Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Wednesday's Word: Match. An excerpt from Carly and the Christian Cowboy

   Welcome to #WednesdayWords where I share a snippet of a story using yesterday's word from the New York game, WORDLE. Yesterday's WORDLE was MATCH. 



Christian listened for Carly’s lock to turn before heading for home. He strode across the pasture thinking about Carly. Why would she wear contacts? She was stunning, even with those contacts hiding the most remarkable thing about her.

Who was he kidding? Everything about Carly Wentworth was extraordinary. She was brilliant, beautiful, kind…

Christian spotted a hulking form lying in the shadowy tall grass and his heart sank. “Hey there, Bessie,” he called out.

The creature didn’t stir.

Christian crept forward and still the animal didn’t move. He knew the cow, a brown and white Hereford, was dead even before reaching it. It lay in a puddle of blood and its neck and gut had been torn open. Christian pressed his fist into his mouth to keep from gagging.

He would enlist Seth to help him clean this up. It would have to be done tonight, so as not to attract more even predators and endanger the rest of the herd.

Christian glanced around, expecting to find a pack of coyotes or the golden eyes of a mountain lion. He put his hand on his belt, where he kept his knife. His gaze snagged on the Wentworth house and his breath hitched.

Should he tell Carly to stay inside? Was it his place to warn her?

Without even being aware of having made a decision, he found himself striding back across the pasture. He climbed the steps and rapped on the door.

Carly peeked at him through the window before opening the door. She wore a white gauzy nightgown, her hair was loose around her shoulders, her face scrubbed clean of makeup, and she’d taken out her contacts.

Christian stared at her mismatched eyes. They were as stunning as he remembered, but they widened in fear.

Christian realized he was still holding his knife. Hastily, he tucked it back into his belt. “There’s a mountain lion, or maybe a bear, could be coyotes, though…” he wasn’t sounding coherent. He took a steadying breath. “I just wanted to warn you. Make sure you stay inside. Whatever it was, it took down and killed a Hereford.”

She probably didn’t even know what a Hereford was.

“A cow,” he said. “It’s dead. Just over there.”

Her eyes grew even wider.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but I thought you should know. In case you decided to go for a walk, or something.”

She smiled. “Thanks. I’ll wait for daylight before venturing out.”

Christian’s gaze slid over her, before shifting away, embarrassed to be caught staring at her almost see-through gown. “That’s good. Well, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Christian. And thank you.”

He nodded before turning away and schlepping off the porch. An idea struck him even before he reached home.

You can listen to me read Carly and the Christian Cowboy for FREE on YouTube.





No comments:

Post a Comment