Protection

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Bliss didn’t ride to Almighty the next morning. Instead, she rode in the opposite direction toward her next favorite spot in the world. It was quite a ways from the ranch, but it was a great place to get away when she needed to.

Things were somewhat strained between her and Clint, even after her apology. Something that hung in the air when they were around each other made her uncomfortable, which wasn’t pleasant seeing as to how they were forced to spend most of the day together every day.

Clint still didn’t ride up with her, but still hung around a few feet back. He understood that she wanted as much freedom as possible, and she appreciated that.

After a time, they reached their destination.

What seemed like a garden of Saguaro cacti stretched out in front of her. Some were at least fifteen feet tall; some were more around eight to ten feet. They stood tall and proud, stretching up to raise their arms to the mid morning sun. Bliss smiled and looked back at Clint just as he pulled his horse to a stop beside her.

“Me and Momma used to come here when I was little. She would try to teach me how to lasso on a cactus every once in a while. I remember being amazed at her skill with a rope,” Bliss smiled.

Clint nodded, not saying a word.

Bliss wondered if he had parents. Were they still living? Did he ever contact them? What if this whole gunman job was just a way to provide for his ailing parents? What if his mother or father needed a life-saving surgery and this was the fastest way to raise the funds needed?

Bliss jerked herself out of the flow of imaginative circumstances and focused back on the present. She dismounted her horse and tied it to a nearby cactus. Clint did the same.

She walked among the cacti, examining them, looking up at the tall plants stood silhouetted by the sun. The orange dirt and green shrubbery around them made for a beautiful scene with a tall butte in the background. She sighed contentedly and looked over at Clint, who appeared lost in his own world, taking in the scene. Bliss took the opportunity to study his appearance. He wore a deep red shirt, a black leather vest with four brass buttons down the front, and faded Levis that contrasted with his black gun belt slung low on his hip which held a shiny bullet in each little slot all the way around his hip until they met with the holster, which contained his trusty six-shooter. Moving her gaze back up to his face, she noted the hard planes of his jaw and cheekbones, much like the drawing on the cover of the dime novel. His shaggy dark brown hair nearly touched his eyebrows in the front and fell over his collar in the back. She couldn’t make out his eyes very well, but she saw his thick black lashes and the way they perfectly curled upward ever so slightly. He had a straight, not too broad nose that was nearly too big for his face, but not quite, and hard set lips that were almost always pressed into a thin line. He was clean-shaven this morning, and that made his face more desirable.

It hit her hard, like a kick in the shin or a punch in the gut, that Clint Slade was indeed a handsome man. She hadn’t paid that much attention before, but now that she took time to study him, she really noticed that it wasn’t a chore to study that handsome face and well-toned body. His head turned to look at her, and she quickly looked away. Chances are that he had seen her studying him the whole time out of the corner of his eye. Not much got past Clint Slade.

She pretended to study the cactus she stood beside intently, watching a bug of some sort crawl up its length.

She felt his eyes bore into her, but she pretended not to notice as she began walking in between the other cacti.

After a few more moments wandering through the patch of cacti, Bliss found herself wanting to ride some more.

“I think I’ll stop by and visit Momma for a few minutes. I don’t have anything to do today, so I might as well ride some more,” she stated.