by Cindi Madsen
Admittedly, she couldn’t stop rehashing their time together. Not even a blip of a reaction had come from the “neck presentation” move, where she’d tilted her head and exposed her neck to him. So she’d taken it a step further, and her cheeks heated as she recalled her attempt to wink at Brady while delivering a flirty line.
Since it’d led him to think she had something in her eye, Tanya needed to either practice winking or take it off the ways-to-flirt list. A moment earlier, she’d been panicked, afraid the “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” line had been too bold, but Brady hadn’t even considered it a come-on.
According to the dating book on her nightstand, the biggest mistake women made was to stop trying. And so, even though taking extra effort with her hair and makeup hadn’t done a damn thing for her yesterday, Tanya had dressed up again today. Not only for the first impression thing, which had automatically come out yesterday when Brady asked, but also because she was determined.
“Eric Richmond?” she asked, and he glanced toward her. Then did a double take, reducing her frustrations over the guy and makeup all at once.
An idea popped into her head. When she’d read that hair-flipping was a legitimate flirting technique, she’d rolled her eyes so hard she thought she might’ve sprained them. But as she swept her curly strands over her shoulder, she added a huge smile, and Mr. Richmond’s eyes tracked the motion.
Hmm, guess I’ll have to try that one on Brady the next time I see him.
Pops came lumbering out the noisy front door, his steps slow yet steady as he gripped the rail and descended the steps on the porch. At sixty-four, he could still handle a lot of the ranch work, but he’d had a heart attack a few years ago, which had slowed him down—much to his dismay. The doctor wanted him to take on less of the physical labor and lower his blood pressure and stress level, which was when Tanya had been summoned home. Extra fun, since he constantly rebuffed her offers to help with physical tasks, insisting he wasn’t helpless, while in the next breath, he would complain about how frail he’d become.
“Beau Clayton,” her complicated father said, extending a hand to Mr. Richmond, who requested he be called Eric.
After exchanging pleasantries, the businessman turned to Tanya. She wondered if his button-down shirt and slacks were his idea of ranch wear. If so, he’d learn real fast how badly that thin fabric could stain and tear. His features softened, a light hitting his hazel eyes. “And you are…?”
“The woman you’ve been corresponding with the past month.” The guy had asked about a bajillion questions via email, both before and after booking his stay. Not that she minded. It just made it fairly obvious he had no clue how to run a ranch. It’d made her want to ask why on earth anyone had left land to him, but she’d gotten much better at holding back questions people might consider rude.
“Ah, so you’re Tanya.” Eric said her name as if he were tasting it, and despite herself, she softened. After all, the guy was willing to try, and that was commendable. Even if he looked like he drank kale shakes, bragged about his hefty mortgage, and had an assistant to run errands he wouldn’t deign to do.
In fact, watching him deal with livestock and manure was sure to be highly entertaining, and who couldn’t use more of that? “That’s me. I’ll be your motivator, overseer, and most likely the person you want to say goodbye the fastest to by the time this is over.”
His lips tilted up at the corners. “I highly doubt that.”
“You underestimate how hard I’ll push you.” Without realizing it, their conversation bubble had shrunk to admit only two, when there was an entire group of people awaiting her orders. She scanned the faces that showed a combination of anticipation and trepidation and raised her voice. “All of you.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Eric said. “I’d rather have my hard lesson now than down the road.”
He almost made “hard lesson” sound dirty. It’d been so long since someone had flirted with her that Tanya couldn’t be sure that was what he was doing, but the guy was slick, that was for sure.
The key in Eric’s hand jingled as he lifted it in the air. “I just got checked in, so I’m gonna go get settled, and then I’ll be back.”
Tanya glanced at her watch. “You’ve only got seven minutes until the first activity of the day starts. First lesson of running a ranch is that we keep a tight schedule. Animals don’t understand sleeping in, and I’m not handing out special exceptions for individuals. We ride and work as a group. If I assign the last horse and you’re not there, you’ll get left behind.” His eyebrows arched, and Tanya raised hers right back. “I suggest you hustle. The rest of you, follow me.”
* * *
Brady surveyed the group of students gathered in front of him after lunch on Wednesday afternoon. Despite no longer being part of the program, Aiden and Chloe were in the mix. They attended classes with the rest of the teens so they could finish their schooling, and if they wanted to see a counselor, they were free to do so.
He’d seen such a big change in Chloe since she’d shown up last spring, bitter at her mom and at the world and dealing with anxiety. Sadly, depression and anxiety were nearing epidemic levels in teens, beginning from a younger and younger age, and social media often fed the beast.
Pride swelled as Brady thought of how well his soon-to-be niece had learned to manage it, even though it’d be a lifelong fight.
Chloe slipped her hand into Aiden’s, and he beamed at her—Brady had seen a big change in his youngest brother over the past year as well. Like their brother Nash, who’d asked their parents if they’d consider also adopting his kid brother, Nick, Aiden had originally ended up at the ranch due to a court order. In addition to what the program had done for him, working with the horses, along with the realization he’d found a permanent home, had caused the kid to really come out of his shell. The blond at his side was also good for him, same way he was good for her.
“Yo, what we doin’ out here?” Desiree asked. Half her dark hair was in its usual super curly style, and the other half was in tiny braids. All the girls had been sporting different hairdos than usual. Apparently Danica had decided she was going to become a hairdresser and was thrilled to have a group to practice on.
“Yo?” Brady said, and Desiree rolled her eyes, but her white teeth flashed against her bronze skin as the corner of her mouth turned up.
“Mr. Dawson, sir. Why are we out here on this fine day, waiting for you to say something?” She saluted him, the smart-ass. Since he was the one who graded her science homework, he also knew she was exceptionally smart, period. “Sir.”
“Would you rather be doing chores?”
Danica smacked Desiree’s arm, and Desiree glared at her before beaming at him. “Nope. Carry on with your silent staring.”
Brady would call it “assessing,” but that fell under the semantics category. He was confident he had all the pieces to make one hell of a team. He merely needed to figure out where to put them. Allie, who was the school principal, Ma, Liza, and his brothers had agreed to let him do the majority of the rodeo training this year—and to give him the extra time he’d asked for so the teens could be included. “As some of you know, the local rodeo is coming up.”
The new kid let out a groan, his head lolling back. “This is what counts for exciting around here?”
“It does, and anyone who decides not to participate can clean the stables instead. Anyone wanna volunteer for that?”
The teens stood straighter, arms down at their sides, as if one small movement might mean accidentally volunteering. Save Maddox, who shrugged as if he were above caring.
Probably because he’d only done cleaned the stables once so far, and it’d been a light day. Not to mention Nick had gotten him halfway through. Maddox’s attitude had been set to contemptuous since he’d arrived, and according to Nick, he’d treated his first counseling session like it was a
police interrogation and he was determined not to say an incriminating word.
Brady hoped the punk would come around eventually. And not just because he had an athletic build that could sway the rodeo preshow odds in their favor. “This year, we’re going to have our own mini competition with the ranch next door before the major events. Anyone who qualifies can also compete in the main part of the rodeo and have an extra hour a few times a week to train for that.”
“Hell yeah, I’m in already,” Abby said. She was fairly new but had embraced things almost immediately and a mite too enthusiastically. He had a feeling she might be trying to show them she was totally okay and didn’t belong here, but that was more Nick and Liza’s territory.
Still, Brady made a mental note to keep an eye on her and to ask which one of them was counseling her. Most likely Liza, because teenage girls were often uncomfortable with a male counselor. Unfortunately, too many males in their lives had let them down, betrayed their trust, and even abused them. If he thought about that, he’d get angry and want to go full vigilante, so it was one of those things he let the trained professionals handle.
“All right then.” The purr of an engine drifted over, and Brady glanced at the older black-and-blue Dodge heading their way.
Right on time.
The screen door to the cabin swung open, and Ma emerged from the house with the whiteboard he’d requested. Since a health scare and hospital stay last winter, the entire staff had tried to convince her to take it easy. Which was why he’d asked her to have Wade or Trace bring the board and markers outside once she tracked them down.
Naturally, she was struggling with the various supplies instead, attempting to prove she could do everything herself. Brady took a step toward her to help, but Aiden and Chloe were on it. Aiden grabbed the whiteboard, and Chloe grabbed the stand.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Ma said with a huff. “I can carry something.”
“You’ve got the markers and erasers.” Chloe jerked her chin toward the bag in her hand. “Can’t write without those.”
Ma tried to maintain her disgruntled expression, but she melted at Chloe’s bright smile. “Bless you, dear.”
Doing this outside was causing more fuss than it was worth, but he never did like being in a stuffy classroom on a nice summer day. One of the benefits of living near the base of the mountains was the frequent cool breeze that kept the temperature from getting too terribly hot.
Dundee and Quigley, their Australian shepherd and black-and-white border collie, raced toward their approaching visitor, barking like they were tough guard dogs instead of overgrown puppies who only occasionally herded cattle.
Harlow Griffith climbed out of her truck and gave the dogs the affection they were seeking before heading over to the group. “Y’all get started already?”
“Only on the explanation.” Some of the kids’ attention had drifted, and Brady snapped his fingers and raised his voice to get it back. “We’re going to split up and try out a few events. After we observe everyone’s strengths, we’ll dole out assignments and replace a couple of your usual outdoor activities with training.”
“Not that I’m telling you what to do,” Danica said, running her fingers through her brown hair and sweeping it to one side, “but could they replace our chores instead? Or classes—I’m okay with missing either.”
Yeah, color him the opposite of surprised. “Not all of them, but we’ll shorten a class and maybe skip a chore or two, although we’ll have to alternate which ones. Things still need to run smoothly around here, and if I catch anyone slacking and not doing their training, they’ll get double the chores. Got it?”
Heads bobbed, all except for Maddox’s. No skin off his nose, given that Brady didn’t need him to nod. He’d outlined the rules, and if the kid didn’t follow them, he’d have consequences anyway.
“Harlow here is gonna help us train,” Brady continued. “I want you to listen to her and treat her with the respect she deserves.” She was his ace in the hole. Giving her a job made her part of the staff. That meant they had another instructor with experience, and since it allowed her more time to train, it benefited her as well.
Harlow lifted her hand in a shy wave. “Can’t wait to get started. I appreciate the chance to help out and the job.” Her gaze swept to Wade, who’d stepped onto the porch sometime during the commotion, and then to Ma, who stood near the whiteboard and had a death grip on the markers—the woman was hell-bent on contributing in whatever way she could.
“Happy to have you, dear,” Ma said. “The more we see you, the better. Specially if you promise to let me do some of the heavy liftin’ and not treat me like some kind of invalid.”
Harlow pressed her lips together, and Wade sighed.
“Ma,” he said, and she held up a warning hand.
“Don’t you start. Or I’ll tell your fiancée you don’t want dinner tonight.”
“With the way my fiancée cooks, you might be doing me a favor.”
On cue, Jessica charged out of the screen door. “Wade Dawson, what was that you just said about me?”
Before meeting Jess, Wade’s stoic expression would’ve remained in place. Instead, a grin split his face as he snagged her wrist and drew her close. “I meant before. You make a lot of good dishes now.”
A whole lot of PDA was about to commence, so Brady talked as loudly as he could while Ma scribbled the events he wanted to cover on the whiteboard.
Team roping
Calf roping
Barrel racing
Pole bending
Chute dogging (maybe)
On account of not wanting anyone to get hurt or to get sued, they wouldn’t attempt bareback or bull-riding competitions in their before-the-rodeo rodeo. That was a bad idea all around, especially without years of training.
Same went for steer wrestling, although that was the event Nash signed himself up for his first year on the ranch. Ma just about had a heart attack. She’d sprinted down the grandstand bleachers, hollering and waving her hands, but it was too late to stop him. Fifteen-year-old Nash had rushed out of the gate on horseback, leaped onto the long-horned steer, and pinned its head to the ground remarkably fast. So fast he’d not only won but set a new local record.
The next year, after the adoption had been finalized, Nash upgraded to riding bulls. Occasionally, during the rougher days on the ranch, Brady experienced a pinch of jealousy that Nash got to be out on the rodeo circuit, living the dream Brady had since he was a kid.
Since what-ifs never did anyone any good, he returned his focus to the items on the board. Chute dogging was a milder form of steer wrestling, one for beginners where they didn’t ride a horse and used younger, smaller steers. He’d placed it in the maybe category since most of the teens were too afraid of the steers to wrestle them, and again, Brady didn’t want anyone getting hurt.
There was living life and then there was asking for trouble.
That made him think of his best friend, because there was no one who liked jumping headfirst into trouble like Tanya. She was more cautious now, but back in the day, he could hardly keep up with her.
Brady rubbed his hands together, the idea of having a victory to hold over her causing an ear-to-ear grin. With this going on, he could leave the professional rodeoing to Nash. Besides, taking a spill off a horse these days meant ice baths and handfuls of ibuprofen. This plan allowed him to compete without as much pressure while also having a heap of fun. “Desiree and Danica, go with Wade for calf roping.”
Once they got the hang of solo roping, Brady planned on letting them team up. They already went everywhere together, to the point the teens called them the Double D’s, something he and the rest of the staff never did for obvious reasons.
Brady instructed Chloe and Aiden to start with barrel racing, as he could confidently send them to the corral on their own. Then he sent a handful
of the kids who were still learning the ins and outs of horse riding to the stables for pole bending with his brother Trace.
“Which leaves Maddox to go with Harlow for team roping. Obviously today, we’ll just start with roping.”
Ah, hell. I didn’t think this pairing through very well. Brady glanced from Harlow to the kid with the enormous chip on his shoulder. The two were on opposite ends of a spectrum, and he should’ve held another student or two back so Harlow wouldn’t have to deal with Maddox one on one. “You know what? I can switch that up. Maddox can go with me as I—”
“It’s okay.” Resolve burned bright in Harlow’s big brown eyes, undimmed by the shade provided by the brim of her cowboy hat. “If he gets out of line, I’ll just pull on his hoop earring to get him to do what I want, same way I’d use the nose ring on a bull.” She shot Maddox a saucy grin. “Real handy, that.”
In the couple of seconds it took Brady to recover from his surprise, a snort-laugh accidentally escaped. Sounded like Harlow could handle the new kid just fine. They’d all be in fairly close quarters anyway as they made their way through the training areas he’d set up around back, so she wouldn’t be completely alone with him.
“You heard the lady,” Brady told Maddox, who sighed. Tough guys with their eye rolls and sighs—yeah, real scary. He clapped the kid on the back. “Cowboy up, dude.”
Maddox shuffled toward Harlow, taking his sweet time about it. She spun on her heel and charged toward the training course without a word, and he reluctantly followed.
Later, Brady would put away the whiteboard. For now, he circled the main house, grinning at the clusters of kids setting up at the various training stations. A win at the Silver Springs rodeo might not come along with expensive saddles, blingy belts, big cash prizes, and fame, but the more he thought about how satisfying it’d be to accomplish so much with a group of newbies, the more excitement stirred in his gut.
