Follow a Wild Heart: A Christian Contemporary Western Romance Series by Natalie Bright (top reads .TXT) 📗

him, so he stomped on the butt three times, then ran his fingers through straight, long black hair. Black nail polish and silver rings on every finger and all black clothing to match, with a chain hanging down one side of his pants. Jet black hair hung below his shoulders, and the top stood straight up in spikes. He had the most unusual green eyes that were lined with black smudges and dark gray eyeshadow on the lids. Carli was surprised to see intelligence in those eyes when he raised his head to meet her gaze, but nothing friendly was there. He winked.

Carli eyed Raven warily and looked at Lexi. “Are you here to see Sally?”

Lexi nodded her head, a very slim spark of interest showing in her eyes.

“Get a lead rope then.” Carli spun on her heels and walked into the next pen where Sally slurped water from the trough. The morning sun cast light into the water making the goldfish glint bright orange and gold. They did a good job eating the algae and kept the tank clean.

Lexi appeared at her side, rope in hand, and gently draped it over Sally’s neck. Carli couldn’t help but notice the shy grin on her face. Yeah, horses will do that to you.

Lexi led Sally over to the saddle house, tied her to a rail, and disappeared inside.

Raven watched, leaning against the fence. He pulled another cigarette from his pants pocket and stuck it in his mouth.

“Sorry. No smoking around the horses," Carli said to Raven. "We battled one barn fire, and that’s one too many." As Lexi walked closer to Sally with a brush in hand, Carli stood in front of both of them, hands on hips, and then directed her comment to Lexi. "I’m calling your mother if you’re not.”

This time it was Raven doing the eye rolling. He looked at Lexi. “What a crock. I didn’t drive you all the way out here to watch you brush some stupid animal. You said we were gonna race some horses.”

“Don’t even think about lighting that cigarette.” Carli's eyes narrowed.

He held the cigarette in his fingers and got menacingly close to Carli. “Look, lady, no one tells me what to do and I don’t need your b.s. rules.”

“Raven, I think you need to get off my ranch.” Carli didn’t back down and didn’t let any fear show in her eyes. She stared directly at the kid. She needed to get Lexi away from him. Then she turned and kindly said, “How about you, Lexi? Do you want to stay and brush Sally? I could drive you home.”

Raven gritted his teeth. “If you don't come with me now, you can forget about Friday night.”

Lexi looked from one to the other, then settled on Carli. Quietly she said, “Could I stay?”

Carli thought she might have heard Raven grumble the b-word but she couldn’t be sure.

“Of course. I’ll call your mother right now.” Carli punched in the number before Lexi changed her mind. She told Emily about her daughter and ended the call.

In a flash, Raven was in his loud muffler Camaro and blasting down the gravel road, kicking up a cloud of dust bigger than the one he had arrived in. Hip hop music thumping from his car stereo. Carli let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Inside, a shiver of panic ran through her. That could have turned out worse, but he was gone now.

Carli could visibly see the tension leave Lexi’s body as she focused on the horse. She put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m glad you stayed. You're always welcome here.”

Sally turned her head to watch the young girl, nudging Lexi’s shoulder with her nose.

“Why are you hanging out with him? Do you like him?”

Lexi shrugged her shoulders. “He’s okay.”

“Maybe he’s the easiest way to irritate your mother.”

Another shrug of the shoulders. Silence.

“You are so lucky, Lexi. I didn’t have a mother who cared about where I was. Your mother bugs you because she loves you.” Carli couldn’t tell if her words meant anything or not. Talking to a rebellious teenager was like talking to a fence post, actually a fence post was much easier. She was heartened that Lexi had showed up out of the blue to spend time with the horses. That was a good sign. Maybe she could win the girl's trust after all.

Suddenly they heard more gravel crunching on the driveway. “Hope he’s not coming back,” Carli mumbled as she turned to see who it was.

But it wasn’t the goth kid returning for his little girlfriend.

Feeling relief and irritation all at the same time, Carli whispered to no one in particular, “Lank.”

Okay, Lord, just help me be nice.

Chapter Thirty

Carli stood like a statue. Arms folded across her chest, she watched Lank park his pickup, get out, and amble towards her. She wasn’t sure she could do this. Still angry at him, she couldn’t help but notice the dark stubble that shaded his jaw. Darn it. Why did he look so good to her? Sheepish look in his eyes, no smile. Her stomach fluttered.

Buck had returned to the corral and offered to assist Lexi on brushing Sally, the bay horse she was bonding with lately. Carli turned her full attention to her ex-ranch hand. She walked closer and met him at the corral gate.

“What’re you doing here, Lank? Did you forget something?”

He was slow to start and fiddled with his hat turning it round and round.

“Carli.” Those blue-gray eyes looked up at her while his head tilted downwards. “I kinda lost my temper.”

That might count as an apology. Carli may have lost hers too, but she wasn’t going to admit it. Losing her cool around this irritating cowboy was something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately.

Lank waited a minute for her to respond. She didn’t so he kept talking. “If I said I'd like to come back, will you have me?”

Have him? Truthfully, she wanted him to stay.