If he asked her on a date, even just to the movies, lots of people in his life were going to have opinions, and his family’s objections would be merited. If she went out with him, other ranch hands could claim favoritism. If she declined his invitation, she could claim harassment.
It was a minefield in a sea of sagebrush.
For the first time, he appreciated the dilemma Colton was in a few years earlier when the beautiful Liu Chen came to work as a chef for the family. Kat didn’t want Colton kissing the cook, she told him. And wanted to protect the family name and reputation.
“Liu Chen could do a lot of damage if she doesn’t share your feelings,” she’d told Colton. “Especially if she feels pressured to date you.”
Love won out, though, and the two were married the summer before Ash graduated and left for Michigan. But Liu was a Wyoming girl, through and through. Whereas Sassy was destined to go back home in the fall.
One big reason to keep a respectable distance.
When they reached the fallen tree at the creek, Ash tried to help Sassy with the thick tree trunks and spikey, scratchy branches. But she just laughed him off.
“Such a gentleman, offering to do my job for me,” she teased, using her best impression of Scarlett O’Hara. “Thank you, Rhett Butler, but I have to make my own way in the world.”
“Well Miss Scarlett,” Ash bantered back as the swarthy Clark Gable, “I’m just trying to get us back to Atlanta before it’s all burned down.” He was glad he stayed awake during the four-hour film for one of his extra credit classes, instead of just reading the synopsis.
Sassy laughed even harder, and the time flew as they talked about their favorite movies, winter sports, and food.
“Gone With the Wind was epic, but it was no Tombstone,” Ash declared.
“I declare, that’s blasphemy,” Sassy stated in her best southern belle voice.
“Hmm, best change the subject,” Ash said. “Skiing or snowboarding?”
“Snowboarding is overrated, and downhill skiing is going to make a splendid comeback,” Sassy was sure.
They debated the pros and cons of Chicago-style pizza versus Detroit style.
“Detroit style, hands down,” Ash said, and to his surprise, Sassy agreed.
“I can’t fall on my sword for Chicago style, I’m afraid,” she said. “Not when Detroit makes the crispiest, cheesiest crust.”
“At last,” Ash said theatrically, “common ground.”
He was beginning to feel more relaxed in her company, when Sassy suddenly dropped a tree limb she had been tugging at and let out an ear-piercing wail.
“Ahhhh.”
Throwing off his safety glasses and gloves, Ash rushed to her side, splashing through the creek as he went.
Sassy had sat down hard on the creek bank, and held one hand in her other. Ash sat down next to her, the side of his body fully against hers.
“Ow ow ow,” she cried out.
“Here, let me look.” Ash gently but firmly took her hand. As she turned away, she let out another cry. “Oh, that’s a bad splinter,” he said, “it went right through the glove.”
“I… know…” she wailed louder.
As Ash worked her glove off, Sassy’s cries turned to resigned sobs. Shaking, she held her hand as still as she could, allowing Ash to tend to her. She had her eyes squeezed shut, and opened them only when she felt Ash setting a small branch upon her lap.
“Here, bite down on this stick, Scarlett.”
His face was close and his words were whispers she could feel on the bridge of her nose.
“Did you say bite… down?”
Ash nodded somberly.
“We’re going to have to amputate.”
In spite of her pain and fear, Ash heard Sassy expel a surprised laugh at his joke. When she did, he pulled out the offending splinter in one swift move, before she could protest.
She turned to him in shock and wonder as he hung onto her trembling hand.
“You were so brave, Scarlett,” Ash laughed softly. Without warning, he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed—tasted, really—her finger. As he warmly wrapping his lips around her slender digit, her gasp was so spontaneous and unpracticed that Ash felt his chest tighten with unfamiliar joy. He gazed over and ventured a look into her eyes.
“All better?” Ash’s voice was low and scratchy.
“All better,” she said back, in a whisper that would haunt his attempts at falling asleep for many nights. Seeing her eyes widen, and her lips parting ever so slightly would play over and over in his memory like a closed loop.
He knew he shouldn’t have done any of that.
“Do you know how many germs are in your mouth,” his Granny would demand to know when he was a boy, trying to cleanse a scratch with a little spit.
But there it was, her small hand resting in his. And then there were all those tears, and his longing for… something. Before he knew it, he had her perfect porcelain finger between his lips, savoring it like a candy cane and watching her eyes for a reaction.
So much for keeping the beautiful girl at a distance.
Chapter 11
“Surprise!”
Ash and Sassy jumped a mile when they walked back into the ranch office to a roomful of people and boisterous hoots and hollers.
With boots wet from the creek, muddy jeans, and scratches on their shirts from tugging on the rogue branches of the downed tree, the two were bedraggled and exhausted pulling into the parking lot, but laughing together about many things.
Ash had been grateful for Sassy’s help as they’d used the chainsaw, then removed thick lengths of the tree’s trunk with the ATV and a rope. It was a few hours of grueling labor, but the water now flowed freely again for the herd’s drinking water.
“You did great, cowgirl,” he told her. “Job number one is looking after the cattle, making sure they have food and water at all times. Unless there’s a dry spell or a downed tree, nature provides the water just fine to those that graze along the river. For the others, we have an intricate solar-powered system of pipes and troughs.”
He was rambling, he knew, knowing his cover would likely be blown when they got back to the offices. Sassy looked over and smiled indulgently as he talked. She was probably exhausted, especially since she’d nearly passed out earlier from the high altitude of the mountains the ranch was nestled in.
“I swear, I forgot what hard work was like until today. This ranch has a way of reminding you how pathetic your book knowledge is compared to your arms and legs.” Walking into the office, he was about to comment that day one of cowgirl school had been a success, when they were accosted by a celebration of sorts.
“Wha…” Ash looked around the room to see all the ranch hands looking back at him expectantly, along with Gunnar, Colton, Pike, Rowdy and Gray, and even Ridge. Gunnar stepped forward and patted Ash on the back, gesturing to a food table filled with burritos, tacos, canned pop in iced buckets, and a large cake.
Congrats Grad, the cake said.
“Here’s to the newest ranch manager, Ash West,” Gunnar said proudly to the room, and then to Ash. “Welcome to the team.”
Sassy moved quietly behind Ash and slipped off to the side. Genuinely surprised, Ash smiled and gave a little wave to the room.
“Wow, thanks,” he said, truly touched.
Everyone hooted and clapped as Ash turned red with pride and embarrassment. As the hollering quieted down, Ash figured it was time to say a few words. The food was getting cold and if everyone had a morning like he did, they were hungry.
“Thank you, Gunnar. You know how to make a fellow feel special, saving that old muddy tree for me to pull out of the creek—well, that was just about welcome enough,” Ash said good naturedly to general laughter. “Can we eat now?” That’s when the room really exploded. Ash went off to wash the mud off his hands and face while the hard-working hands ate heartily in his honor.
“Well done, son,” Ridge spoke quietly as he clapped him on
the back. The two men tossed their paper plates loaded with food onto the table and sat down to eat.
Ash thought he knew what his dad meant.
BBQ and cake were the equivalents of big-city inter-office memos that heralded a promotion. Men and women on the ranch who were twice and three times Ash’s age needed to be aware of the family’s intentions, and know enough to place “the kid” in higher regard. The tree in the mud—well that was Ash’s opportunity to show he wasn’t too high and mighty to tackle even the most menial of jobs.
Always be willing to do what you ask of others. He’d been shown time and again.
“Just two small tacos, Dad?” Ash gestured to Ridge’s plate.
“Oh, Casey’s got me tracking my fat, carbs and dairy. She and her henchman, Doctor Kat, are on me to change my ways.”
Ash smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. Just because you’ve got three grandchildren…”
“A fourth on the way, with Liu and Colton’s baby,” Ridge pointed out.
“Right, four grands,” Ash said, “doesn’t mean you’re still not a dad. And I suspect I’m going to need you more than ever this summer.”
“So I see,” Ridge mumbled, looking across the room at where Sassy sat, eating and talking to Freda Lang and Wayne. Even with her hair pulled back and a smear of mud on her face, the girl was drop dead lovely.
Ash would have to be blind not to notice her.
Chapter 12
“Turns out, that so-called ranch hand that came in late for work today is Ash West!”
Sitting with Freda in the living room of their rental house, Sassy ate her bowl of chili, holding the spoon stiffly with her bandaged hand. The boy who couldn’t seem to stop rescuing her was an heir to the West fortune, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
This last thing wasn’t new to Sassy. Her young life was dotted with looks and leers from men, along with jealous glances and a few daggers from women. She was her beautiful mother’s daughter, something her mother reminded her of all the time. But where the mother invited the looks, the daughter wanted no part of them.
“Yep, he is,” Freda answered distractedly in between hearty bites, with one eye on a muted television show.
When Rowdy finally hired Sassy, he offered her a shared “bunkhouse” with Freda Lang, another summer hire who lived in Lander, a few hours away. This was Freda’s third summer on the ranch, Rowdy told her.
“You’ll like Freda. Everybody does,” he said.
Sassy agreed to the terms and braced herself for rustic lodging. Instead, the bunkhouse was an adorable bungalow in town with a common space and modern kitchen, along with two bedrooms.
Rowdy was right about Freda, and the girls became fast friends. Freda and Sassy took turns with the cooking—Sassy making summer salads and vegetable casseroles, with fresh fruit for dessert. Freda, in contrast, cooked sloppy joes, mac and cheese, and her favorite, chili.
“Prince Ash, I call him,” Freda said with a giggle.
“Oh?” Sassy was intrigued. “Why is that?”
Freda put her bowl in her lap and smiled at Sassy.
“Well, it’s like this,” she drawled. “West Ranch is a bit like a kingdom—the most powerful in the land. Ridge used to be the king, but he handed his crown to Gunnar. That makes Kat West the queen. Not just of the ranch, but of the town, the family… of everything she surveys.”
Freda used a free hand for a grand sweeping gesture to punctuate her last words.
Sassy got a chill up her spine at the insight into the West family, and gave Freda her full attention.
“Tell me more.”
Freda went on to give Sassy a history lesson about Wyoming ranches.
“Time was,” she said, “ranches were small mom and pop organizations, and every building did double duty. The main house was used as an extension of the ranch—for meals and gatherings. The ranch wives were in the thick of things, cooking for hands in the busy season and such. They kept the books and ran errands—they’d go back and forth to town for machine parts and supplies, in their spare time.”
“Not much of that, I’m sure,” Sassy said, and Freda nodded in agreement.
“Plus, they raised the kids and did all the laundry,” Freda added, “kept a garden and preserved food for winter… tended their own livestock… volunteered at church.”
“You say West Ranch is different?”
“Now it is,” Freda said. “Today, West Ranch is more like a large corporation. Or like I said before, a kingdom. And queen Kat has the luxury of keeping all the messy, dusty, dirty ranch work separate from her castle. I don’t blame her; I’d do the same.”
Sassy murmured in agreement.
The once-modest ranch had an expanding infrastructure of outbuildings, cook houses, bunk houses, feed storage, barns, sheds, equipment garages and so forth. The hands gathered each morning in a large building that housed offices, lockers, picnic tables, showers and bunk beds.
There was a kitchen, next to a long counter for serving food. Most days, the hands were welcomed by breakfast burritos or sausage scrambles. The ranch cooks also put out a hearty lunch or early dinner, depending on the day’s scheduled tasks. There was always fresh coffee in the stainless dispenser and maybe a cookie or two on a tray.
Sassy, who manned the reception desk outside the offices occupied by Gunnar and Rowdy, was intrigued by the picture of West Ranch Freda was painting.
“And where does prince… I mean, Ash, fit in?”
“Prince Ash will for sure take over one day when Gunnar and Rowdy are ready to retire,” Freda said, scraping the bottom of her bowl for the last chili bean. “The other brothers aren’t involved anymore, so Ash is next in line. It’s a big responsibility, with an equally big payday.”
“And…” Sassy spoke gingerly, being careful to appear dis-interested, “there’s no princess for the prince… that you know of?”
“Not unless there’s someone back in Michigan. The way he looks, though, it’s only a matter of time. That will be one lucky girl, but she’ll have to be tough enough to dethrone the queen. I have a feeling Kat won’t give up her position without a fight.”
“Interesting,” Sassy said quietly.
She knew Ash was interested in her, but again, it was nothing new.
“Lots of men will think they want you,” her father told her many times before he died, “but you get to decide what and who you want. Don’t ever settle.”
Did she want Ash West? It was too soon to tell. He was funny, kind, and very good looking. And while his wealth didn’t interest her, he did have something she wanted: access to the front door of the ranch, and the heart of the family.
Maybe, Sassy thought, maybe she’d been handed a gift.
Chapter 13
Her skin was like silk!
Staring at his ceiling and struggling to fall asleep, Ash grabbed a handful of his soft sheet, trying to recall the sensation of having his hand on the small of Sassy’s back earlier when he caught her—the intrusion wasn’t intentional, but the feel of her tormented him nonetheless.
His head was swimming at the memories of their encounters and in his half sleep, he dreamt of holding her and dancing with her; being near enough to catch her any time she stumbled—over anything.
How quickly she’d gone from being a stranger to the pretty girl he’d rescued, touched, and holy cow, even tasted before the day was through. A big grin broke out on Ash’s face as he remembered.
Sassy’s presence dulled the surprising pain Ash had been feeling as he mourned the end of his university years. He never wanted to go so far away to school, yet Ridge had pushed him hard.
“Most teenagers can’t wait to leave the confines of home to cut loose a little,” Ridge told him. “And I understand why you’re reticent to leave home, Ash, but it will be here when you get back. So will I.”
Ash choked up at his words. Just the reminder that he had a home and a dad got him every time.
“Go find yourself, son. Explore the
world and trust your safety net,” Ridge implored, with full understanding, Ash thought, of how hard it would be to leave the family he’d been gifted after his world fell apart.
“We’ll be here whenever you come back, and you’d better come back,” Ridge added.
At first sight, Michigan seemed a foreign land. Flat, for the most part, without any of the mountains and valleys that Wyoming had in spades. But he quickly learned to love its unique beauty—Michigan had trees for miles. Ash had never seen so many trees, or such vivid fall colors.
Kat was right.
Winters were amazing. There was none of the hunkering down that Wyoming ranchers had to do. In Michigan, winters were celebrated with skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, and sledding down the nearby golf course hills on borrowed trays from the college cafeteria in the wee hours of the night.
And water! So much water, everywhere he turned. Someone told him that you only had to drive fifteen minutes in Michigan to reach a lake, river or stream.
While Wyoming waters never seemed to warm—even the smallest lake was newly melted snow from the mountain caps—in Michigan, lakes the size of oceans welcomed swimmers and boaters for months.
The Great Lakes blew him away.
By the end of four years, Michigan had gotten under his skin. Ash felt a sadness at leaving the crystal-clear water and beaches, and his friends. But Sassy reminded him of the youth and energy of his Michigan State University days—indeed, she grew up in the next state over from MSU, and her voice flowed in the same cadence as the Midwest girls in all his classes.
None of this y’all, or the aw shucks folksy speak he was made fun of for during his first year. Sassy sounded buttoned up and crisp, like a honey gold apple in a Michigan orchard.
“Sassy!” Still wide awake, Ash spoke her name to the ceiling.
Usually he had no trouble falling into a dead sleep after ranching or renovating. A good day’s work was the best remedy for insomnia Ash ever knew. But tonight, his thoughts were swimming in a beautiful sea of Sassy. Every time he was about to nod off, his heart raced at the memory of her golden dewy skin, bright smile, and hair the color of chilled curls of fresh-churned butter. Not every girl could wear sunshine in her hair the way Sassy did.
Sassy Cowgirl Kisses: A Sweet Romance (A West Brothers Romance Book 5) Page 4
