Swelter

by D. Jackson Leigh

  She frowned at the list. “Why don’t we have a cook to handle all this?”

  BJ scratched at the stubble on his chin. “We did. Josie. Handled everything here at the house. The chickens and the pigs, too.”

  “We don’t have pigs.”

  “We did until Josie made a pet of one. After that, she wouldn’t hear of us getting our bacon from anywhere but the grocery store.” His eyes widened. “Oh, Lordy. The bacon.” He jumped up from the chair where he sprawled and bulleted toward the kitchen.

  August dropped her paperwork and hurried after him. That old man was faster than a jackrabbit when he needed to be. They both pulled up short at the sight of Teal sliding a second plate of food in place on the eat-in bar.

  She gestured to the place settings. “Sit, eat. I hope you like Spanish omelets.”

  BJ grinned and plopped onto a tall stool beside one plate. “Well, I’ll be. Thanks for saving my bacon.”

  Teal smiled at him, settling her own plate on the end of the bar and dragging over a stool.

  August hesitated, then went to the coffeepot to refill her cup. She couldn’t look at Teal. The woman took her breath away. Her thick, dark lashes framed rich brown eyes. August had thought her attractive before, but her hair braided back accented her sculpted cheekbones. A small scar bisected one perfectly arched brow. August stirred another spoonful of sugar into her coffee to distract herself. “Anybody else need a refill?”

  “Hit me,” BJ said.

  “I’m staying away from caffeine for a while longer,” Teal said softly.

  “Good idea,” BJ said. “You need to stay good and hydrated for a couple of days until you’ve fully recovered. Can’t be too careful.”

  August slid onto her stool and dug into her food. The sooner she finished and headed for the barn, the better. She shoveled in a mouthful of omelet, then paused when the combination of cheeses and fresh peppers exploded on her palate. Damn, it was good. She swallowed and glanced at Teal. “Thanks for making breakfast.”

  BJ was a bit more enthusiastic. “Woo-wee. Now that’s what I call an omelet. I don’t believe I’ve tasted anything that good since I courted that woman in San Antonio.”

  “You’re welcome,” Teal said to August before turning to BJ. “What happened to the woman?”

  “I liked her cooking more than I liked her.” He took another bite and closed his eyes in a dramatic display of appreciation as he chewed. “We could use a cook around here.”

  “But we’re not hiring right now.” August winced inwardly as she cut him off a little too quickly, a little too loudly.

  Teal shrugged one shoulder. “My cousin is counting on me, so I need to be on my way.”

  They ate in uncomfortable silence until BJ put his fork down and slurped his coffee loudly. August winced and glanced over to see Teal hiding a smile behind her own cup. Her eyes gave her away though, and August caught herself returning the amused look. August dropped her gaze to her plate and frowned. Stop it. BJ would never stop pushing for her to stay if he thought she liked the woman.

  “That’s durn good coffee.” He held up his cup and looked at Teal. “Did you make this?”

  Teal lowered her cup. “I hope you don’t mind. I have a friend who owns a coffee-bean company. She imports and blends her own brand. I always carry some with me.”

  “Don’t mind at all. You’ll have to tell us how we can get some of this.” BJ slurped noisily again. “Right, August?”

  “Didn’t know you were a connoisseur. Coffee is coffee, as far as I’m concerned.” She refused to encourage him or look up from her plate, even though Teal’s gaze felt as though she was actually touching her.

  “I wouldn’t mind a breakfast like this every morning. August here can’t even burn toast. After Julio passed on, I mostly just ate in the bunkhouse with the boys until she showed up. Pops used to be the ranch chuck wagon, but his mind is about gone, and he’s started leaving out this and that when he cooks. We never know what dinner’s going to taste like. He’s also nearly burnt down the bunkhouse a few times—”

  “Like you almost burned down the house this morning.”

  “What?” BJ paused, then dismissed her growled accusation with a wave of his fork.

  His friendly rambling was grating on August’s nerves. Teal didn’t need the history of the ranch. She wasn’t staying.

  But BJ continued his story as though August hadn’t interrupted. “So, anyway, the boys mostly chow on cereal or pre-packaged crap they can microwave since Josie—that was our last cook—up and ran off with that lady wrangler I hired last summer. Whew, now she was a hot one.”

  August nearly spilled her coffee as Rio bumped August’s thigh with her nose. She looked down. “Stop that. Since when do you beg?”

  Without pausing his rambling, BJ tossed a scrap of bacon on the floor. “Yes, sir. Josie was a big woman. Not fat, but tall as Grasshopper here and twice as stocky.”

  Teal raised both eyebrows and Rio snatched up the bacon. August would swear the dog was grinning when Rio looked her way before turning her attention back to BJ. August scolded BJ this time. “No wonder her manners have gotten so bad. You shouldn’t feed her from the table.”

  Nobody was listening to her complaint.

  “So, Josie did the cooking because she was a woman?” Teal’s challenge held a teasing tone.

  “Heck, no. She could wrestle a steer with the best man out there, but Josie had a gentle, laid-back nature and a bad back that bothered her if she had to do much wrangling. That worked out just fine for us when she volunteered for ranch duty. She did all the cooking and house cleaning, and kept up the barnyard stock. She also could fix the roof or tend a sick cow if needed and was a whiz with paperwork.”

  “You said she left with another woman who was a wrangler.” Teal rested her chin in her hand, fixing her gaze on BJ.

  He preened under her full attention. “Yep. Amy was a pistol, sure enough. She weren’t but about one-thirty soaking wet, but she was quick as a rattlesnake and tough as the cow dog that was always at her heels. She’d won a bunch of roping and barrel-racing trophies on the rodeo circuit, but said she was tired of traveling and wanted to put down roots. She’d been working her way across Texas, looking for the right spot to spend her winnings on a place of her own.”

  The morning sun that shone through the windows warmed Teal’s profile, and August was startled by a sudden déjà vu moment. It was as if Teal belonged there in the kitchen with her and BJ. She scowled.

  “So, Amy caught Josie’s eye?”

  “More like Josie caught Amy’s eye. She’d been here about two weeks before she was bossing every man in the bunkhouse. But Josie, well…Amy sweet-talked her, just like she talked to the horses.”

  Teal’s slow smile gripped August low in the belly. This was ridiculous. She was just missing Christine. Not Christine, but what they’d had together. August closed her eyes. That wasn’t a box she really wanted to open and examine at this very moment. Teal needed to go. August stood and began clearing their empty plates. Maybe that would shut BJ up and get the two of them on their way into town.

  BJ ignored August’s efforts, holding on to his coffee cup when she nudged him sharply to take his plate away. “By the end of the summer, Amy bought old man Johnson’s 200-acre spread about twenty miles from here and lured Josie and her pet pig away from us. I hear they’re running some cattle and Amy is breeding and training some high-dollar horses.”

  Teal did take notice of August’s prodding and stood.

  BJ, coming to the end of his story, finally gave up his cup and rose from his stool, too. “I sure miss Josie, but can’t say I miss that pig much. She’d let that durn animal in the den, and it’d lie over there on a dog bed and watch TV, I kid you not.”

  August put the last plate in the dishwasher and started it half full. “Sun’s getting high.” She glanced at Teal. “BJ has to take Pops into town for a doctor’s appointment, so he’ll drop you off at the garage that has your car.” Sh
e turned to BJ. “Before you head into town, why don’t you get our visitor to help you put together the lunch I’ll need for the crew later. You can tell her all about the pig while you’re doing it.” She’d heard enough about Josie and her pig. “I’m heading out to check the west fence. I’ll come back and pick up the food.” The back door banged shut behind her.

  *

  Teal stared after August. “I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

  “It ain’t nothing personal, Miss Teal,” BJ said softly. “August’s got a weight on her shoulders and a lot tangled up inside her right now.” He took a large ham and a jar of mayonnaise from the refrigerator, then a long loaf of bread from the cabinet. “How about you go get your things together while I make these sandwiches?”

  “I can help.”

  “Won’t take me no time. I’ve got a system. Been doing it ever since Josie left. Go on, now.”

  Teal smiled her thanks and headed to her room. She thought she’d developed a thick skin while working in DC. You learned quickly how to let things go and move on when you couldn’t change them. Who you stepped on and what you traded to reach your goals wasn’t personal. But she wasn’t in Washington any longer, and August’s apparent rejection bothered her. What had happened to the sweetly gallant woman who’d blushed ten shades of red when she insisted she’d have to keep watch if Teal was still woozy as she soaked naked in the tub? She didn’t like the grumpy, distant woman who’d shown up for breakfast.

  She packed her things away in her duffel, neatly making the bed. She gathered her towel and washcloth to take to the laundry room as soon as she asked BJ where that was located. Then she checked her phone. It was fully charged but still no signal. She’d been afraid of that. Lauren had asked all of her staff to switch their phone contracts to a company that made substantial contributions to her campaign. There was never a problem getting a signal from their cell towers in the city or most of the East Coast, but the mountains or rural areas were another issue. She needed to switch her phone contract to a company with better range. For now, she hoped she could get a signal when they drove into town.

  Teal slipped the phone into her purse and shouldered her bag. She surveyed the cozy bedroom. There’d been no mention of a woman of the house, other than the lesbian cook, so she wasn’t surprised that the decor was predominantly masculine and of a Southwestern theme. The forest-green and khaki tones of the bed’s patchwork quilt perfectly complemented the pine furniture and desert reds in a Navajo tapestry that hung on the opposite wall. She was surprised, however, at how quiet the world felt when she was in this room. Reluctantly, she picked up her duffel and closed the door on what she decided must be really good feng shui.

  *

  “Hawk and Tommy, head out to finish repairs on that fence break in the northwest pasture.” The men had been waiting in the bunkhouse’s kitchen for August or BJ to set the agenda for the day and rose from their seats around the long picnic-style table to empty the dregs of their coffee cups into the sink. “Manny and Brick, you guys split up to do the morning sweep for any new calves.”

  “How ’bout me?” Pops squinted at her. Years of hard riding hadn’t been kind to the seventy-eight-year-old man. Arthritis knotted his hands, and cardiac disease weakened his heart. He’d been Julio’s first hire and dug the hole for the first fence post at The White Paw. It was an unspoken understanding that he would live out his years on the ranch, even when he could no longer complete even the smallest chore. “Chickens and horses already fed.”

  “BJ says you’re going into town with him this morning.”

  “Ain’t going into town. I’m going with Manny and Brick.”

  “BJ says you’ve got an appointment—”

  “Now, Pops,” Manny said. “You know BJ will lollygag all day in town if you don’t go and make him get on back here.” He waggled his eyebrows at the old man. “Besides, I heard he has a really pretty lady riding with him. You know what a dog he is. You need to go along and protect that young woman’s virtue.”

  Pops scowled. “What lady?”

  Manny had everyone’s attention now. “Don’t know, but Tommy saw August carrying her into the house yesterday afternoon. Why don’t you ask her?”

  All eyes turned to her. She narrowed her eyes at them, but the men didn’t appear intimidated. She opened her mouth to tell them it wasn’t any of their business, but the truth was sure to be a lot less interesting than what their imaginations were likely to conjure.

  “I wasn’t carrying her. Her car broke down, and she’d been stranded out on the highway for hours in the sun. She was suffering from heat exhaustion, so I was helping her into the house, where she spent the night in one of our guest rooms while she recovered. BJ is driving her into town this morning to get her car repaired so she can continue on her way.”

  “So, she isn’t staying?” Tommy, twenty-three years old, was the youngest of the crew.

  August shook her head. “She’s headed to her cousin’s ranch in New Mexico.”

  “Damn.” He slapped his hat against his leg. “We never get any new women around here.”

  Brick laughed and threw a muscled arm over the young man’s shoulders as he guided him out of the bunkhouse. “You’ve got to go hang out around one of those college campuses on your days off. Those coeds love cowboys. Meet you one and drag her back here.”

  “Don’t work that way anymore,” Tommy grumbled. “All they want is a good ride, and then they leave you in the dust wondering when the hell you came out of the saddle.”

  August watched them go. “I know exactly what you mean, buddy,” she said under her breath. She turned back to urge Pops toward the house but came face to face with Hawk.

  “If you want to come with us, we can unload the fencing we need and you can have the truck.”

  “Thanks, but I think I’ll saddle up and check out the southwest fence this morning. I can be back in time to bring lunch around on one of the ATVs.”

  Hawk nodded. “I like to ride the fence when I need to think. It clears my head.”

  “I don’t need to think about anything. I’m just looking for fence breaks.”

  “Didn’t say you did.” He gripped Pops’s shoulder. “Come on, Pops. How about I walk you up to the house so I can get a gander at this visitor Tommy’s drooling over before you and BJ drive her into town.”

  August selected a tall bay gelding with a wide blaze and black mane and tail from the horses that came up out of the paddock when she banged one of the feed buckets against a post. She brushed and saddled him with the quick, efficient movements that had become second nature in her summers here and was unclipping him from the crossties when Teal appeared at the entrance of the barn.

  “I thought you’d be gone by now,” August said, stopping a few feet away.

  “BJ got a business call. It sounded like someone was inquiring about one of your bulls, so we’re waiting for him to finish.” She drew a fold of money from her pocket. “I tried to pay BJ for towing my car into town, but he wouldn’t take it. He said you give the orders and take the money around here.” She held the money out. “So, please take this, along with my thanks.”

  August shook her head. “That’s not necessary.”

  Teal stiffened, one hand defiantly propped on her hip while she insistently held out the money in her other hand. “Really. I’m not as poor as I appear. It’s just that I’ve had to relocate unexpectedly and my savings are mostly tied up in short-term investments and I’m still driving my old junker from college because I didn’t need a car where I’ve been living and—” Teal stopped mid-explanation, as though she realized her volume had grown to near shouting. “Just take the money,” she said softly.

  She knew she shouldn’t, but Teal’s flashing eyes and passionate defense stirred something in August. She stepped closer and closed her hand around Teal’s and the money, pressing both against Teal’s chest. “You keep it and pay it forward next time you see someone who needs a helping hand.”


  Teal’s lips parted, surprise flickering in her eyes. They were inches apart, and for a second, August had a ridiculous impulse to close the distance and cover those full lips with hers, to run her tongue against those straight, white teeth. Her horse snorted, his bridle jangling as he impatiently bobbed his head and mouthed his bit.

  “If that’s what you really want,” Teal said, her eyes still holding August’s as she stepped backward, out of the barn’s cool interior and into the harsh sunlight.

  August nodded and whirled to swing smoothly onto the saddle. She tugged her Stetson low on her brow, allowed herself one last long look at one of the most attractive women she’d ever met, then steered the gelding out the other side of the barn entrance and kneed him into an easy canter toward the wide-open pasture, where she hoped to catch her breath.

  Chapter Five

  August tugged off her sunglasses and squinted under the bright near-noon sun that denied every shadow, exposed every place possible to hide from its glare.

  Fence posts stretched toward the horizon in a wavy line like mile-markers, bisected by strands of rusting wire that twisted into barbs every five inches. She shook her head. The wood posts and minimum three strands of wire were outdated methods, as was Julio’s lack of efficient pasture management. He was old school.

  The only thing she could see that had changed on the ranch was the bunkhouse. Instead of an open room lined with bunks and a table in the middle for chow, the long building had been sectioned off to give each wrangler a small, private dorm-style room. They prepared and ate meals in a shared kitchen and dining area that joined a large room with a pool table, well-worn sofas, and a big-screen television. Or, they could retreat to their individual rooms for some quiet, private time to watch a smaller television of their own, read a book, or sleep. The main house—bathrooms and kitchen—had been updated, too.