Distraction by Tess Oliver

She
looked shyly at the ground and tucked her hair behind her ears.
“Although I’ll understand if you don’t want me tagging—”
    “Walk with me.” Hell if Jackson didn’t know me better
than I knew myself. He was right. I’ve always preferred to head
toward trouble rather than away from it.
     
     
     

Chapter 12
Poppy

    The crisp air was occasionally interrupted by a ray
of warmth from the blue Montana sky. The ranch house looked like a
tall yellow box as we tromped over the amber-colored hillsides. My
nerves had finally calmed after the harrowing incident. Nonni had
issued a harsh warning that I was not to use my magic, but surely
even she would have used it if put in the same situation.
    I peered over at the mud-covered man walking next to
me, his mud-free boots swinging from his fingers. Even coated in
dirt, he was extraordinary. He had saved me from certain death and
now I had returned the favor. And while he had no idea that it had
been my magic that pushed the cow back onto her feet, in my heart,
I was certain I had done the right thing. I hoped it had been just
enough magic to alert Nonni to my whereabouts. On the other hand, I
hoped it had been just little enough magic to keep Angus in the
dark.
    “I still don’t understand how that cow managed to
right herself,” Cade said almost as if he’d sensed my thoughts. “I
thought I was a goner.” He chuckled. “Drowning in mud, stuck
beneath a cow, would not have been an honorable death. That’s for
sure.”
    “I don’t know about that,” I said. “You were, after
all, trying to save the life of the cow.”
    “Well, I guess it would be honorable to the cows, but
my brother would have laughed all the way to the grave site.”
    “You and your brother are very different.”
    “You could say that. But aside from Libby and
Jackson, he’s the only family I’ve got.” He attempted to smooth
back his long hair from his face but it, too, was heavy with mud.
“What about you, Poppy? Do you have family aside from your
grandmother?” He looked at me rather expectantly. “A husband?”
    The night before, his disarming gaze and firm touch
had rendered me vulnerable, and some of my secret had been
revealed. And now it seemed he wanted to know more.
    “No husband,” I said truthfully. “I have a sister
though. And we are very different too.” My throat tightened just
mentioning her. “I miss her terribly.”
“Libby had a notion that we might send a telegraph to Salem to let
them know you’re here.” He stopped and looked at me. The dirt
coating his face highlighted the paleness of his eyes. “Or would
that be a problem?”
    “It would.” I found it hard to look at him as I
answered. I could never, in a million years, explain to him how or
why I’d arrived in Montana, and I felt the guilt of lying to him
deep in my chest. There were moments that he looked at me with so
much intensity, I worried that I would confide all my secrets to
him.
    We climbed a small slope.
    “So, did you enjoy riding the horse?” he asked.
    “Very much. Jackson was a patient teacher.”
    “Yeah, Jacks is a good guy. He lost both his parents
when he was young, and Libby took him in. He never left.”
    “Libby has a big heart,” I said. “I hope I won’t be
intruding on her hospitality much longer.”
    “You’re far from an intrusion, Poppy,” he said
quietly.
    We walked in silence, and I took in the scenery.
There was so much open space around us, it seemed impossible to
take it all in. Much like the ocean, the landscape swept up and
rolled down, and the colors of the grasses seemed to change with
each rise and dip of the land. Out past the fence, running along
the pastures, the ground was barren and flat. Long rails of wood
traversed it with no visible end.
    “Cade, what is that lying on the ground out past the
fence?” I pointed toward the rails of wood.
    He seemed puzzled by my question, and I now felt
silly for asking it.
    “Do you mean the