Dude shifted in his saddle. “Carry on.”
The bear dropped its front legs back to the ground as Colton struggled to bite his tongue and not to roll his eyes. The couple were paying customers at the ranch, and he needed to just grin and bear it, no pun intended. He tied his horse to a tree and walked right toward the bear.
Colton grinned to himself. Now he was just showing off, but it would definitely make an impression on the guests when they went back to their crowded cities and told all their friends about the brave cowboy who marched straight up to a grizzly and asked it to move. Or, he supposed, they could call him an idiot for doing it or an asshole for threatening to leave them. No matter which way, they’d be talking about him and hopefully his family would get some reservations out of it.
When the Hale Family first started the ranch two decades ago, the not-quite-a-dude-ranch, but close, visitors and guests had flocked to explore the great outdoors of Colorado. But in the last several years, the interest had waned and finding new bookings was becoming more and more difficult.
The bear eyed him as he approached. Colton held his hand out. “Just let us pass, okay? I don’t want any trouble.” He felt like an idiot as he said it. He had been out in the wild too long.
When the bear didn’t move, Colton sighed. “Okay, so we’ll do this the hard way.” He took off his sunglasses and stared directly at the bear. When eye contact had been established, he let his dragon out, just a little. Just enough. The reaction was instantaneous, and in a flash, the bear trotted off into the brush.
"Whoa," the guy said when they rode up, "how'd you do that?"
Colton shrugged. "I just established a little respect. No big deal." He untied his horse. "Come on. Let's get you to the top of the trail in case that rain moves in."
When they got back to the ranch late in the afternoon, Colton dropped the guests off at the main house and led the horses by their reins back to the barn. His brother, Tyson, was waiting to help. "Everything go okay?"
"It did," Colton answered. "That grizzly is getting a little too friendly though."
"Are we going to have to relocate it?"
"Nah, I handled it. Hopefully a little dragon stare will make it more wary of people, instead of curious."
Tyson laughed. "That'll do it."
"We get any more hits from that ad that Mama paid for?"
"Two so far." Tyson shook his head. "For what she paid, we should have had a dozen, at least."
"Times are changing. People just don't like this kind of stuff anymore."
"They do," Tyson corrected, "but now we're having to compete with that brand name outfit that just opened up in Denver."
Colton snorted. "You mean the one that's more like a spa? With a bowling alley and movie theater?" He shook his head. "Active Assets. What kind of name is that?"
"A big box store conglomerate name, that's what," Tyson answered. "No personality at all."
"Well, we started Outside Outfitters to get people outside. We were never meant to compete with a country club full of indoor amenities. People could just stay home and find everything that place offers. They can't find the outdoor scenery that Mother Nature provides like we show them."
Tyson unsaddled one of the horses. "Technically, we started Outfitters because we had to figure out how to support ourselves after we were booted from paradise."
Colton didn't respond. Their past was a huge point of contention that he didn't feel like discussing. "Mama and Sarah still fighting?"
When he had left that morning, their sister had pushed the final button on their mother, who had finally snapped and retaliated to a spoiled little girl's temper tantrum. Sarah had just about to turn twenty and was fifteen years younger than Colton. Usually when those two went at it, the boys just high-tailed it out of the house.
Each of them had their own cabin on the property, but they took most of their meals in the main house where their mother lived. Vinia ran the business side of things, while the boys ran out the outdoors part. Sarah had her own boutique bakery in another building just off from the main house so each of them had privacy while still living as a family.
Tyson shook his head. "Nope. They've been baking all day. Whatever feud they had going has passed."
Colton chuckled. "That seems to be the way."
Vinia kissed them both on the cheek when they finished their chores in the barn and went inside. "There's coffee on the stove. You two look like you're cold."
Colton poured and handed Tyson a mug before he turned to his mother. "The guests say anything about today's ride?"
She glanced up at him from where she stood folding linen napkins. "If you mean about your bear whispering skills, I'd have to say yeah. I don't think anything else mattered to them."
"Of course not." Colton gazed out the window. "I just don't know what people want anymore."
