Benny Jenkins was the ninety-four-year-old founder of Burning Scrub.The two men served as Beaverhead County commissioners together, and between them, they carried considerable weight.Benny, an evangelist, built a commune in the Pioneer Mountains on the ghostly remains of an old mining town.He’d become friends with Jayce’s father upon discovering that the Ride No More Ranch, owned by the Hansons, controlled the only access road into the mountain town.Communes were expensive to run, and since Benny didn’t like to pay taxes, he and his daughter had turned Burning Scrub into a church.Churches were also expensive to run, so they’d added a theme park.They avoided tax issues on the park by investing heavily in local businesses and running the proceeds through charitable organizations.
Mavis Jenkins, Benny’s daughter and Belle’s grandmother, looked up from her knitting.“It’s a black-footed ferret.There are less than a thousand left in the world, and the two in your wheat field are the only mated pair that have been spotted in the wild around here for decades.”
Jayce’s father would have a stroke of epic proportions if he ever discovered that his adored wife was behind the release of the breeding pair on Ride No More land.Vanessa Hanson also signed the ranch up for the Audubon conservation ranching program to protect native grasslands for endangered bird species.While Jayce shared his mother’s interest in Montana habitat conservation, and was a willing aid and abettor, he didn’t plan to be in the room when those secrets came out.Huck had a serious hate for any of these little side projects his mother took on, and Jayce had yet to understand why.
“You’ll have my support,” Benny assured Huck.“A bigger problem right now is the new bear-tagging program.Research scientists are going to be crawling all over these mountains any day now.Cliff can’t keep them out.”
Cliff Peterson was the local fish and game warden.Burning Scrub doubled his salary to look the other way regarding the town’s recreational activities.
Adam Caldwell, the town’s supply chain manager and procurement officer, spoke up.“We’re going to have to put up bear fences.”
“We’re not putting up bear fences.Did they have bear fences in nineteenth-century Montana?No, they did not,” Benny said.
Benny was a big believer in the historical accuracy of Burning Scrub, which offered the ultimate Wild West experience to wealthy international clients.Their clients, however—much like Benny—were heavily influenced by what they believed the Wild West was like and blithely unburdened by facts.
“If we don’t put up fences, we run the risk of tagged bears wandering into town.If tagged bears wander in, researchers won’t be far behind.Researchers are going to ask questions.Our best bet to stop that from happening is to keep bears away,” Adam said.“Besides, fences will be cheaper in the long run than the bags of cayenne pepper we’re buying.Pepper needs to be reapplied whenever it rains.”
Jayce didn’t care about bears, researchers, cayenne pepper, or fences.As soon as the meeting ended, he’d walk Belle home.It was his last chance to convince her to see reason.
“We’ll table the fence talk for now,” Benny said, which was his way of admitting defeat.
Burning Scrub would get its fences because they were on Adam’s wish list, and Adam always got what he wanted.
Benny shuffled some papers.“Our August client is a gunfighter.He’ll be here for a week.He wants us to build his backstory for him, so Grady, you’re up.”
Grady Lovett was the town historian, props director, and head chef.Most clients came for a weekend and were interested in observing the town while glamping and eating gourmet versions of Wild Western meals.They hunted and fished and hiked and gazed at the stars.
Then there were the clients who wanted the complete, immersive, Wild West experience.Those were the ones willing to pay big money for Burning Scrub to make their experience unique.
Pearl Lovett, the town’s costume designer and Grady’s wife, chimed in.“Add Kevlar to my budget.”
Benny, notoriously cheap, didn’t argue with her, because people had gone off script in the past.Benny blamed over-enthusiasm.Jayce blamed Beau Jones.
“What do we know about the client?”Mavis asked.
“That’s Leon’s department, now,” Benny said.
Leon Schmidt was Beau Jones’s New York agent.He’d arranged for Beau to spend a few months in Burning Scrub to learn how to be a cowboy last year, because Beau, a country singer who couldn’t tell a cow from a bull, needed toimprove his brand.Leon liked what he’d seen of the town, and long story short, he was now Burning Scrub’s agent too.
Beau’s arrival was when Jayce’s problems began.Still the worst cowboy on record, and a lousy country singer to boot, Beau had stolen Belle from under Jayce’s nose.He didn’t know how it had happened, but there were less than two weeks until the wedding, and he had to fix things with her before then.
Speaking of weddings…
“Sheik Ali has RSVPed,” Benny said.By RSVPed he meant paid.“He’s bringing his baby sister with him, and he wants her entertained.Jayce, you’re good with children.How about you take her on?”
“Sure.”
Whatever.Jayce didn’t care, so long as he wasn’t expected to help with the wedding.Besides, he did like children.His heart curled into a tight, miserable ball.Belle would have made a fantastic mother for the next generation of Hansons who were relying on him.
Discussion of the wedding ensued.Beau was playing some concert in Memphis, so he’d left all the planning to Belle, Mavis, and Leon.Jayce tuned it out.
The meeting finally ground to an end.
Jayce leaped to his feet, prepared to lay on the charm.“May I walk you home?”he said to Belle.
“Of course.”
She dazzled him with her beautiful smile, and his heart poked its feet out of the fetal position.
