Summer Winds by Andrews; Austin

Author:Andrews; Austin
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Action & Adventure, Contemporary, General, Romance, Western, Fiction, Lesbian
ISBN: 9781602821200
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2009-10-12T22:00:00+00:00

ChApter thirteen

Asticky heat dampened my cotton shirt, and the high winds quickly wicked it away, leaving my skin gritty and me as irritable on the outside as in. But I remained focused on the fields and hollows of the land, as if their contours were the most important in my life. Nothing neater than a newly mown hayfield. The square bales had been put up in the hay barns last week, before the round-baling began in earnest, and now the two-thousand-pound rolls lay on the ground every few hundred feet, like giant shredded wheat.

Within days neighbors arrived hauling flatbeds that lumbered in the front gates. Perry drove the loader with its spear attachment up to the round bales, stabbed them in their circular ends, and hoisted them into the air and onto the long trucks.

By midday, the fields were flat and barren like a well-trimmed lawn and the workers had taken the rest of the day for themselves, to rest up and admire what they’d accomplished. I hadn’t seen “hide nor hair” of them even through lunchtime.

The late-afternoon wind was hot and the relentless sunshine beat down on me as I swept out the horse barn and hosed off the walls to get rid of the last of the barn-swallow droppings. Swallows used hay to build bird-condos in the eves and fought one another for their territory, often slinging innocent young out of the nests during their battles. Finding it difficult sometimes to tolerate the noise and mess, and struggles to the death, I still encouraged their presence because they kept the fly and mosquito population under control and therefore helped thwart the deadly equine West Nile virus.

• 127 •

AndreWS & AuStin

The barn radio played old country tunes and I occasionally glanced up to check the front gates for activity or down to see how much filth I’d splashed on my T-shirt and slacks.

Bo’s heavy, sweat-covered face appeared overhead, startling me, and I straightened from my chores to ask what he wanted, but he was already blurting out his needs.

“Cash had an accident.”

“Was she driving?” My voice rose as I wiped my hands on my pants and envisioned a pileup on the highway.

“No, ma’am. She’s out in the pasture.” I could smell alcohol on his breath.

I jumped into the XUV and floorboarded the gas pedal, heading for a pasture we rarely used on the backside of the bunkhouse. As we approached, I could see Perry on his knees on the ground next to Cash. I jumped out of the vehicle before it stopped completely, shouting “What happened?” as I ran toward them, flung myself down beside her, and put my fingers to her jugular. “Is she breathing?”

“Yeah, but I was afraid to move her. Don’t know if her back’s busted or her neck or what,” Perry said of the limp form and closed eyes that lay before us.

Relieved to feel a pulse in her neck, I put my face down next to hers and said loudly, “Cash, I want you to wake up.

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