I decided, hell, I was done with this bit of fence anyway, and mounted up. Gave my Quarterhorse Ahwan her head for a couple of fields, then reined her down to an easy jog. We reached the drive fifty feet ahead of the stranger. I dismounted and led Ahwan on a slack rein toward the dude.
He looked up, then tipped his hat back. Fuck me, but he was gorgeous. He couldn’t be more than twenty, with just a dusting of stubble on his cheeks and smooth skin, no lines around his dark-blue eyes. Those cheekbones could’ve got him a modeling contract, and the lush curve of his lips made me swallow hard.
The young guy said, “Hey, is this the Star & Bar Ranch?” I didn’t hear much regional accent.
“Sure is. You looking for someone?”
He took off his hat, revealing short, dark hair, and turned the brim in his hands. “Whoever does the hiring, I guess. I’m looking for work.”
We weren’t hiring this time of year, and if we were, the boss had a list of trusted seasonal hands we could bring back to do the job. But the kid had walked a distance to get here and I hated to just turn him around. “What kind of work can you do?”
“Anything you need. I’ve worked a beef ranch for over a year now. I’m not great at roping yet, and I didn’t work with the young stock, but I’m not afraid to get dirty or work long and hard. Mucking out, cleaning barns, mending fences, spreading manure, lifting stuff. I’m stronger than I look.”
That wouldn’t be hard. He had a willowy build that didn’t suggest much in the way of muscles, but I was no giant myself. Looks didn’t tell the whole story.
“I’ll take you to meet the boss,” I told him, though it probably wasn’t a kindness, giving him false hope. “Can’t promise anything.”
“Of course not. Thanks.”
Halfway through the barnyard, I decided maybe I’d test the guy a little before Kendrick saw him. “I need to put up my mare first. You can come along, then I’ll show you.”
“Okay.” He tugged his Stetson back on and walked beside me toward the barn, looking around as we went.
I figured one ranch looked a lot like another, except for the double row of dude cabins with their closed shutters. When he glanced that way, I said, “We take in guests through the summer for a ranch experience. We’re a working ranch, running a thousand head of grass-fed Black Angus, supplemented by the dude experience.”
“Must be different, trying to make ranching pretty for city folk.”
That made me snort, because he wasn’t too far off. “Yeah. The dudes think they want to see real ranching. Fact is, most of them don’t actually want to get too close to anything ugly or dirty or painful. We keep the roughest stuff out of sight in the summer. Catering to those guests pays the bills.”
“Can’t argue with paying bills,” he said, giving the words an intensity that made me think he knew about being poor.
“What’s your name, kid?” I asked.
“Not a kid. I’m over eighteen. My name’s Austin. Well, that’s my middle name, but it’s what I go by.”
I held out my free hand. “Good to meet you. I’m Seth.” We shook, and his hands had enough calluses to suggest he did know how to work, no matter how pretty he was.
“I can untack and pick out your mare’s feet if you tell me where things are,” Austin offered.
“Sure. You might do that.” If I was testing him out, seeing how he was with a horse would tell me a lot. I hauled the barn door open enough to lead Ahwan inside, calling, “Get that door,” over my shoulder.
There was a trick to muscling the door on its tracks, but when I looked back, Austin put a little work into it and got the job done easily enough.
“Tack room.” I pointed. “Grab the blue halter and rope, and one of the grooming kits on the shelf by the door.”
“Got it.” He lowered his pack next to the barn door and hurried toward the tack room, moving easy though, quiet enough not to startle the couple of horses amid the mostly empty stalls. Thirty seconds, and he was on his way back with the halter and kit. “What’s her name?” he asked as he neared us.
“Ahwan.”
“Um, that’s different.”
I chuckled. “Better than Dirt.”
“I guess…”
Sometimes it was fun to have a new guy around who didn’t know all the stories. “See, the boss’s grandkids were visiting when she was born, and Kendrick— Mr. Bowen— said they could name the new foals that spring. When Ahwan came along, it was the youngest boy’s turn and he said, ‘She looks like dirt. Name her Dirt.’”
“Ouch.” Austin gave the mare a look-over. “That’s not really fair. I mean, yeah, she’s basically a mousy dun, but she’s got some dapples, even with her winter coat coming in, and her mane and tail are a pretty brown.”
