Page 37 of Cash

After a beat, he lifts his head and brings the walkie-talkie to his mouth. “No one can come get us?”

“We’re tied up. Ella refused to nap, so Sawyer had to go back to the house. We’re one cowboy short and can’t spare another.”

Cash shakes his head. “Of course we are. All right, we’ll head back now.”

My stomach flips. What does this mean? Are we walking back? Glancing across the hills, I don’t see the barn or the house. We’refarout.

Cash shoves the walkie-talkie back into his saddlebag. Then he checks the thick leather strap that goes around the horse’s belly.

My stomach flips again. Oh, no.

No-no-no.

“Tour’s cut short,” he says. “With two of us on one horse, it’s gonna take us a while to get back. Let’s go.”

My heart pings around my chest like a panicked pinball. “The horse can carry both of us?”

Cash isn’t wearing sunglasses, so I can see the skin crinkle at the edges of his eyes when he squints at me and says, “He don’t have much choice, does he?”

“I’ll walk.”

“You won’t make it a quarter mile in those boots.” He holds out a hand. “Don’t forget the snakes.”

“Exactly how many fanged animals are out here? How are any of y’all still alive?”

His lips twitch, curling into a handsome smirk that makes my stomach flip for an entirely different reason. “Decades of experience. Dumb luck. Let’s go.”

Turning my head, I get one last glimpse of the river.Dad, if you’re out there, please help me survive this.

I take a deep breath and head for Cash and his waiting horse. “You pick a black horse to match your soul?”

“You wanna know if I ride like the devil?” He shifts, angling his hips toward me. “Get in the saddle and find out. Grab the reins in your left hand, then put that hand on the pommel.”

“I don’t have much choice, do I?” Rolling my eyes, I do as he tells me. “Something tells me Satan’s got nothing on you.”

“Aren’t you lucky, then? Now put your other hand on the back of the saddle and bend your left knee.” Cash squats and grabs my leg, one hand on my knee, the other on my ankle. I’m suddenly aware of my body, how hot I am, the bloom of electricity inside my skin. His grip is gentle but firm. Confident. “I’m gonna give you a leg up. When I lift you, swing your other leg over the saddle. I got the rest. On the count of three, I’ll lift.”

My brain is short-circuiting. Maybe that’s why I can only stand there, frozen with one knee bent, as Cash counts to three.

I yelp when he lifts my leg, using it as a springboard to launch my body onto the horse. I manage to toss my other leg over the horse’s side, and then I land with a thump in the saddle.

It’s almost like I’ve done this before.

Ihavedone this before. But it’s been twenty years. No way muscle memory lasts that long, right?

I feel very, very high up. Cash’s horse is taller than Maria. He nickers softly beneath me.

Cash’s hand is on my calf now, guiding my boot into the stirrup with brute efficiency.

I’m on fire. Help.“You can’t manhandle me like this.”

“Watch me, City Girl. Scoot forward. Even more. Jesus, Mollie.” He puts his hands on my hips and yanks me toward the pommel. “There.”

Then he’s somehow climbing onto the horse behind me without any assistance at all. He doesn’t even use a stirrup.

Only when he lands on the horse’s back behind the saddle do I realize just how close we’re going to be on this ride.

Very,veryclose.