She frowned at him. “My pa would never approve.”
“Probably not. But he’s not here to argue with us, is he?” He turned to her fully outside the door to the room that he would be using. “May I kiss you, Elaina?”
Elaina nodded. “I suppose I owe you at least that much after all the work you’ve already done for me.”
“No, you owe me nothing. I’m asking for a kiss. Not from a grateful woman who wants my help with her ranch. I want a kiss from Elaina given freely to her new husband.”
Her eyes widened, and she licked her lips without thinking. “All right.”
He caught her waist in his hands and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. It was a light kiss...one with the entire purpose of learning her taste, and letting her get used to his touch. When he lifted his head, he saw that her eyes were closed and her lips were parted slightly. “Goodnight, Elaina.”
“Goodnight, Steven.”
*****
STEVEN ROSE WITH THEsun. He dressed quickly ready to start his day. As he stepped out onto the weathered porch, he caught a glimpse of Cynthia bustling around the kitchen, the golden morning light spilling through the open door.
“Good morning,” she called out. “I’ll have breakfast ready soon.”
“Thank you, Cynthia,” Steven replied. The woman was older, perhaps not old enough to be his mother, but she was at least thirty-five.
“Elaina mentioned you might need some help getting acquainted,” Cynthia said as she wiped her hands on her apron and joined him on the porch. “The men can be a tough bunch to crack. Loyal to a fault, especially to George. You’re going to have your work cut out for you.”
Steven gazed across the expanse of the neglected property, feeling the weight of the task ahead. “Any advice on how to win them over?” he asked.
“Be fair, but firm,” she advised, leaning against the porch railing. “They respect strength, but more than that, they need to see that you care about this land just as much as they do. And,” she added, “they’ve been working under a man who’s been lining his own pockets at the expense of the ranch. They might not know it yet, but they need someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” Steven asked. For all she knew, he could be worse than George.
“Someone who sees beyond the horizon,” she said. “These men, they’ve seen bosses come and go, promises made and broken. Show them you’re different.”
He nodded, absorbing her words. “I’ll do my best.”
“Elaina believes in you,” Cynthia said, pushing off from the railing. “And I’ve got a good feeling too. Now, come get some breakfast. You’ll need your strength.”
This was more than just a job—it was an opportunity to restore something that had once been grand. With each cowboy he could convince to see the truth, they would rebuild not only the fences and the finances but also the heart of the ranch itself.
“Let’s start after breakfast,” he said, meeting Elaina’s steady green gaze across the table. “One step at a time.”
“Exactly,” she replied. “We’ll do this together.”
After breakfast, Elaina and Steven set out across the ranch, spotting two men working. With a leather-bound ledger under his arm, he approached the corral where the men were mending a break in the fence.
“Morning,” Steven called out.
Beau looked up first, his sandy hair sticking to his forehead, a skeptical twist to his mouth. “Morning,” he replied.
Elaina looked between the men and her new husband. “Steven, this is Beau and Nathaniel. They’ve worked for the ranch for years. Men, this is my new husband, Steven. He’s the boss around here now.”
Nathaniel grunted, his eyes flicking toward Steven with an appraising squint before returning to his work. “Steven,” he acknowledged.
“Got a moment?” Steven asked, leaning against the fence post. He held out the ledger for them to see. “I’m implementing a new system for tracking the cattle—tags for each one, numbers corresponding to this book here. We’ll know exactly what we have at all times.”
The cowboys exchanged a glance, the weight of their loyalty to the old ways—and to the foreman—etched into the lines of their faces.
“Seems like a lot of extra work for something we’ve been doing just fine without,” Beau said.
“Maybe,” Steven conceded, “but we haven’t been doing just fine, have we? The foreman’s been lining his pockets while the ranch suffers.”
