Surviving Love (Montana Wilds Book 1) Read Online Free

laughed softly, playing along.
    “As I was saying, talk to one of the high-leveled staff”—Dan paused for May to nod, hands still on hips—“and we’ll take care of you. Now, for the volunteers.”
    It turned out there was actually a lot to volunteer for. In order to keep costs down, they offered horse riding or other lessons in exchange for the needed help. The problem was, every time something came up that didn’t interrupt Sara’s already assigned duties, it seemed like the whole place had their hands up. Ten minutes in and she hadn’t gotten picked for a single task.
    “Okay, get ready to put up your hand!” Christie said halfway into the distribution of duties, excitement bubbling into her words. “They’re doing Mike’s stuff!”
    “I’ve been putting my hand up the whole time. At this rate, I’ll have all sorts of downtime.”
    “What’s wrong with that?” Christie grabbed Sara’s wrist while staring intently at Dan.
    “Downtime—or worse, alone time—means I won’t be able to stop myself from brooding. No good can come of that.”
    “Then we won’t let you have downtime. Okay, here we go…”
    “Who’s Mike?” Sara asked in a whisper as the chatter died down in anticipation of Dan asking for volunteers on the next chore.
    “Next up, we need someone to help Mike clean the horse stalls…” Before Dan could say how often the chore needed to happen, every female hand was waving in the air. The majority of men were raising their hands, too. Whoever this Mike was, he was in hot demand.
    “Who’s Mike?” Sara asked again, staring in awe at the hopeful, and sometimes pleading, expressions of the women in the barn.
    “Christie mucking stalls? This I gotta see!” Dan chortled.
    “I don’t like poop,” Christie explained as Dan jotted her name down.
    Sara crinkled her nose. Not many people did.
    “Who wants to chop wood?” Dan read off his clipboard.
    “Is this still Mi—” Sara’s voice cut off as another wave of hands rose in the air. Christie yanked up Sara’s hand by the wrist.
    “But what days does it have to be done?” Sara asked, trying to check her schedule as Christie waved their hands above their heads.
    “Who cares,” Christie whispered. “If one of us gets picked, we’ll make it work!”
    “We’ll give wood chopping to Simon and Nash. The young always have so much energy.” Dan jotted down more names. “Okay, that’s it for Mike this season. He has a higher enrollment in his survival classes this year, on account of being nationally acclaimed. Let’s give him a round of applause!”
    “Oh, the survival guy. Sam was talking about him.” Sara joined the clapping and cheering. A man standing to the side and slightly removed from the other triangle boys shifted uncomfortably.
    “He’ll be spending more time on that this year. We had to bring in trailers to house everyone who wants to room and board. Great work! Okay, on to Jake. He’ll need help with fence repair one day a week in the afternoon. The schedule is flexible. I need three volunteers.”
    Sara’s hand shot up; she was desperate to be first. She needn’t have bothered—her hand was the only one in the air.
    “Oh, our newest staff member. Let’s give Sara a hand for the being the only person not afraid of a hard day’s work!” Dan laughed merrily. Almost as one unit, everyone in the barn turned to survey the red-faced, blustering woman in the back of the barn…
    Sara tried to shrink back between Sam and Christie.
    “Okay, two others. C’mon, you get free horse riding for the whole summer… Good man, Simon. And you, Paul? Think you can fit it in?”
    Sara noticed Paul staring at her chest as he said, “Yeah, I’m in.”
    “He’s so creepy!” Christie whispered with a sour face, staring at Paul. “He keeps hitting on girls and he stands way too close. I do not envy you, girl. Yuck.”
    “Great,” Dan continued, looking over his list. “Next, conditioning the leather equipment,