At least for the next couple of hours.
CHAPTER SEVEN
He isthe devil incarnate himself. I can’t believe I thought I could work side-by-side with that miserable human being!
“Ready?” Hallie’s voice broke through the fog of Kat’s spiraling brain.
They’d driven to Billings at first light. The airport had left a message on her phone at four in the morning. Her luggage had been processed.
But there was still a problem.
The clothes she’d packed were not the sort of thing she could wear in Rocky Ridge in the fall. Maybe if she was to stay in town where there were clean sidewalks and paved roads.
But at the ranch?
Suddenly all the muddy boots she’d seen lined up on the back porch made sense. This place wasmessy.
Hallie stood before her, hands on her hips and a grin on her face. She’d insisted that Kat shouldn’t let Leo get under her skin.
Too late.
According to Hallie, she loved her family dearly, but some of her cousins left much to be desired and it turned out Leo had made that list.
“They fit okay?” Hallie nodded toward the boots that were now on Kat’s feet. After a quick shower, Hallie had insisted on Kat borrowing some clothes before taking her shopping in the city. That was why they’d found themselves at this country store where all the farmers bought the necessities for living on mud slogged land.
Kat lifted a foot. The boot wasn’t as heavy as she’d expected. It didn’t feel as nice as Hallie’s, but Hallie’s boots had been broken in. These would likely feel the same eventually. Especially if she wore them every day. “Yeah, they fit.”
Hallie nodded and smiled brightly. “Great. And you got a couple pairs of jeans, right? And none of that trendy ripped stuff. It’s gonna get real cold soon. The last thing you want is for the winter winds to tear through your body.”
Kat gestured toward a pile of three pairs of jeans. “Got some layers to go under them, too. Just in case.”
“Smart.”
The clothing that Kat had picked was nothing like the clothes she would have worn back home. The long sleeve flannel shirts would be nice when she was outside in the elements. The socks were thick and already she was tempted to put them on just so she could curl up on a couch in front of the fire somewhere. The mud from this morning had seemed to settle deep in her bones and she hadn’t managed to shake off the chill. “I feel like I shouldjust send my stuff back to New York,” she mused, looking over the haul she’d picked out.
Hallie scoffed. “Don’t you dare. You’re going to be here for several months. You’re going to want something nice when you inevitably go out on a date with someone.”
“Not gonna happen,” Kat laughed despite herself. “I’m here for work—to prove to my dad I’m capable of staying on task.”
The woman before her didn’t look convinced at all. “Yeah. Sure. But when you’re not working? I’ve already seen three guys check you out while you sat here moping about getting these boots.”
Kat laughed at that. “I wasn’t moping.”
“Weren’t you? What do you call scowling at a pair of shoes that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing back home?”
This time, Kat blushed. She was right about that to a degree. These weren’t the cute cowboy boots that the girls wore on the catwalk. These were boots with a purpose. The toes were enforced with metal to protect her feet from accidental stomping by animals. There were no embellishments like rhinestones or brightly colored stitching. These were the boots of someone who would work long and hard hours.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you’re a snob.”
Kat gasped but before she could retort, Hallie continued.
“And Leo’s going to lay off eventually. You and me? We can be real close. I’ll introduce you to all the people you’ll want to know and besides work stuff, you can avoid my cousin.”
That plan didn’t sound half-bad. There was just one thing missing.
“Do you think…”
Hallie raised a brow. “Do I think,what?”
