“Mornin’, sir. I’ve got a few more applications emailed in. You’re gonna want to look at the top one first.”
“Why? What’s so interesting about the top one? We can’t hire men with broken backs or ones that can’t ride long days on horseback. You’ll just kindly have to tell them we’re sorry. I wish I could save everyone, but I can’t. I’ve already got a chuck wagon position and enough men on office duty with all this damn paperwork.”
Toby chuckles and hands me the stack. “It’s not any of that this time, sir. She’s from Texas.”
What the hell is he talking about? “She? What do you mean—she?”
“Says she’s a cowboy, and she’s experienced. Guess cattle ranches down in Texas don’t see tits as a red flag.”
It’s not unheard of to see a woman in a bunkhouse in Montana…but it sure isn’t common either. I read over her credentials. “Dixie Wilder… Thirty-three years old, fourteen years on the job…”Shit that’s a long time.Shouldn’t she have gone to college or been wifed up by a cowboy? Not turned into one. “Why does she want to come to Montana? It’s fuckin’ cold up here. Aren’t Texans desert people?”
I continue to read the resume while Toby takes his hat off and wipes the sweat from his forehead. “If ya ask me, sir—it’s hotter than Satan's balls out here right now, I think she’d feel right at home.”
My brow stretches up my forehead. “It’s June. What about when November rolls around? She’s not gonna feel at home then, that’s for damn sure.” I’ve never hired a female before. Much less one that calls herself acowboy.I send Toby off to get the rest of the bunk boys situated for the day. Then I sit down in my rocking chair, still staring at her name.
Flipping through her references, I don’t bat an eye, they’re all great. Not a single one gives anything less than total praise for her skills and her work ethic. Seems like she has a reputation down there in the lone-star state. The two other applications in the pile are good, but hers still stands out. I hear Toby come back as he walks up the steps to ask me what I want to do. I lift my nose, hand him the stack of papers and nod. “Hire ‘em all.”
“Even the tits?” Toby looks like I just hit him with a sledgehammer.
I pause a moment to match his stare. “Even the tits.”
I might be insane. My men are good and they’ll treat a woman right…but they’re still men. I don’t know how pretty Dixie Wilder is, but she’s thirty-three, and that’s saying something. She’ll either be a hindrance to the cowboys or she’ll be their rival. Either way, I’m taking a risk.
Toby’s still standing a few feet away from me, staring at the papers I handed back to him. “Well, don’t just stand there, get on the phone and tell the new hires I need them here by next Monday if they want the job. We can’t wait around. They’ll get a bed at the bunkhouse and three meals a day. We’ve got cattle out there that need to be pushed up the mountain.”
Toby shifts his stance and tips his hat. “Yes, sir.”
We usually wait until July when it gets really warm, so the cattle can graze and be comfortable in the cooler temperatures. This summer though, we need to move them earlier. With the three new hires, we’ll have enough men to drive the herd up the mountain and enough to stay back home to monitor the ranch. I’ll ride up to the cow camp with the herd, then head back home to be with my girls once they’re all settled.
Speaking of my girls—I hear the screen door attached to the kitchen, squeak and smack as they run onto the porch. I wrap one arm around each of them and give a little squeeze when they sit on my lap. Addie is now eleven-years-old. Evie just turned nine. Every time I look at one of them, I see their mother. Though it’s clearly obvious who takes after her the most… Adelaide. Long, honey blonde hair with cornflower blue eyes that sparkle like crystal. She was our rainbow. Evolette has pieces of Claire woven through her, but she looks like me. Chocolate brown curls, golden brown eyes and a lot of spunk. She has more of my personality.
There’s anticipation radiating from both of their faces. “Can we go see Lythie and the baby today?” Evie asks. My niece, Blythe married our foster son, Justin at the beginning of last October. Their new little man is so damn cute. He has Justin’s dark hair and Blythe’s freckled face. They named him Jake. I couldn’t be happier how that marriage panned out. Justin Forge is finally, legally, family. The way it should’ve always been. There’s a ten-year age gap between them, but that’s exactly what they needed. Claire was only two yearsyounger than me and that worked for us. People ask me if I’ll ever jump back into the dating pool, but I had my chance and I’m not looking for another one. Not to mention, I’m too damn old. I turned forty-five last month. Inside though? I still feel thirty.
I swipe a finger down Evie’s nose. “I’m sure she’d love that.”
Chapter two
Got hired.Hell yeah—I’m finally gettin’ out of Texas. Damn tumble weeds, rattlesnakes and a shit ton of dust—I’m sick of it. I applied for an outfit up north in Montana. Some place calledSilo Springs Ranch. When the cowboy in charge called to tell me I was in, I admit, I squealed like a little girl. After I hung up of course.
There isn’t much I’m gonna miss about Texas, there isn’t a thing left for me there. No family—none that care about me, anyway. And I’m bringing my horse, Blaze. She’s a red and white painted palomino who runs like the wind. Her blonde mane and tail really add to the flame effect she gives off—especially when she’s racing. There’s no one else on earth I’d rather have as a companion. Me and her—we don’t do the male species. My only regret is that she isn’t a dog and couldn’t ride in the cab of my pickup with me.
Fifteen hundred miles on I-25, pullin’ a horse trailer straight up to Montana. But it’ll be worth it. All I’mleavin’ behind me in Texas is bad luck and bad memories. Good fuckin’ riddance. I hope I never have to see it again. A new life is waiting for me just up the road and I’m ready and bound for it. Well, in about a day or so.This drive is long.
I reach into my center console and grab a granola bar. I’m not stopping for anything. We’re driving straight through—except for the few times I know I’ll have to pull over at a truck stop and rest.I hate sleeping.I wish I could just snap my fingers and be there. Even though I know I’ll be in a bunkhouse with a bunch of dirty cowboys—themankind. I’m a cowboy too, just one who can make babies… And therein lies my problem. My speech is all prepared for when I get there. I’ll walk in and those jackasses won’t know what hit ‘em.
I chuckle to myself because damn; I hope those cowboys shit their pants right in front of me when I eventually get to say it all. I mean I’m sure some of ‘em are nice, maybe even straight arrows. But even a straight one can be guilty by association. The cowboys down in Texas never tried to mess with me. Not since I was eighteen—after I beat three of ‘em in a roping event. I don’t want to think about that though. Those sons of bitches don’t deserve my emotional bandwidth.
Some people might not like me, might say I’m too hard. But when you’ve been through what I have, you learn how to protect yourself. So that’s what I’ve done. Every outfit I’ve ridden with has known Dixie Wilder sleeps alone. No one touches my bed, my body, my horse, my hat, or my heart—period. They nod when they seeme, and they respect the hell out of me too. Cowboy to cowboy. Now that I’m starting over, I’ve got to be on my toes.
The sun dipped below the mountains about an hour ago.Damnit.I get sleepy when it gets dark so I’ll pull off the next exit. I don’t know how far the next town or truck stop is, but I won’t make it there, not with the way I’m feeling. The side of the road out in the middle of nowhere will have to do. I don’t need a full night's sleep, just a few hours of shuteye, maybe not even that. I’ll set an alarm on my phone.
I stop my truck and open the door to get out and check on my Blazey girl. She’s got hay and water back there with her, but I want to make sure she knows, it’s all okay. My boots crunch through the weeds and gravel as I make my way back to the trailer. I reach through the metal slats and pet down the side of her neck, then give her nose a nuzzle with mine. It’slike a kiss.My mama always gave me those, and it made me feel safe—until she wasn’t there to give ‘em to me anymore. It didn’t take long for me to realize the only person who was comin’ for me, was me. I had to do the saving and the comforting. Too bad, I was six and shit outta luck. I didn’t know how to comfort myself. A few years down the road I learned how to build a fence, so I built one around me—put on a pair of spurs, a cowboy hat, grabbed my gun and said,fuck it—and fuck anyone who tried to climb over my fence to get to me.
Marching again over the weeds, back to the cab of my truck, I climb inside and shut the door. Hitting the lockbutton, I lift my 9mm out from under the seat, rack one round into the chamber to make it hot, then tuck it under my thigh. I set the alarm on my phone and check my surroundings before I lean the seat back and close my eyes. Some creepy asshole tries to sneak up on me, I’ll be ready.
Welcome to Montana.
The sign at the state line had a giant elk on it and the elevation. I don’t remember how high it said it was, but higher than where I’m from, that’s for damn sure. My GPS says I’ll be to Silo Springs Ranch in about ten miles. Hallelujah, Blaze is gonna be ready to head for the hills when I pull her out of that damn trailer.
