Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas by Katie Ruggle

Author:Katie Ruggle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2018-09-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Steve was wrong, Camille decided as she used a manure fork to sift through the shavings. He was the un-hate-able one—he and his four abnormally sweet children.

“Are you still working on Buttercup’s stall?” Maya asked from the aisle.

“Yes. Sorry! For one horse, she makes a huge amount of poop.”

“She may be only one horse,” Maya said, “but she’s a big one.”

“True. Okay, I think I’ve finally picked out the last of it.” Camille gave the shavings a final rake with the manure fork, making sure to bank them up around the sides of the stall, and then hoisted the muck bucket, carrying it out with her.

Maya leaned on the wheelbarrow handles, making the wheel pop off the ground a few inches. “Go ahead and dump it in, and I’ll take it out to the compost pile.”

“Thanks.” Camille emptied the muck bucket into the already half-full wheelbarrow. “What other stalls need to be cleaned?”

“None. I did the rest.”

Frowning, Camille said, “Now I feel really slow.”

“You kind of are, but it’s okay. You’ll get faster.” After giving Camille a commiserating pat on the arm, Maya grabbed the wheelbarrow handles again and pushed it down the aisle, leaving Camille unsure of whether to be amused or offended by the critique. She snorted a laugh and went to switch out her manure fork for a broom.

By the time Maya returned and put the now-empty wheelbarrow away, Camille had finished sweeping the aisle clear of dust and bits of hay.

“Thanks!” Maya grinned at her. “Sweeping is my least favorite.”

“Really? You’d rather clean stalls?” They walked through the quiet barn. All the stalls were empty, the horses either turned out in one of the pastures or, in Buttercup and Harry’s cases, at work towing trees and giving rides to excited kids. Camille loved the quiet peace of the barn, the cold, late-morning sunshine streaming through windows and the open top of the Dutch door, and everything smelling of pine shavings and hay. She’d willingly spend the whole day in the barn, rather than join the busy crowd at the store or in the lot, but she reminded herself of her pledge to help out however possible, even if that meant putting her scant customer-service skills to work.

Maya considered the question carefully before answering. “Yes. I don’t mind cleaning stalls that much, and I hate sweeping the aisle. All the dust, and I just get it done when someone walks through the barn with muddy boots or carrying a bale of hay—or worse, Tollie drags a pine branch in here, so there are pine needles everywhere…” She swung her arms out in huge circles.

Camille giggled at Maya’s dramatic gestures, and Maya joined in, and by the time they left the barn and walked down the path toward the store, they were laughing their heads off for no reason except that the other person’s snorts kept setting them off again.

“Hey, beautiful ladies,” Ryan said, and Camille quickly sobered. It was the first time she’d seen him since

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