Part 10 (1/2)
She dashed back up the porch steps and peeked in the kitchen. Fritz and Christine were locked in a tender kiss in a corner far from the window. Wis.h.i.+ng she were wearing her boots, so she could make more noise as she entered the room, Chanel settled for an awkward clearing of her throat to announce herself. The couple sprang apart, scrambling to find something to make them each look busy on opposite sides of the room.
”s.h.i.+t, Chanel, I-,” Fritz began, his cheeks flaming above his black moustache.
Christine touched his arm. ”She knows.”
Fritz ran a hand through his hair and looked between the two women, but before he could reply, boots sounded on the back porch, and Mitch was peering over Chanel's head into the kitchen. ”Came to grab that beer. Need me to haul anything else to the table?”
Chanel whirled around to face her father. ”Nope, we got it. Be right out.”
Mitch nodded and stuck his head in the beverage fridge. Once he'd exited the back porch, Chanel put her hands on her hips. ”I'm really happy for you guys, but this,” she waved a finger between Fritz and Christine, ”isn't going to be a secret for long if you aren't more careful.”
Fritz looked at his boots, and Christine busied herself gathering condiments from the kitchen refrigerator. ”I know, honey, and it's not right to have you stuck in the middle.”
”You know,” Fritz said slowly, ”with Seth home, it would be a good time to announce ourselves sometime soon.”
The color drained from Christine's face. Chanel saw the ketchup and mayonnaise bottles slipping from her aunt's grasp and rushed across the kitchen to catch them.
”Well, why not?” Fritz's voice had an edge to it.
”You know why,” Christine said.
”Now is probably not the best time for this discussion,” Chanel said juggling condiments in her hands. ”People are waiting on dinner.”
Neither seemed to hear her. Fritz's dark brows drew in. ”I love you, Christine. I'm not a cowboy that settles down, but I'm ready. This sneakin' around to keep the peace is just stupid.”
Christine pressed her lips together and picked up a platter of lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. ”Chanel's right. People are waiting to eat.” She hurried out the back door.
Chanel's heart ached when she met Fritz's hurt gaze. ”She has a lot on her mind tonight.” She knew the excuse was flimsy.
”Doesn't she always,” Fritz muttered. ”I'm not so hungry now.” He turned on his heel and marched into the living room. The screen door banged as he exited the front door.
Chanel sighed and added a bottle of mustard to her already full hands while concocting a reason why the cowboy had taken off early.
Squished amongst a bunch of fencing supplies a few days later, Maddox still managed to bounce in the bed of the ATV when Seth hit a large b.u.mp.
”Sorry!” Seth yelled over his shoulder. They'd been driving off road for several miles, looking for the down section of fence Fritz discovered the day before.
Maddox didn't mind the rough ride. He was stoked to be working with someone other than Chanel today. She'd been disturbingly cool around him for the last week, never speaking more than to give him the most basic of instructions and then leaving him to work alone. He should have been grateful, but for some reason it was unsettling. He kinda missed bickering with her.
One night he found her loping around the arena trying to rope a calf. He'd climbed to the top rung of the fence to watch. Ever since the branding, he'd been fascinated with watching her rope. She was so graceful, focused. Lost in the zone, it was a while before she noticed him. That's how he felt on the football field. Not wanting to break the spell, Maddox remained silent. It always irritated him when he was interrupted.
Finally she'd ridden over and asked if he wanted to learn to work the small chute so she could practice from the box. He'd had no idea what she was talking about but agreed to help. Thankfully, the chute was easy enough to use, and the calves weren't too squirrely to herd inside.
Lila had called the bunkhouse a couple of times since their date and left messages with Jerry, but Maddox couldn't bring himself to call her back. She'd been fun but not worth the ha.s.sle of getting to town. d.a.m.n, he sounded like a d.i.c.k in his own head. When did that happen? He'd never given a second thought to blowing off a chick before.
The ATV slowed, and Maddox spotted a jumble of wire on the ground. Seth pulled to a stop, nodding at a handful of full-grown cows and their babies. ”We'll need to convince these ladies to cross back over before we fix the hole.”
During his time at the Double O, Maddox hadn't done any cattle herding. He had no idea what to do, but instead of following his instinct to launch into action and pretend he knew what was going on, he held back. Chanel would be proud.
”Let's cut loose this down wire and drag it out of the way. Last thing we need is for one of them to step in it and get cut.”
Seth handed Maddox a giant pair of plier looking things. ”Don't stick any fingers in there.”
Maddox laughed and approached the tangle of wire. He appreciated how Seth gave him the tool and turned him loose to figure it out. He began freeing the down wire from a nearby post. Seth dragged it to one side. The cattle watched quietly from a distance. When the s.p.a.ce was clear, Seth motioned with one hand for Maddox to take a wide circle around the pairs while he approached from the opposite side. Without a word they drove the cows and calves through the s.p.a.ce in the fence line. The animals trotted down the hill, and Seth and Maddox unloaded the roll of barbed wire from the ATV.
”You seem to be doing okay out here,” Seth said as he eyeballed the s.p.a.ce between the fence posts. Satisfied with where he was standing, he rammed a thing with long handles and a circular metal bottom into the dirt and twisted. ”Can you grab that metal post over there?” He nodded to the fencepost they'd freed from the mess of barbed wire.
Maddox brought the post and slid it into the hole and backed up. Seth then drove it further into the ground.
After the clanging subsided, Maddox said, ”I'm surviving. Lot of summer left.”
Seth grinned. ”I've got her side. What's yours?”
For whatever reason, Maddox felt at ease with Seth. They'd hit it off at the barbeque. Being an Oregon Duck, Seth was serious about his college sports, and Maddox enjoyed his easygoing demeanor. Seth was Chanel's opposite. No wonder she adored him. She needed him to balance her. He may relay bits of their conversation to Chanel, but Maddox was pretty sure it wouldn't be the whole story. ”This isn't my scene. And, Chanel, well, she's impossible. This is the best day I've had since I got here. Thanks for not a.s.suming I'm an idiot.”
”I like to let people show me who they are. Chel generally does too. Guessing you didn't give her the best first impression.”
They began to stretch wire between the posts.
”Maybe not, but she never let me move past it.”
”She's been hurt,” Seth said. ”She's protective of herself and her family.”
”I don't want to be here, but I'm stuck.”
”She knows that.”
”And she makes me crazy, like literally crazy. I can't do anything right around her.”
Seth laughed. They finished mending the fence in silence and loaded their supplies back into the ATV. The ball of ruined wire took the spot where Maddox had sat on the way up.
Seth gave him an awkward look. ”We're gonna have to squeeze on the seat together.”
”No problem,” Maddox said and perched on the edge of the bed and the seat leaving plenty of room for Seth.
”Let's cruise along the fence line for a ways and make sure there aren't any more holes.”
”Sure,” Maddox replied.
Seth fired up the engine, and they b.u.mped along for a couple of miles. Then he slowed and pointed across a small draw. Maddox recognized the horse tied to a large bush as one from Fritz's string. Seth aimed the vehicle toward the horse, both men scanning to find its rider.
Movement a little farther down the draw, where the vegetation was greener and denser, caught Maddox's eye. He tapped Seth on the shoulder and gestured in that direction. As they got closer, the movement took the shape of two humans scurrying to put on their clothes. A second later, Maddox recognized them as Fritz and Christine. Seth must've had the same realization as he veered the ATV sharply to the left, making a quick turn to take them in the opposite direction. If he hadn't been forced to hang on for dear life to the ATV, Maddox would have clapped a hand over his mouth.
After they'd put some distance between the lovers and themselves, Maddox leaned closer to Seth and shouted above the roar of the engine, ”You okay?”