Driven in Love

Chapter Seventeen = Pondering

Chapter Seventeen

Pondering

Abby awoke in the predawn hours by the noises made by the returning men. She felt nauseous and sore all over. What had happened last night? She smacked her mouth, disgusted by the acrid taste.

The auburn rubbed her gritty eyes and sighed. She'd better get up to face the day. When she moved, she found her inner thighs cried out in protest. The muscles were really tender... unbelievably so. The young woman had never been so uncomfortable there before in her life!

Abby threw back her covers and nearly screamed! When she looked down, she saw bloody whelps from the branches and bruises from the many falls. However, the biggest shock was that she was... naked!

Then it all came flooding back to her at once. Hell, she thought she'd had the best dream of her life... and the scariest, but now that she knew it was real, very real, and she was truly frightened.

What would Cole do? Would he keep his word or would he tell on her and get her fired? How was she supposed to act around him? More importantly, did he really care about her? How would he act?

Quickly, Abby put her wrap back in place and dressed. Then she got her horse and saddled Thunder up. She looked around but didn't notice Cole anywhere yet.

At breakfast, she grabbed her plate and sat by Jackson.

"How ya feelin' today, Little Buddy?"

"Like shit."
"Ya, me, too. Drank more than I shuda."

"Yep."

"The men from town are worse off than us, though. They just dragged in ta camp."

"Ya, I heard them. I'm not sure they feel worse than I do, though."

Jackson looked at her in sympathy.

"I'm sorry, lil Buddy. Wish I cud do somethin' fer ya."

"Me, too. I got a lil bit of a headache comin' on."

"Drink ya some water. It kin help ward off a bad 'un."

Still at breakfast, Abby didn't see any sign of Cole. She felt saddened that he hadn't sought her out. On the other hand, Ray, the man she really didn't want to see, sat directly across from her.

The big read head did look worse for wear. His skin looked sallow, and he had bags under his eyes. When she caught Ray's glance, she rapidly looked away. Abby didn't think she could take any razzing from him at this point.

It wasn't long before the cowboys mounted and began to take their places along the line of cattle. That's when Abby saw Cole for the first time since the evening before. Her heart jumped at the sight of him, and then she nearly fell off her horse: Cole was talking with the boss man, Joe.

Abby's heart felt like it was going to burst. She felt weak in the knees with fear. And to top it off, the men seemed to be coming her way!

When Joe got closer to Cole's group, he motioned for the men to gather around.

"Hands, in the next three days, we'll be a comin' up on one of the most dangerous legs of our journey: The Red River. I want us to take ourn time and be well-rested. Save yer best an' strongest horse. Many men an cattle don't make it across."

As Joe made his way along the lines of workers, he repeated this over and over. He appeared to truly be concerned. Cole stayed by his side.

One his way by, Cole's green orbs finally made contact with Abby's. He nodded to her and then passed her by. At least her heart-catapult had subsided, but now it felt as if it had been stabbed. He hadn't told on her, but he wouldn't hardly look at her. In fact, he seemed a little angry.