10. Startled

"You can sleep here, in the barn, for a few days." You clarify, already regretting the words as they spill out of your mouth. "But after that you need to be on your way." After the last drag of the cigarette, River crushes the butt under his boot, then replies. "That's all I need." Your eyes follow him closely as he moves away from the post he'd been leaning against and and walks out of the barn doors. As curious as you are about your unexpected guest, you simply shake your head, then go to finish feeding your horse. Several minutes later you hear the barn doors open back up while you're in the process of loading some tools in a bag. When you turn you're surprised to see River leading a sleek, black, stallion into the barn. He didn't mention he also had a horse but since so many of the stalls in the barn are free you decide to keep quiet. River pens the horse in the stall next to your mare and you see his eyes glace over at the pile of hay in the corner of the barn.

"You'll both be fed while you stay here. But I am not cleaning up after either of you." You put the last tool in your bag and sling it over your shoulder before turning to face him again. River nods understandingly then shrugs his coat off and moves over to the hay. Despite his deceptively lean frame you're surprised at how muscular his arms and torso appear now that they're more exposed. Frozen in place, you watch as River rolls his sleeves up before beginning to pitch the hay. Taut back muscles press against his shirt as he leans forward while working. You quickly snap out of your daze and turn flushed when he glances over his shoulder at you. One of his eyebrows arches upward and he pauses momentarily as if waiting for you to say something. You feel your face grow hotter and quickly turn on your heel and walk to the barn doors. When you get outside you realize you've been holding your breath and let out a big exhale. Running the back of your hand across your sweaty brow you cringe slightly at your awkward behavior. You've just agreed to let a strange man to stay on your property and now you find yourself acting like a bashful schoolgirl in front of him.

Maybe the heat has been effecting you more than you thought. It has been so unbearably hot lately and it's not even half way through the summer yet. Unfortunately, this questionable decision hasn't changed anything else about the day, and there's still a lot of work to do. You stop for a moment to make sure the cattle have enough water before moving over to the fence. Thankfully, despite the heat, there's still enough grass for the cows to graze. Setting the tools down by the broken fence you run your hand down along one of the loose planks. The dense post it's fixed to is leaning forward and you frown when you realize how heavy it is. It's still fairly early in the morning so despite your hesitancy you get started so you can hopefully finish before noon. The planks are fairly easy to remove but you're quite dirty by the time you're done. Once they're removed you place your hands against the post in front of you and push but to your frustration it doesn't move at all. Large beads of sweat run down the side of your face as you decide to change tactics. This time you place your hands lower on the post and lean your right shoulder up against it.

"Damn!" You exclaim, pulling away when you feel the front of your shirt snag on the rough wood. A loud rip is heard as you move back and see a large patch of you shirt hanging on the post in front of you. You're just reaching out to grab it when you hear a chuckle come from a few feet behind you. Turning around quickly you're surprised to see River standing there, arms crossed, watching you in amusement. "Seems like you could use help." His eyes move down your face before stopping on your upper torso and you lower your head to follow his gaze. Gasping in surprise you quickly turn back around when you realize the top half of the panel of your shirt, along with part of the collar and shoulder, was ripped off. Grabbing the fabric off the post you hold it in front of you doing your best to cover your exposed collar bone and shoulder. The fabric ripped at an awkward angle and doesn't hang down far enough to cover the part of your corset that's also been revealed. At least you were already flushed from the heat so your face likely can't grow any redder. River's eyes linger for a moment on the once exposed area of your body before looking back up. You're quite grateful and relieved when he tells you he'll get started on the post while you change.

Changing quickly, you take a moment to wash sweat and dirt off your face, and try to fix your now messy hair. You're not usually a vain person but for some reason you feel slightly annoyed that River saw you looking like such a mess earlier. Trying to make sense of your thoughts you head down the path towards the area where you left River. As you're approaching you feel your heart flutter slightly when you notice he's removed his shirt since you left. His back is just as muscular as you had previously assumed and his tan skin glistens slightly in the sunlight. River stops what he's doing when you arrive and turns to around to look at you. His shaggy brown hair hangs down an inch or two above his shoulders and you notice he's tied a red bandana around his forehead. Frowning slightly, you find yourself thinking back to your trip into town last week, and the scrap of red cloth you had found. You don't have much time to continue wondering about this as River takes a step towards you and you're now face to face with his broad abdomen.

"You're going to need a new one." Your gaze quickly moves up to his face and you frown in confusion before he reiterates. "The post, you'll need a new one. It's dry rotted which probably explains why it didn't hold up against the storm." You glance over and see that River has begun digging around the post, likely to remove it. Maybe letting him stay wasn't such a terrible idea, after all, it's certainly quite helpful having a man around. Austin comes to your mind and you feel yourself grow slightly guilty at your thought. You know he's been trying a little bit harder lately but his continued distance still bothers you. River takes another step forward and you quickly set your thoughts aside as you look up at him. His green eyes look lighter in the sunlight and there's a hint of mischief behind them. You jump slightly when he raises a hand and it gently brushes past your cheek before pulling back. He flicks a piece of hay from his fingers that he pulled out of your hair and your skin tingles where his hand touched it. He opens his mouth as if to speak but you both freeze when you hear the sound of a horse ridding up.

You lean your head around River's frame and look out at the road behind him. Relaxing slightly, you exhale when you recognize the horse as one belonging to a ranchers who's land boarded your own. Ever since your father passed away it wasn't uncommon for a neighbor to check on you, especially after a big storm. Straightening back up you glace over at River and see he's slowly studying the oncoming rider. When the figure gets a little bit closer you're surprised to hear River cuss before grabbing his shirt and running off towards the barn. Frowning, you turn back and look over at your neighbor, and notice that his horse has moved into a gallop. A moment later the barn doors fly open as River's stallion bursts out and begins heading towards the open desert. You see River glance back over his shoulder at you momentarily before facing back ahead and urging his horse on. As you stand staring at his figure growing smaller in the distance your neighbor tears past you and heads in the same direction. The sounds of hooves stamping slowly fades away and after another minute the two figures are no longer in sight. You continue staring out at the empty land before you while trying to wrap your mind around what just happened.