by Zoe York
He raked his hand through his hair and lowered his gaze. “I was getting to that when I realized you weren’t up yet.”
She slid out of bed and sidled over to him, gazing up at him with a smile teasing her lips. “Were you this shy with Leigh and the other women you’ve been with?”
“Yes, but to let you in on a little secret, I haven’t been with that many women.”
“How many?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, defensive.
“It’s none of my business…. But I want to know you, because I apparently didn’t know the last man I was with.”
Bitterness crept into her voice, and his heart ached for her. Momentarily, he forgot his own discomfort, wishing he could some how spare her from that persisting pain. She had every reason to have trust issues, and after Leigh, he could relate too well to the damage that could do, how it could make even a simple friendship a source of anxiety. If someone who was supposed to love them could hurt them, anyone could. He wanted her to trust him, to trust her in return, and the surest way to do that was to be open and honest. Even about the things he’d rather keep hidden and safe.
“The first was Leigh,” he murmured, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his pajama pants. “The next was my only other serious girlfriend, Jen. Then Leigh again. And only one since who was more of a friend with occasional benefits than a girlfriend.”
“Three? That’s it?”
“Not including the handful of dates that ended at the front door, yep, that’s it.”
“The friend-with-benefits—what was her name?”
“Terri.”
Her brows shot up. “Terri my vet? You know, I wondered that day Angel was born.”
“It was over a long time before I met you.” Heat crawled up his neck, and he shifted his weight. “She was looking for a no-strings-attached arrangement after her divorce, and well, I guess that was what I needed then, too.”
“Hey, you don’t have to explain it to me. I understand what it is to need human contact.” Annie flashed a grin. “She’s got good taste in men. But she’s gotta be, what, eight, ten years older than you.”
“I’m eight years older than you.” A fact he had a tendency to forget but which was currently quite apparent. She wore a thread-bare white tank top with the brown bronc-rider emblem of the University of Wyoming and a pair of soft, fitted shorts that made her look more like a college freshman than the mother of a six-year-old boy. In the cool air, her nipples were taut, and he quickly averted his gaze before part of his own anatomy decided to salute them. It was too damned early, and he wasn’t awake enough yet to reign in the leaping and bucking desire that had been building since they’d first met and was more than ready to break out of the gate.
He turned away and started toward his bag with the thought that now would be a very good time to get dressed, but she curled her fingers around his and tugged.
“Just two for me. Jed, a boy I dated off and on in high school. It wasn’t anything serious, just teenaged curiosity. And Tom. He did such a good job of ruining me that I haven’t had the courage to take a chance again.” She clasped his face and stood on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. “Until you.”
Abruptly, she released him and strode from the room. He stared after her. Talk about a weighty start to the morning.
He grabbed his bag and dressed in her bedroom while she was in the bathroom and was about to roll up his sleeping bag and foam when she joined him in the living room.
“I can take care of that. Jim should be here any minute, and while you boys are loading cows, I’ll fix us some breakfast burritos to take with us.”
“That would be wonderful.”
Headlights flashed across the dark living room—the only lights they’d turned on were the one in Annie’s bedroom, the bathroom, and the dim one over the kitchen sink in an attempt not to wake Cody. A soft knock sounded on the door moments later. Three-thirty on the nose. Gabe answered the door while Annemarie busied herself assembling their bags and piling them on the couch.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected Jim to look like, but the slight, wiry man who looked a lot like a small version of Sam Elliot—right down to the bushy horseshoe mustache—standing on the other side of Annemarie’s door wasn’t it. The ranch hand was barely taller than Annie and had gentle eyes that contrasted his otherwise stern countenance. The man extended his hand, and Gabe shook it.
“Jim Hanson.”
He even sounded a bit like the actor.
“Gabe Collins.”
“You apprenticed under Gus Cherry, didn’t you. And your family has a spread out Meeteetse way, up the Greybull River somewhere. Gus was a good friend of mine back in the day, and I remember him mentioning an apprentice he thought showed a lot of promise. You’re a master electrician now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Guess he was right.” He leaned in the door and greeted Annemarie with a smile. “Morning, darlin’.”
“Good morning, Jim. Thank you for getting up so early to help.”
“Least I could do.” To Gabe, the cowhand asked, “Ready to get this done?”
Nodding, Gabe stepped out into the chilly, black morning. The stars were veiled and there was a damp bite to the air that promised snow. The forecast didn’t call for any in western Wyoming, but there was a chance he’d run into some around Casper and eastward toward Torrington, and that wasn’t supposed to amount to more than a dusting.
The truck he’d borrowed from his parents—a class six that his family referred to as their “mini semi”—was parked down on the bench with the trailer backed up to the loading chute and ready to be loaded, so he climbed into the passenger seat of Jim’s old ranch truck. The headlights bounced over the terrain as the truck lurched on the uneven trail. Like everything else on Garrett Ranch, the main “road” that connected the barn, corrals, chute, cabin, and pastures had fallen into disrepair from years without use or maintenance.
“Tom made a pretty damned clear statement giving her this land, didn’t he,” he muttered.
He hadn’t meant for Jim to hear, but the ranch hand responded.
“Yes, he did. Makes me so damned angry that he’d treat such a sweet girl as Annemarie like he does that I’ve almost quit my job at the Grant Ranch a dozen times in the last year. But I got bills to pay, and not too many folks’ll hire a busted old hand like me.” Jim glanced at Gabe. “I imagine you don’t think too highly of me, the number of times you’ve had to pick up the slack around here for me, but the other reason I ain’t quit is Annemarie. If I quit, she won’t have no one to help her out. Maybe I ain’t the hand I used to be and maybe Tom’s an asshole who likes to make sure I ain’t got much left to give her, but I care about her. Thomas Sr. does, too.”
“I understand he’s the one who pays you to help Annie.”
The cowhand nodded. “I wish he’d do more.”
“Why doesn’t he? He’s still the power in that family, isn’t he?”
“I think he’s still hoping Tom will come around on his own and do the right thing by Annemarie and that boy.”
Gabe snorted. There was a better chance of hell freezing over, and Jim’s bark of humorless laughter said he thought the same.
“You’re right. I haven’t thought too kindly of you,” Gabe admitted, “and for that I apologize. The fact that you’re here to help her at three in the morning says a lot. I assume you won’t get paid for this.”
“No, sir, I won’t.”
“When we get back, I’ll cut you a check. Just don’t tell Annie about it. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“You don’t need to do that. I owe her.”
“Maybe you do, but like you said, you have bills to pay.”
Jim regarded him with narrowed eyes, then let out a guffaw. “You’re the man who’s got Tom all in a tizzy. Shoulda guessed. He was in a foul mood Monday morning, saying something about Annemarie hooking up with a man who only wanted her ranch. He tried to make it sound like he
was concerned about her, but I wasn’t born yesterday. He’s jealous as hell.”
“Wants what he can’t have,” Gabe remarked.
“Damned right. You’d best watch your back around him, young fella. He ain’t used to not getting his way.”
Gabe wanted to ask what he should watch out for as dread coiled in his gut, but they’d arrived at the loading chute, so he said only, “Thanks for the heads up.”
Thomas Sr. had helped Gabe cut the cattle heading to auction from her small herd yesterday afternoon before Annie and Cody had arrived home from work and school and sequestered them in the pen attached to the loading chute. In theory, that should’ve made his and Jim’s job easy this morning, but after a night in the pen, the fourteen animals—ten bred heifers and four yearling bulls—wanted back out into the pasture. Between the floodlights on the trailer and the headlights of Jim’s truck, they had plenty of light to work by. Piece of cake.
Within five minutes, Gabe was glad for the cowhand’s experience. The confines of the pen didn’t stop the heifers from trying to dart past him and Jim, but they were able to contain the animals and move them slowly closer to the chute. Neither of them needed to be told what to do, and that made a big difference.
Once the first six were loaded, the rest began to follow along with minimal fuss. Gabe was just about to let out a sigh of relief when the final yearling bull’s front left hoof punched a hole in the weathered deck of the chute. He yanked it free, hopping and bucking in fright. Gabe saw his hind legs come up just in time to drag Jim out of the way of the sharp hooves. Unfazed, the cowhand slapped the bull’s rump with his cowboy hat, and the animal shot forward into the trailer.
“Don’t know what you cows are being so damned ornery about,” Jim growled, closing and locking the trailer doors. “Ain’t a one of you that’s going to the slaughterhouse any time soon. Probably end up someplace a lot greener than this.”
Gabe added the loading chute to his list of things to find a way to convince Annie to let him fix, and started his final check of the truck and trailer. He double-checked it, and checked it again, and Jim did the same. Satisfied that the rig was ready for the road, they walked around to the cab.
Jim glanced up at the inky sky and exhaled. His breath was a plume of silver in the headlights. “Miss this?”
“More than a little. I love what I do for a living, but I do get to missing the ranch sometimes.”
“It’s a special kind of life. Ain’t an easy one, but I ain’t never wanted anything else.”
Gabe nodded in agreement, climbed in behind the wheel of the truck, and drove slowly to the cabin. Jim followed behind in his pickup. Half an hour was all it had taken them to get the cattle loaded and the rig checked. It could’ve taken a lot longer.
Leaving the truck running, Gabe returned to the cabin with Jim walking behind him. He knocked lightly on the door before opening it, but he needn’t have worried about startling Annie.
“Come in for a minute, Jim. I’ve got some coffee on.”
He’d thought he was sufficiently awake now, but the promise of a steaming hot cup of coffee dragged a purr out of him.
“You’re an angel, Annemarie,” Jim replied, putting Gabe’s exact thought into words.
They followed her into the kitchen, leaning against the counter to wait while she poured the coffee. To Jim’s, she added a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of half-and-half. After she handed the mug to the cowhand, she turned to Gabe and frowned.
“I don’t know how you take yours or if you even drink coffee,” she said, perplexed. “But I feel like I should.”
“I don’t drink it often. Mostly on early mornings like this one. Black is fine, but a little cream would be nice, if it’s not too much trouble.”
She poured just enough half-and-half in Gabe’s mug to turn the coffee opaque. “How’s that?”
He took a sip and closed his eyes to savor the rich flavor. “Perfect. Thank you.”
They enjoyed their coffee in silence until Annemarie finished hers and washed out her cup. Setting it on the dishtowel laid out on the counter to dry, she said. “You boys got done fast.”
Gabe shrugged. “Jim’s a great hand.”
“See? I told you you’d be glad to have him helping.”
“Yes, you did, and you were right.”
“That’s something you’d never hear Tom say.” Jim drained his coffee and set the mug in the sink, then clapped Gabe on the back. “This one’s worth hangin’ on to, darlin’.”
She met Gabe’s gaze and smiled. “Yes, he is.”
“I’ll get out of your hair so you can get on the road. Safe travels.”
Gabe grabbed the cooler of snacks and followed Jim out. He opened the rear driver-side door of his parents’ truck and settled the cooler on the floor between the driver seat and the back bench so Annie would be able to reach it from the passenger seat. Then he closed the door and walked over to Jim’s pickup, reaching in the open window to shake the man’s hand. “Pleasure meeting you, sir.”
“Pleasure’s mine. I look forward to seein’ more of you around here in the future.”
Jim could’ve meant that he’d have more time to help Annie out now that calving, branding, and moving cattle to spring pastures was winding down at the Grant Ranch, but Gabe doubted it.
“I’ll pay you a visit when we get back.”
“You don’t have to pay me, you know.”
“Depends on how you define ‘have to,’ don’t you think?”
Jim let out a sniff of laughter. “I s’pose it does. I appreciate it.”
Gabe watched the cowhand’s taillights shrink into the night with his thumbs hooked in his pockets. He was glad to be proven wrong about the man, and knowing that someone else had Annemarie’s best interests at heart was a relief, too. He inhaled, drawing the cold air deep into his lungs, and grabbed Cody’s booster seat out of Annemarie’s truck. Anticipation of the road trip sang through him as he settled the booster seat in the center of the back seat. He figured they could pile their bags and his sleeping bag and foam roll on one side of the bench with a pillow so Cody could have something comfortable to lean on but still be buckled in.
Annemarie stepped outside with her hands full with his bag and hers. Her mouth fell open. “I thought you said we were taking your parents’ smaller truck.”
“Minnie is the smaller truck.”
“What’s the bigger truck, then?”
“Bertha. She’s a class eight—a full-size semi.”
“Minnie and Bertha. That’s cute.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. He took the bags from her and stacked them on the bench. “My nephew Cole came up with the nicknames.”
“Cole… he’s one of Abe and Cindy’s sons, right?”
“Correct. Well remembered.”
She opened the passenger side door and inspected the interior of the cab. “This is really nice. It’s brand new, isn’t it? Or close to new.”
“Mom and Dad bought it last summer. These bucket seats are so much more comfortable than the ones in Bertha. She’s getting up there in years and miles.”
They went back into the house and Gabe finished loading the truck while she finished their breakfast burritos. Since they were ahead of schedule, they ate in the kitchen and after, Gabe helped her wash and dry the few dishes.
“We about ready to go?” he asked, surveying the cabin.
“Yep. I just have to get Cody and do my final check of the house to make sure everything’s turned off.”
“Why don’t I get Cody so you can do your check?”
“You’ve got a deal.”
He tiptoed into the boy’s room, and scooped him up—blanket, pillow, and all—with one arm behind Cody’s shoulders and the other behind his knees. The kid murmured but didn’t wake up. Annemarie had left both the cabin’s front door and the truck’s rear door open, so he didn’t need help getting Cody into the truck, leaving Annemarie free to inspect the house. It was almost like they’d worke
d it all out in advance.
Like a team.
He buckled the sleeping boy into his booster seat. He propped the pillow against the pile of bags and bedding and gently leaned Cody against it, then tucked the blanket around him. Reverently, he smoothed his hand over the little boy’s silky, sandy-colored hair.
There was nowhere else he’d rather be and nothing he’d rather be doing right now.
Annie left the house, locked the door behind her, and joined him at the cab. She tucked her arm around his waist and, after glancing at her son, she gazed up at Gabe with a faint, poignant smile. “He didn’t wake up?”
“Nope.”
“That’s amazing. Last time I had to get him in the car at this time in the morning, he woke up, and I had to deal with a cranky boy all the way to Casper.”
“He doesn’t like road trips?”
“He loves them. Hence why he wouldn’t go back to sleep.” She shifted around him, sliding her other arm around his waist and locking her hands together behind his back, and rested her cheek on his chest. “Thank you. For all of this.”
He wanted to tell her that it was no trouble, that she deserved what help he could give her and so much more, but the words refused to cooperate, so he folded his arms around her and held her for almost a full minute. Then he let her go, reluctant to end the moment but anxious to put the taillights to Tom and Garrett Ranch and see what would happen when they were away from all the things that stressed Annie and dampened her spirit. “Shall we get this show on the road?”
“Yes, let’s.”
They climbed into the cab and strapped in, and Gabe shifted the truck into gear, glancing at Annemarie.
She beamed at him. “This is kind of exciting, isn’t it?”
“It is,” he agreed.
They chatted as the truck rumbled over the gravel road through the Grant Ranch, but despite the coffee, Annemarie struggled to stay awake. Gradually, their conversation dwindled until Gabe finally asked what time she’d gone to sleep.
“It was after midnight,” she replied, yawning.
“Why don’t you try to get some more sleep?”
“I don’t think I’ll have to try very hard.”
