Page 87 of Ironwood Ranch Cowboys

“I’m just boosting morale.”

“This,” Sammy says, pointing with his clipboard to the older guy, “is Red Bronson.”

Red lifts two fingers from the fence in the roughest approximation of a greeting I’ve ever seen.

“And Emmett Holt.”

The blond one gives me a bright smile. “Hi.”

“And Willy Kane, Lord help us all.”

“So, Annie,” Willy drawls as he holds out his hand to me to shake it. “You got a nice camera there. You been taking lots of photos at the ranch?”

I try to smile but nerves grip my stomach. “When I have time.”

“Ooh, the Harlans don’t let you out much, then?”

“Willy,” Red warns.

Willy lifts both hands. “What? I’m being welcoming. Trying to check Annie’s being treated well.”

“You’re being loud,” Red corrects.

Emmett steps in with the smile of a man used to smoothing edges. “What Willy means is, welcome.”

“Thank you,” I say. “I think.”

Willy squints at my hair. “You know, I heard there was a blue-haired woman up at Ironwood and honestly I thought people were exaggerating. But that is blue, and I like it!”

“Thank you.”

“Blue hair in a cowboy town? That’s either confidence or a cry for help. Maybe both.”

I blink, then laugh before I can stop myself.

Willy points triumphantly. “See? She gets me.”

“No,” Red says. “I think she’s being polite.”

“Tomato, tomahto.”

Emmett offers me a sheepish grin. “Don’t worry. He gets worse when he has an audience.”

“That’s not true,” Willy says. “I thrive under attention.”

“Like a fungus,” Red mutters.

Sammy exhales through his nose like patience is a dwindling natural resource. “If you boys are done performing, Annie and I have actual work to do.”

My shoulders roll back as I feel a sense of acceptance here. It’s easygoing and free. Exactly why I wanted the photography gig as soon as it became available.

At Ironwood, I feel watched. Even when no one’s looking.

Actually, especially then.

At the ranch every conversation feels like it has a second layer under it. It’s charged, hidden, dangerous.

Duke’s softness, Cody’s tension, Silas’s control. My own body making terrible decisions in the vicinity of all three of them.