”

From behind her, Floyd speaks gently, “it’s something he senses in you, you’ve got a gift for calming wild things.”

Laurel smiles at Floyd as he flicks his eyes towards Brett, then back to wink at her. She smiles at his comparison of Brett to Dune. But mostly, she smiles that he described her as calming rather taming, because she would hate to dampen a beautiful wild spirit.

19

Eight cows put four cowboys through a test of patience that afternoon. Laurel and Dune indeed decide to hang back, but only because she was having too much fun watching the scene unfold ahead of her. She also realizes quickly that moving slow was an understatement.

In fact, they were practically crawling through the back country. Starting to gain some momentum in the direction they want to head, the guys settle in. But as soon as Cooper starts with a cowboy ballad again, a cow on his side pivots away. He keeps singing, unaware it slipped him. When Grey points it out, Cooper looks to Brett and groans, “can’t you send Laurel after her?”

Brett simply laughs, clearly his relaxed self out here, and points towards the rogue cow. As Cooper peels off to get her, Brett looks over his shoulder at Laurel. “If you want to take his spot on that side, I’d be happy to have you up here with me,” he says.

Laurel directs Dune up to where Cooper’s space in the group had been, making sure she maintains the same distance from the cattle that the others are. Brett watches her fall into place, his smile growing until it causes his eyes to crinkle. Butterflies fillher stomach, and it’s as if her heart is going to explode from him looking at her like this, like her being there is everything to him.

—

She rolls her shoulders, her body starting to feel stiff riding for so long. They are late into the afternoon now, meandering downward in elevation. Ahead, a clearing begins to form, carved out as a perfect entrance to a beautiful, sparkling blue lake before them. Walls of rocky cliff and pine disappear into the water around the other sides of the lake, making this the only shore.

The men leave the cattle a good distance up from the water and head towards the grassy clearing between trees and rocky beach. Cooper and Floyd get to work on a fire while Grey begins pulling goods from the packs to cook. Brett stands alongside Dune, waiting to help Laurel down. She swings her leg over, positioning herself where he can grab her waist, bringing her down until boots meet ground.

Laurel can’t take her eyes off the light blue water glimmering in the sun. It’s such a soft baby blue, it almost looks fake. Wordlessly, Brett places a hand on the small of her back and guides her to the lake’s edge.

“This is a Hayes Ranch hidden gem. It’s called a tarn, created by a glacier,” he explains. “Only those who have worked here know about it.”

“And none of them have ever told anyone?” she asks.

“None of them. They understand that if the wrong person learns about this place, we’ll get people trying to sneak on to the ranch to find it.”

“It is heaven on earth,” she muses, trying to take in all the details of the scene. He stands behind her, arms wrapped aroundher shoulders and tucking her head under his chin. They stay like that for a long moment, looking out at the water and the mountains that rise around it.

With a kiss to her temple, he unwraps his arms and takes her hand. “Ever build a tent?”

Laurel rolls her eyes at his question but lets him guide her up to the grass. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that she, in fact, hadn’t built a tent like this before. This was not one that unfolds from a big box store that you have to crawl in to.

It has a collapsible frame, and the canvas opening is tall enough for Brett to barely need to dip his head to enter. Laurel steps into the shelter as Brett secures the final stake and is amazed by the light, open feel of it. She is standing in the center, surveying the space, when Brett enters behind her. His arms are full of what they had packed.

“Think you’ll be comfortable in here for a night?” he asks as he lays out the bed roll.

“I think I could stay here a week,” she responds, moving to help set up the inside. Brett pulls out a large blanket and tosses it to the side of the oversized bed roll, then fishes out a double sized sleeping bag. She raises her eyebrow at it, “I know two person sleeping bags aren’t military issued, bring lots of girls to camp at the magical lake? Is it one of your moves?” A teasing smile dances on her lips.

Brett huffs as he responds, “I borrowed it from Gracie and Wyatt. You’re the first girl that I’ve ever taken riding, so definitely the only girl I’ve ever brought here.”

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