“Creepy?” He pulled to the side of the rode and shook his head. “Those are pronghorn. And I almost rolled the truck.”
“Pronghorn?” She craned her neck to watch warily as the herd headed away.
“Antelope.”
“Antelope? Like in Africa?”
“No, antelope, like ‘the deer and the antelope play.’ You know? The song about America? Maybe you’ve heard of it.”
“Oh.” The animals had finally bounced out of sight, so Grace gave up her vigil and looked at Cole. “Those are antelope? American antelope? Are you sure? Because they’ve got little masks and pointy black horns and they look like they should be grazing next to giraffes.”
He frowned. His mouth opened. Then closed again. He blinked several times. “You’re really damn weird, you know that?”
“Oh, I’m weird? Have you gotten a good look at those things?”
“Grace… You…” He couldn’t seem to get any words out after that.
She shrugged. “I’m going to do some research. I’m pretty sure those things aren’t native. They’re probably an invasive species.”
“What?”
“Like killer bees. We’ve got a big problem with those in L.A. now. Some genius brought them over from Africa.”
His eyes were wide as he stared at her.
“Africa,” she said, raising her eyebrows in exaggerated alarm. “A coincidence? Or a clue?”
His eyes narrowed. “How long have you been screwing with me?”
She grinned hard enough that her cheeks actually hurt. Apparently it had been a while since she’d used those muscles. “Not very long, I’m embarrassed to say.”
“So, you really didn’t know what they were?”
“Are you kidding me? Those things are not right. But I guess I have to believe you when you say they’re antelope. And I’m sorry I scared you.”
“Come on,” he huffed. “I wouldn’t say you scared me. You just startled me. Thought there was a buffalo on the road or something. Oh, sorry. Bison. I don’t want you worrying that someone’s accidentally introduced African water buffalo into the ecosystem.”
Grace laughed. She laughed so hard she had to press her hand to her mouth to try to stop it. That didn’t work. In fact, she laughed harder. Laughed until tears overflowed her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “They just freaked me out.”
“I guess they might be a little odd-looking compared to mule deer.”
“You think?” She laughed even harder when he smiled. “God, stop making me laugh. Just drive.”
“I’m still a little shaky.”
She hit his arm and relaxed back into the seat. “So, where are we going? The mountains are the other way.”
“Don’t worry. There are plenty of mountains to go around. We’re taking a back road into the Gros Ventre River valley. There are campgrounds and trails here, but it’s not one of the main tourist stops.”
As they worked their way higher up the hill, the shrubs and grasses were occasionally interrupted by groves of aspen, their leaves pale green in the sunlight. The only sounds were the truck engine and the shushing of leaves in the breeze. She breathed in and sighed. “It’s amazing here. So quiet.”
“Yeah.”
“You wouldn’t believe how noisy the city can be.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been to a city before, you know.”
“Yeah?” she teased. “Like Boise?”