That was one thing that I’d missed like a second skin when I was locked up.
When I’d gone on the run, so to speak, with Bernice, I’d landed at a cattle ranch right outside of town. I’d worked for both Bernice’s and my room and board, and made a pretty hefty paycheck while I was at it.
I didn’t know how much I’d love the ranch life until it was ripped away from me.
Now that I was out of prison, I found myself coming out here a lot just to spend time with the animals. Though, I went to Romeo’s place a lot because of that, too. Romeo had horses that came with his place when he’d moved up here. He’d taken to the horses, which was why he wouldn’t sell them to me when I’d moved out here myself.
It worked out well in the end, though. When I started my job as a game warden, I hadn’t realized how much spare time I wouldn’t have.
“Get in here already, it’s cold,” Boone grumbled as he stood at the ranch house’s door.
I walked inside and shut it, sighing when the warmth hit me.
I hadn’t realized how damn cold I was.
I moved to the fire almost on autopilot.
“Well if it isn’t Mr. Missing In Action.”
I looked from the fire to find Major and Denver on the couch that I’d just walked past.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “I have a boss on my ass.”
Major chuckled. “Find anything new?”
“Nothing.” I gritted my teeth. “I did get a hit on the fletching, though. Apparently, they’re custom-made by a guy in Montana. Expensive because they’re a new design. The design was recently patented, and I was able to look up the patent information. Dude that registered the patent—I called him and left a voicemail.”
“Good.” Major looked toward Denver. “He’s here now.”
“He sure is,” Denver agreed as he stood, downing his beer as he moved.
I followed him with my eyes and felt my lips kick up at the corner when I saw the leather cut he picked up off the side table in the kitchen.
“Since you were so busy…” he tossed me the jacket. “The rest of the guys got a party. You get a congrats and a beer before you go.”
“Thanks,” I said as I touched the leather. It felt good to be a part of something. A family. “I thought we had more time?”
“Time is irrelevant,” Denver said. “Each of you has proved yourself over the last couple of months in your own way. Though none of y’all were able to get Romeo to join. That was a downvote on Grady’s end.”
I chuckled.
Grady worked with Romeo at a logging company—Paul Bunyon’s.
He’d been half in love with Romeo ever since he met him.
I slipped on the cut over my jacket and laughed. “How do y’all do this again?”
“We put it on underneath our jackets, dumbass. It’s too cold to do anything different up here,” Boone said as he came into the room with two beers and handed me one. “Where’s Claudine at today?”
Claudine was the resident cook for the ranch that Denver ran. She cooked for all of the club members, plus the ranch hands. She was fuckin’ phenomenal, and it would leave Denver in the lurch if she was gone for very long.
“Claudine is visiting her family in Kentucky,” he said. “Though, she said that she had her best friend’s daughter heading our way. She’s a world-renowned chef and said she’d cook tomorrow until Claudine got back next weekend.”
“You can go to Hopps with us for dinner then,” Boone suggested.
“I can’t.” Major stood up from the couch and stretched his arms up high over his head. “Gotta get home to my girl.”
I grinned. “Ask her to make me some more cookies, please.”
