The Cowboy Meets His Match

Before any of them spoke, Jake issued duties for the morning. The men hurried off to do their work, and he turned back to her. “Think you can handle it?”

“I don’t see why not.” None of the other hands had made her feel out of place, although she sensed they weren’t sure what to think of her. Not a new reaction. She’d lived most of her life in a man’s world, and it happened regularly. “I’m pretty sure that if you hired them, they know what they’re doing.”

“They do,” he answered.

“So what’s my job? What is it, exactly, that I’ve been hired to do?”

“We’ll talk about that later. After you’ve had a chance to see the operation, we can decide. Until then, why don’t you go observe each of them? You have a good eye, and I’d be interested to hear what you think.”

She noticed he’d said “we can decide” instead of “I will decide” and was surprised. Deep down, she knew she shouldn’t be. When they were growing up, he’d always shown interest in her riding and had constantly asked her and her brothers questions about horses, livestock and ranching in general.

“I can do that,” she answered, only a little nervous that she would be observing, not working, at least for now. “In the meantime, I look forward to getting to know my fellow employees.”

That brought a smile from him. “Just treating you like the others.”

“Thanks.”

He moved away, and then stopped. “If you have any questions, let me know. I have some other things to take care of, but I’ll be around.”

When he headed in the direction of the big barn where she’d seen Kelly disappear, she blew out a breath. So far, so good.

For the next few hours, she watched the other wranglers, making mental notes of how they handled the animals and of their strengths and weaknesses. What that had to do with the job she would be assigned, she didn’t know. But she guessed Jake would tell her before the day ended.

Leaning against the corral fence, she felt someone walk up behind her and she turned to see the object of her thoughts.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Good. Not that I know why I’m doing it, but you’re the boss.”

“You always were a fast learner.”

No way would she answer that. She couldn’t be sure what he was referring to, but it was better that she didn’t try to guess.

He must have picked up on what she was thinking, because she caught a ghost of a smile on his lips before he spoke. “What do you think of them?”

“As a whole?”

“Yeah.”

“They seem to get along with each other,” she said. “There aren’t any slackers, so nobody is forced to do anyone else’s job. They each do their own thing, but they seem friendly toward each other. It’s a good group, at least from what I’ve seen.”

“And individually?”

She didn’t know how to answer. “Do you want an honest assessment?”

“Nothing but.”

Nodding, she glanced around the big ranch yard, where the men continued working with the livestock and focused on what they were doing, not on Jake. “Bobby Ray is good. It’s easy to see that he has a lot of experience. But I also see a little weakness in his roping.”

“All right. Go on.”

“Gary seems to know what he’s doing and is doing it right. At least that’s my observation.”

“I expect that.”

He wasn’t giving her much to go on, but she continued. “I didn’t see much of Kelly.”

“Kelly’s helping me with some updates in the barn.”

“Have you given any thought to hiring a few high school boys to help with those kinds of things?”

“No, I haven’t. Should I?”

He was being far too reasonable and it made her nervous. “Glory hired a few last year to help with work on the house.”

“I’ll think about it.”

She waited for him to say more, and when he didn’t, she looked up at him. It was the wrong thing to do. He was watching her closely, his eyes smoky and half-lidded. She knew that look all too well. It had always made her feel as if her bones were turning to liquid. It still did.

She needed to get away, have a little time to herself. Thirty minutes. An hour, at the most. But how?

He blinked, clearing his eyes, and stepped back. “Lunch is at noon.”

Her knees weakened at the reprieve. “I’ll go home for that,” she answered, with effort. “What time do I need to be back?”

“We all go to the café. Together.”

So much for getting a little time to herself to put some space between them. But she’d insisted on being treated as one of them, so she couldn’t complain now.

* * *

JAKE STUDIED THE ice in his glass of tea, wondering if he’d done the right thing by hiring Erin.

The five of them were nearly finished with their lunch at the Chick-a-Lick Café. He’d noticed immediately when Erin chose the seat farthest away from him. She’d even insisted on sitting in the backseat of his crew cab pickup on the way into town. He reminded himself that this was only the first day. There would be plenty of time to fix things between them.

He heard her laugh and moved his chair a little more to the left, hoping to get a better view of her. As he did, Darla, their waitress and the café manager, placed the bill next to him. He looked up with a smile. “Great meal, as always, Darla,” he told her.

“Thanks, Jake,” she replied, and then turned to look down the table. “It’s good to see you again, Erin,” she said with a friendly smile. “You probably don’t remember me. I was finishing eighth grade when you graduated from high school.”

“Of course I remember you,” Erin answered. “You have three brothers. Patrick was in my class.”

Darla’s smile widened. “Yes, he was.”

“What’s he doing?”

“He moved to the city. He’s a doctor. My mother is thrilled.”

Erin laughed, and Jake wished she would laugh at something he said. She’d spent the morning staying out of his range, and he’d played it smart by keeping his distance, as much as possible.