“I’m not sure. I like to live dangerously.” He mock-frowned. “Not as good as Mrs. Morgan’s home cooking, but it’ll have to do.”
“Does your mom cook?”
“Occasionally, but it’s mainly Adam because she doesn’t live with us.” He shrugged. “He finds it relaxing for some reason.”
She withheld her curiosity about his offhand comment about his mom and held out the container. “Do you want this sandwich?”
“You have it if you need it.” He returned his attention to the pouch.
Silver didn’t think that she’d ever met a man who was so contained in himself and yet so comfortable in his environment. She’d already established that he didn’t shout, had a dry sense of humor, and that he wasn’t willing to take any shit even from her. He spoke the words he wanted to say, and then shut up. He was so completely alien to her, that she didn’t know what to make of him or how to charm him into liking her.
Why she wanted him to like her was another issue entirely, and one she wasn’t sure she needed to examine right now. Her therapist said she had a compulsive need to be liked, and not in a good way. Did she assume everyone would love her? Was she really that conceited? Maybe she needed to make more of an effort to get to know him.
“So your sister Daisy is the only girl,” Silver asked.
“Yeah.” For the first time he smiled with real warmth. “And the youngest and definitely the smartest of the bunch.”
“She’s in tech?”
He nodded, stirring the contents of his meal and then set it down again. “She’s in a start-up that’s looking like making her a millionaire in a couple of years.”
“That’s awesome.” Silver resisted the lure of the brownies and firmly resealed the lid. “Does she look like you?”
“A little bit, but her hair has less red in it, and she’s petite.”
“Is she pretty?”
“How would I know? The guy she’s engaged to seems to think so.” Ben opened his meal, stirred it again, and sat down on one of the logs opposite her. “I think Daisy is more interested in being smart than in being pretty.”
Silver raised her chin. “There’s nothing wrong in being both.”
“True.” He ate a spoonful of his meal and chewed slowly. “I think it’s beef stew.”
“People often think I’m dumb just because I’m blond,” Silver added.
“I don’t think you’re dumb.”
“But do you think I’m pretty?”
Ben turned fully toward her, his considering gaze on her face. “Not really.”
“Beautiful?”
“I don’t judge people on what they look like on the outside.”
“Everyone does that whether they mean to or not,” Silver countered. “That’s why women and men who look a certain way become famous.”
“Maybe I don’t care about the being famous part.” He ate another spoonful of stew. “Why does it matter what I think of you anyway?”
“Because...” Silver was beginning to regret starting such a stupid conversation. “You said you loved my cowboy show.”
“I liked the show, yeah, but that wasn’t you, was it? That was just a character you played on TV twenty years ago.” He met her gaze. “I don’t know the real you, do I?”
“You know more than most fans,” she said, all the while wondering why she was being so obstinate about nothing. “You’ve spent a whole day with me.”
“Whoop-de-woo, like I won a contest or something?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “The thing is, Ms. Meadows, for the next week you’re in my world, and whether I think you’re pretty or not is secondary to whether you have the intelligence to stay alive, learn something, and not fall apart on me.”
She put down the brownie box with something of a thump. “We’ve already established that I’m not stupid, and I’m pretty certain I can manage the rest of it.”
He sighed. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. You’re a guest on this ranch, and I’ll make sure that you get the best trail riding experience of your life, okay?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to complain to your employers if you actually engage with me as if I am a real person,” Silver shot back. “I can take criticism and I do want to learn.”
“Then we’re good.” He focused his attention on the fire. “Are you sure you don’t want some of this?”
Aware that he’d dismissed her again, Silver considered what to do. “I think I’m full.” She faked a yawn. “Is it okay to use water directly from the creek?”
“I’ve got drinking water if that’s what you need.” He nodded over at the pack set up against one of the rocks.
“What about washing myself?” She’d already given up on the notion of having a proper shower.
“You can use it for that, too. I’ll fill up the bottles again tonight and add purification tablets so we’re good to go tomorrow.”
“I think I might turn in, then.” Silver stood up and stretched. “Do I need to set an alarm?”
“I’ll wake you.” He abandoned the fire, walked over to the pack, rummaged around for a few moments, and offered her a small plastic basin, a mirror, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. “I figured you’d need these.”
“Don’t most people?”
He grinned. “Not our guests. They tend to just jump in the creek, splash around a bit, and call it good.”
She considered calling his bluff and then took the proffered items. “Thank you.”
He followed her over to her tent. “Take one of the small lanterns, the water, and a torch in case you need to get up during the night.”
“I can use my phone if I need a light.” She looked up at him. “Speaking of which, where do I plug my adaptor in?”
* * *
Ben made sure he was well clear of their campground before he allowed himself to laugh out loud. Her face when he’d had to point out that there was no electricity had been priceless, like he’d offered to murder her firstborn child or something. She’d rallied fast and inquired about the availability of the Internet, and had taken the fact that it didn’t exist out here very well, considering . . .
Ben sighed and looked up at the stars. She wasn’t the first guest to have a complete freak-out when deprived of their daily barrage of social media. If she’d bothered to read through the package of information from Morgan Ranch, she would have seen that it clearly stated that Internet coverage was spotty on the trails and electricity hard to come by.
He continued to walk up the slope to the top of the hill and took out his radio to check in with BB who was acting as his base camp buddy. He’d set up a series of talk windows every evening to share information about his current position. If he missed the half hour check-in time, BB would assume something was wrong and attempt to get to him as soon as possible.
For his part, BB would relate current weather conditions, any fire risks, and anything else that might cause problems along the way. It was a system that worked well, and so far, apart from the bratty family insisting on returning to the ranch early, they hadn’t had any major issues.
Ben paused to look up at the sky, seeking out the familiar constellations his father had shown him when he was a kid. After their mother left, at his sister’s urging, Jeff had made the occasional effort to do stuff with them that wasn’t