by Jana Leigh
Alex looked up stunned, and then he recognized his childhood friend and grinned. “Slone?”
“Yeah, I am your knew foreman, in charge of teaching you SEALs how to be cowboys,” Slone said with a chuckle and Alex grabbed his hand and did the one arm hug.
“Shit, man, I was gonna call you when I settled in. The dads said you were somewhere in Wyoming, I figured we could meet up. This is awesome, they didn’t tell me,” Alex said with a laugh.
“When they called me, I said I would be honored to help out, quit my job and hightailed it here. I beat you by a week,” Slone said and looked down the line at the rest of the men. “Hey, I am Slone Brate, the new foreman of the Second Chance Ranch, and you are Thane, Gage, Mason, Drake, Jessie and of course, Alex,” he said, naming each of the men correctly.
“Stalker?” Jessie asked and looked at him suspiciously.
“No,” Slone laughed. “Just making sure I know who I am supposed to be teaching. Dallas and Noah filled me in.”
LC stepped forward and held out his hand. “Yep, you can call me Thane.”
The others did the same and Alex felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His friend would help teach them ranching, and the men could decide if this was what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives, or if they just wanted a piece of land to retire on. With their VA retirement for medical reasons, they were able to at least have some money coming in to help pay for things, and since none of them had lived in the country in the last few years so their pay had stacked up to a nice tidy sum.
“The big house has enough bedrooms for all of you,” Slone pointed. “Let’s get you settled and then we can talk, then I can give you a tour of the ranch and we can start first thing in the morning.
All of them nodded and looked around curiously but followed Slone into the large house. There was an older woman and man in the foyer waiting for them. They all looked at Alex who shrugged.
The woman smiled and with tears in her eyes, she walked to each of them and hugged them saying as she did, “I am Louise, the cook and housekeeper, and this is my husband, Timothy, who is a handyman and wrangler that is going to help you out. Welcome home, and I am so happy you are all here, if you need anything you tell me. Now, I have a nice pot roast and potatoes, green beans and a nice chocolate cake for you. When you are ready, come down, and I will get your favorites written down.”
The men looked stunned and accepted the woman’s hug, and then mumbled in return. They weren’t quite sure what to do about this show of emotion. It just wasn’t what they were used to.
“Thanks,” Alex said and looked down to the floor.
Her husband walked up, stuck out his hand, and said gruffly, “Welcome.”
Alex looked at the older man warily and shook his hand. It was firm, and the look of understanding crossed the older man's face and Alex looked at the others as they followed, and he saw the kindred spirits all relax with the man's handshake. This was the right move, Alex knew it.
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