Rachel released her daughter from their brief embrace, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she watched the girl climb up onto the back of a horse. Dakota was clothed in mostly borrowed and mismatched items. Used chaps Rip fished out of the storage area, Tate's old riding boot and coat, her own jeans, and her long blue pigtail braids were hanging out from under a designer cowboy hat that Beth told her she could keep. The whole ensemble was giving off patchwork scarecrow vibes. But the smile that lit up her face as she leaned forward and rubbed her hand over the soft down of her horse pulled the whole look together.
"Bye mom!," Dakota hollered, waving like crazy as her horse turned and began to follow after the other horses. Dakota didn't have much riding experience. At least not in comparison to the rest of her group. But her horse was gentle and well trained. All she would need to do was keep herself on the horse's back and the large animal would take her where she needed to go.
Dakota twisted in her saddle, giving her mother one last wave. Though she supposed she was really too old for such behavior, Dakota climbed into bed with her mother the night before. Since it was usually just the two of them, they often fell asleep together in her mother's bed with a movie playing on tv. And while Dakota was enjoying all her new friends, she felt herself longing for the gentle way her mother rubbed her hand over her back as she drifted off to sleep. Dakota knew she was only going to be gone overnight. But she was still worried that her mother might miss her and be lonely. That's why she was sure to give her mom's phone number to the guy with the expensive car that carried her mom into the house after she stayed out all night long drinking with Dakota's new aunt. Her mother never did anything besides work at the bakery. Dakota guessed it was because when her dad was around, her mom wasn't allowed to go anywhere. After years of that, she must have just gotten used to not having a social life. Until now. It was funny to imagine her mom partying it up. Funny but not unpleasant. Dakota wanted her mom to be happy. She hoped one day they might be able to have a normal life. One where they weren't constantly looking over their shoulders.
Dakota took a slow deep breath, reminding herself to relax into the movements of the horse. Carter told her she wouldn't get sore as long as she kept her muscles relaxed. Flicking her hat back a little further on her head, Dakota gazed out at the landscape. The sun was rising over the mountains, painting the sky in a rainbow of color. She'd never seen anything like it before. On the back of a horse, it was easy to imagine that technology and modern invention didn't exist. Except that they did. Which Dakota proved when she whipped her phone out of her pocket and captured a few pictures of the skyline.
"You won't get any service out here," Clara cautioned. Dakota nodded. She knew there wouldn't be service. But her camera still worked. She planned to take lots of pictures and upload them when she got back. Dakota hit the screen, flipping the camera so she could see herself. She angled it so Clara could be in the picture too. The woman played along, smiling and making funny faces while Dakota snapped a few pictures.
"Dakota! Get yer face outta that phone and pay attention to where your horse is walking," Rip hollered. Dakota turned, offering him a big smile before she pointed towards the sunset.
"If you come take one video with me, I'll put it away for the rest of the morning," Dakota offered. Rip shook his head at her. But she noticed he did as she asked and steered his horse over next to hers. Dakota hit record before she started taking.
"Dakota Blue here. Just out taking a morning horse ride with my Uncle." Rip lifted his hand, feeling like an idiot as he waved at the tiny screen. Dakota swung the phone around, capturing John on the screen next to her face instead of him. "...And the president of Montana!"
"I'm not the president," John corrected, "...I'm the governor."
"Details details," Dakota sang, blowing a kiss at the screen before she stopped the video. As promised, she stuck the phone back down into her pocket. John was shaking his head at her. But she noticed his assistant Clara was having a good laugh.
"Maybe you should hire her as your social media manager," Clara suggested.
"If I knew what the hell a social media manager was," John joked, "...I would."
Not eager to be the subject of another one of Dakota's tik tok videos, John spurred his horse forward, heading towards the front of the group. Rip stayed where he was. The ride was long. But it wasn't dangerous. Still, Dakota was inexperienced and he wanted to keep an eye on the girl. He liked Rachel. And after the whole bar fight situation, he didn't want anything else to put a damper on their blossoming relationship. Something that her daughter getting hurt under his watch would be sure to do. Rip knew it was soon. They'd only met a few days before. But he was already starting to imagine how his life might be different now that he had some family to share it with. He'd been alone for so long, the concept was almost foreign to him.
"What's on your mind handsome?," Beth asked. She could tell from her husband's expression that he was deep in thought. Rip smiled.
"Thinking about Christmas," he admitted, ticking his head towards Dakota. "Maybe we could take the boy and spend it with them." Beth smiled, realizing that she never mentioned Rachel's real estate purchase to him the day before.
"We don't have to go anywhere to do that," she said. "They're moving here. Rachel signed a lease on a bakery in Bozeman yesterday." Or maybe she was signing it today. Jamie was claiming he needed a day to look over the paperwork or some shit. Beth knew she should have just handled the deal herself. Jamie was worthless as tits on a bull.
"You didn't tell me that," Rip said, giving her a suspicious glance. Beth laughed.
"We didn't do much talking," she countered.
Family dinner conversation was centered around the branding. And since they had to be up at the crack of dawn, they'd gone to bed shortly after that. Rip looked back over at Dakota, a soft smile playing at the corners of his mouth. The most he dared to hope for was to see her on special occasions and holidays. The possibility that he might get more than that gave him a warm feeling in his chest. Rip didn't regret all the years he spent lonely. They gave him perspective and an appreciation for what he had now, the woman he'd loved since he was a kid as his wife, and a boy he'd come to care for like a son. He'd thought the universe was done dolling out blessings. But instead, he was given a sister and a niece. Dakota was a smart mouth and Rachel didn't appear to have her shit together at all, but Rip found he liked them just fine that way.
"Look," Beth instructed, her voice barely above a whisper. She pointed ahead and off to their left. Carter was riding next to Dakota, finally able to steal a moment of alone time with the girl since Tate was up front with his father. They weren't talking as they rode side by side. But Carter was looking over at the girl as he rode, his eyes full of longing. Dakota's cheeks were flushed and she kept glancing over at Carter, smiling when her eyes met his. Beth was smiling as she watched their interaction, and it was easy to guess from her expression that she was thinking about the time she and Rip spent together as teens. Though their relationship didn't stay innocent like that for long. Rip quickly turned his attention back to his niece with thoughts of what he'd done to his wife at that age fresh on his mind.
"Carter!," Rip hollered, making the boy jump. "Keep yer eyes on where your horse is walking!" Beth snickered, tossing her blonde hair back over her shoulders.
"Keep your eyes on where your horse is walking," she teased, repeating his own words back to him.
Ignoring Rip's warning, Dakota and Carter continued with their attention more focused on each other than they were on the ground under their feet. They were still riding with the group, but they moved towards the fringe, far enough away that they could talk quietly without being overheard. Unfortunately, they were so focused on their private conversation that they didn't see the large racer snake warming itself in the sun until Dakota's horse stepped on it. The snake reacted violently to its body being suddenly smashed into the ground. It coiled up, striking at the horse's flanks and biting it twice. The horse let out a loud whinny of distress, rearing up and lifting its front hooves off the ground. The snake struck again. And Dakota screamed as her frightened horse took off into the woods at a full run. She managed to keep herself in the saddle. But she lost her casual hold on the reins. Gripping the pommel for dear life, Dakota leaned down and focused on not getting her head knocked off by one of the low hanging tree branches that were whipping by her face.
"Fuck!," Rip cursed, guiding his horse and hollering for a few of his cowboys to follow suit. The moment Dakota's horse took off, Carter spurred his own horse, tearing after her recklessly. It only took a moment before they both disappeared over a hill and into the more densely wooded area. Rip and his men took off after them, but since they were using slightly more caution, the two teenagers were long gone by the time the small rescue group made it over the hill themselves.
Dakota leaned forward and maintained her death grip on the pommel with both hands. She was terrified. And she clenched her eyes shut, gripping the horse between her legs with her thighs and praying that the animal would tire out and slow down before she fell off and broke her neck. She could hear a familiar voice behind her. But it took a moment for the words to break through the frozen terror swirl of her mind.
"DAKOTA!," Carter screamed, "...THE REINS! GRAB THE REINS AND PULL!"
Dakota slitted her eyes open. Thankfully the leather strap Carter was screaming for her to grab was right in front of her hands. It took her a moment to work up the courage to release her death grip on the pommel. She slid one shaking hand forward and grabbed the reins. Then she did what Carter said and pulled. Dakota could feel the horse's speed decrease. Encouraged by this, she grabbed the reins with both her hands and applied more backwards pressure. Carter galloped around, cutting her horse off and forcing the panicked animal to finally come to a stop. He swung down from his horse, slowly approaching Dakota's horse. Not only had her horse been spooked quite badly when it was bitten by the large snake, but he was sure the animal could feel how stiff and panicked Dakota was. Carter reached up, taking the reins from her.
"It's okay, everything's alright," he coaxed. "...climb down." Dakota was scared to move. But she was also eager to get off and away from the animal. She swung her leg over and lowered herself to the ground. Her legs felt like jello and her hands were shaking. She was grateful to Carter when he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. When she rested her head on his shoulder, she realized that the beautiful black hat Beth gave her was gone. Dakota had no idea where it went or even at what point it flew off her head. When Dakota's breathing finally slowed down from panicked gasps into normal breaths, she popped her head up. Her horse crowded in, nibbling at her hair and looking for some of the comfort Carter was handing out.
"You're the stupidest horse ever," Dakota huffed, shoving the large animal's head away from her. Carter tried not to laugh.
"At least you're both okay," Carter said. "A horse I was riding stepped in a hole and I had to shoot it." Dakota's eyes widened as she glanced between Carter and her runaway horse.
"Maybe this one will step in a hole," she said, sounding hopeful. Carter shook his head at her as he gave in and let the laughter roll over him. Once he regained control over himself, he got some water from his saddle bag. After he, Dakota, and both horses got a drink, it was time to head back and rejoin the group. But there was a small problem with that.
"I'm not getting back on that stupid horse," Dakota huffed. "Do I look crazy to you?"
"There's no uber out here Dakota," Carter argued, trying not to start laughing all over again. "Yer gonna have to suck it up." Dakota wrinkled up her nose, casting another angry scowl at the obviously defective horse she was given to ride. The animal did seem sorry for what it did to her. But she wasn't sure if she trusted it enough to get back on top of it again.
"Can't I just ride your horse with you?," she asked, glancing at the animal that had not taken off at five million miles per hour when a snake popped up. Carter looked the girl over, his eyes lingering on the curve of her hips before he quickly agreed to her request. Carter adjusted the reins on Dakota's horse, attaching them to his saddle. Then he boosted Dakota up onto the back of his horse and climbed up behind her.
