Stranded With The Rancher

His grandparents had hoped and prayed he’d meet another girl. Of course he’d met a lot of them, but no relationship had touched his heart.

Now, suddenly, a beautiful woman had been deposited at his sheep camp, unprepared and unequipped, relying totally on him for her survival. If this really was orchestrated by his granddad, Wyatt didn’t know the man had such a devious streak. The more he thought about it, though, he didn’t buy that this was a mere coincidence.

If this was his grandfather’s scheme, then Wyatt couldn’t fault the magazine writer who’d played into his grandfather’s hands by accident. The innocent woman who slept across the tent from him had been the ideal pawn.

Talk about the perfect storm.

* * *

WHEN WYATT WOKE UP the next morning, he pulled on his parka and boots. Alex was still asleep. Looking outside the tent, he was reminded of his last thought the night before. This perfect storm had created a white world! Without the driving wind, quiet reigned, but the snow still fell.

Wyatt stepped outside and whistled. His truck was more than half-buried. He walked with difficulty in the thigh-deep snow. Pali’s trailer was barely visible. Imagining that his friend was busy digging out, he went back to the tent for the shovel and started to make a path to the privy tent. Alex would need it when she awakened.

As he came back to the entrance, he almost bumped into her. Their eyes fused.

“Mr. Fielding—good morning.”

“It’s Wyatt. I think we’re long past formalities.”

She nodded. “I can’t believe all this snow! I never saw anything so beautiful in my life. Maybe this trip will make a photographer out of me. But how do the sheep handle waking up to this wonderland when they can hardly move?”

“Much better than we humans.”

“Why is that?”

He kept shoveling as they talked. “Is this the writer asking, or just curiosity?”

“Both.”

She had a forthright personality he liked. “Sheep have some very effective ways of keeping warm. Their wool insulates them, holding in body heat and resisting the penetration of water. You’ll see snow on their backs. The reason it doesn’t melt right away is because the body heat is kept in by the fleece. In addition, they’re ruminants.”

“What does that mean?”

“They chew on their cuds and have four-chambered stomachs. This process generates a lot of heat. The more forage a ruminant eats, the more heat its body produces.

“Our pregnant ewes, in which growth of the fetus results in heat production, stay even warmer as their pregnancy progresses. In fact, ewes carrying multiple fetuses have to increase their respiratory rate just to get rid of body heat. This is one of the reasons they benefit from shearing during the last six weeks of gestation.”

“I had no idea.”

“Keeping the sheep outside during the winter benefits both them and me. They need the ventilation and increased exercise. Most of the cases of respiratory disease that I have to treat occur in animals that are housed in a barn during cold weather.”

“Why is that?”

“The cause is the buildup of moisture and ammonia in the air. It damages the lining of the respiratory tract, interfering with its resistance to infection. Worse, the stale, humid air transmits viruses and bacteria into the airways. This combination of factors leads to coughing, sinus infections, bronchitis and pneumonia.”

“Kind of like children in a day care center.”

“Exactly. Sheep that live outdoors breathe fresh, drier air and aren’t exposed to fumes. Bronchitis and pneumonia in these animals is rare. That’s a plus for me. I have fewer sick sheep and don’t have to keep the barn clean.”

Happy laughter rippled out of her. She threw her head back to catch some snowflakes on her tongue. The tiny action produced an unexpected spark of desire that flared through him. He didn’t like what was happening to him.

“The path to the bathroom has been cleared for you. While you’re gone, I’ll fix some food. Would you like pancakes, bacon, eggs?”

“All of the above and your delicious coffee. What kind is it?”

“Pali gets it from his Basque relative who runs a coffeehouse in Livingston, Montana. She roasts Arabica beans that are shade grown.”

“It’s the best! When I return, I’ll help you.”

After he went back inside, he got busy cooking. Pali would be pleased Alex had shared that compliment. He decided to make enough food for Pali to join them. The less time he spent alone with Alex, the better for his peace of mind.

“Mmm. Something smells good.” She’d come back inside.

“Do me a favor and warm this bacon. It’s fully cooked already. I’m going to find Pali and ask him to eat with us.”

She squinted at him. “You trust me?”

“I don’t know. You don’t cook?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“No matter. Would you rather go get him?”

“Not if you don’t want to perform an emergency rescue.”

“The trailer is only a few hundred feet away.”

“In this snow, it looks a mile. Don’t worry. I’ll try not to burn it. I did do a little cooking when our family roughed it at the beach.”

“What beach was that?”

“The Jersey Shore.”

“I’ll be right back.”

He went outside and started trudging through the snow. As he got halfway there, Pali appeared outside the camper. “Hey, Pali! Come on over to the tent for breakfast.”

“Yeah?” A smile broke out on his weatherworn face.

“Yeah. Bring Gip.”

“So you got yourself a cook.”

He knew where this conversation was headed and cut it off right there. “She’s a food magazine writer from New York who wants to know why there’s a demand for lamb and where it’s headed. My grandfather sent her up here, no doubt thinking it would be a good experience for her to see the sheep in their natural habitat.”

Pali shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense when he had to know this storm was coming.”

Wyatt couldn’t have agreed more, but had considered keeping his thoughts to himself. He should’ve known Pali would pick up on the strangeness of their situation. His grandfather had been up to something to send her up here. “I’ll see you in a minute,” he called, then trudged through the snow to the tent, stepping in the tracks he’d already made.