by Katie Lane
It was the first time Cru had heard anyone refer to their GPS by its full name. “It’s easy to lose a signal way out here. But I’d be happy to point you in the right direction.” He smiled. “And don’t worry, I won’t send you to have sweet tea with my mama.”
Her big hazel eyes glanced up at him and she blinked behind the lenses of her glasses. “Why would you send me to have sweet tea with your mother?”
“It was a joke. Obviously, a bad one. It’s what happens in the country song ‘Good Directions and Turnip Greens.’”
She still looked baffled. “Shouldn’t it be called Good Directions and Sweet Tea? What do turnip greens have to do with the song? Does the mother serve turnip greens too? Because the leafy vegetation on the top of turnips isn’t very appropriate for a tea. Usually one would serve finger sandwiches, scones, and petit fours.”
He squinted at her. Nope, this woman didn’t belong on a country road in rural Texas. He wasn’t even sure she belonged on earth. “Well, I’ll sure remember that if I ever have a tea party. So where are you headed?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
Cru pushed his cowboy hat up on his forehead. “Well, ma’am, I hate to point this out, but if you don’t tell me where you’re headed, I can’t help you get there. And you could be sitting here waiting for your global positioning system until the cows come home.” At her confused look, he clarified. “For a very long time.”
She looked at her phone, then back at him. “Very well, but I hope I can count on your discretion. I did some research and gossip is the number one pastime for small rural areas.”
Now he was intrigued. Why would this woman want him to be discreet? What was she up to? “I’m not much of a gossiper.”
She studied him for another moment before she finally nodded. “Very well. I’m looking for the Gardener Ranch.”
“You’re in luck. That’s where I’m headed.”
“Are you Hank Gardener? When I talked to you on the phone you sounded older.”
So she had never met the Gardeners. Things just kept getting more and more interesting. “Nope. I just work at the ranch.” It wasn’t a lie. He intended to work for his room and board while he was there. Chester and Lucas could take charity from Penny, but he wasn’t about to. He reached his hand out the window. “Cru Cassidy.”
She hesitantly shook his hand. “Devlin McMillian.”
“Nice to meet you, Devlin. If you follow me, I’ll have you there in a jiffy . . . quickly.”
On the way to the Gardener Ranch, he kept glancing in his rearview mirror at the woman following him. Not because he was attracted to her—although even with her hair all twigged up and those huge glasses, she was a nice-looking woman—but because she’d gotten his curiosity up with her secretive behavior. The car was definitely a rental. And why would a prim and proper city girl rent a car and drive all the way out to Gardener Ranch on business?
He became even more curious when they arrived at the ranch. He had no more than hopped out of his truck to open her door when Hank Gardener came out of the house.
“Can I help you?” He directed the question at Cru.
Cru didn’t know how much Penny had told her father, so he kept it simple. “Cru Cassidy. Penny hired me on. And this is Devlin McMillian. Or do you already know each other?”
Hank’s gazed snapped over to Devlin, who was getting out of her car before coming back to Cru. “Stow your things in the bunkhouse and I’ll be out to show you around when I’m through here.”
Penny had already shown him around that morning with Chester and Lucas, but he nodded anyway. “Yes, sir.” He walked to his truck slowly so he could eavesdrop.
“I wasn’t expecting you, Ms. McMillian.” Hank didn’t sound happy. Of course, from what Cru knew of the man, he was never happy. “You were supposed to call me when you got into town so we could set up a meeting.”
“I thought it would be more expedient if I came here,” Devlin said. “The sooner I start surveying, the sooner—”
Hank cut her off. “We can discuss this inside, Ms. McMillian. Cru!” Cru glanced back to see Hank scowling at him. “I hope you’re not as slow at working as you are at walking.”
“No, sir.” He pulled open his truck door and climbed in, then drove around to the bunkhouse where he’d left Chester and Lucas watching television. Before he got out of the truck, he Googled Devlin McMillian on his cellphone. Rather than search through the entries, he searched images until he found her picture with the same glasses and topknot.
It turned out she was a geoscientist. Cru had sold an electric car to a geoscientist once and the guy had told him all about his job. What business did Hank Gardener have with a scientist who studied the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter of the earth? There seemed to be only one answer. Hank had discovered oil deposits on his land. It was a little annoying that the rich got richer while people like Lucas and Chester were shit out of luck. Of course, if there turned out to be oil on Hank’s land, there could be oil on the Double Diamond. And wouldn’t that be a lucky break?
He pocketed his phone and hopped out, looking forward to a nice long shower. Unfortunately, when he got inside, Chester and Lucas weren’t sitting in front of the television where he’d left them. They were nowhere to be found. Which meant his shower would have to wait. Thinking that the barn was the most likely place they’d be, he headed there first. He didn’t find them, but he did find a three-legged dog.
“Hey, there, buddy.” He squatted down to scratch the dog’s ears and received a friendly lick for his troubles.
“Trixie’s a female.” Raul, whom Cru had met earlier, came out of one of the stalls holding a rake.
Cru continued to pet Trixie. “How did she lose her leg?”
“We don’t know. Miss Penny found her hobbling along the side of the road. She was half-starved and already a tripod.”
So Penny had brought the dog home. He should’ve known. The woman seemed to collect misfits. Cru shook his head as he stood. “Have you seen Chester and Lucas around? They’re not in the bunkhouse.”
“No, but that might explain why two of the horses are missing.”
Cru heaved a sigh. He should’ve known the two old guys wouldn’t stay put. “Do you mind if I take a horse and go look for them?”
“Just pick one out, and I’ll saddle it up for you.”
He could’ve chosen one of the mild-mannered mares, but instead he chose the black stallion. He’d been itching to ride Severus since he’d first seen Penny on him.
“Are you sure?” Raul asked. “This horse doesn’t much care for anyone riding him but Miss Penny.”
“I think I can manage.” But it wasn’t easy. Severus started acting up as soon as he settled into the saddle. Cru didn’t fight him. He just kept a firm seat in the saddle and let him get his fidgeting out. After a while, Severus calmed down and accepted his new rider.
“I’d check the branding pens first,” Raul said. He gave Cru directions.
Cru kept Severus in a sedate trot for about half a mile before he gave the horse free rein and they took off. He would’ve enjoyed every second of the fast ride if he hadn’t been so worried about Chester and Lucas. The thought of one old guy with a sprained ankle and the other half blind wandering around the ranch on horseback scared the crap out of him.
It turned out his fear was uncalled for. When he arrived at the branding pens, he discovered Chester and Lucas were just fine. In fact, they were more than fine. They looked like they were having the time of their lives as they herded Angus cows into the cattle chute to wait for their turn to be branded. They were whistling and flapping their coiled ropes as they maneuvered their cutting horses first one way and then the other to separate cows. At the end of the chute, Penny and a ranch hand stood at the cage used to hold each cow for branding and ear marking. She glanced up when Cru drew closer to the pens and Severus nickered a greeting, but she immediately went back to work.
Sweat dampened the back of her we
stern shirt and glistened on her neck between the two braids that hung over her shoulders. She worked quickly and efficiently with the ranch hand and within minutes, they had a cow ear marked and branded before releasing it into the corral with the rest of the cattle.
Once she was finished, she walked over to the railing where Cru sat on Severus and pulled off her hat, wiping the sweat from her brow with her sleeve. “That’s my horse.”
He grinned. “Are you calling me a horse thief?”
“Nope, just a cocky cowboy who thinks he can take what he wants.” She glanced back at Chester and Lucas. “I tried to send them back to the ranch, but you know how well they listen. I believe their exact words were ‘You hired us to work and we’re working.’” She shook her head. “Obviously, my plan backfired.”
“I don’t know about that. I haven’t seen them so happy since I got here. Neither one of them are steady on their feet, but they sure as hell can ride. It seems age doesn’t matter in the saddle.”
“Once a cowboy, always a cowboy, my grandpa used to say.” The ranch hand who’d been working with Penny stepped up next to her and pulled off his hat. He was younger than Cru had first thought. Young and handsome with eyes that sparkled a little too much when they landed on Penny. “I’ve got the next cow ready, Miss Penny.”
“Thanks, Dylan. This is Cru Cassidy. He’s here to help me keep an eye on Chester and Lucas. This is Dylan Matheson. He just hired on, but he’s become my right hand man.” Penny playfully tapped the brim of Dylan’s hat and an emotion settled in the pit of Cru’s stomach. An emotion he hadn’t felt before and couldn’t quite place…until they went back to the cattle crush and Cru noticed how well they worked together. They didn’t need to say a word to each other as they went about their job. When Penny had trouble sliding the head bar into place, Dylan was right there to help her out, placing his hand next to hers to give her his added strength.
That’s when Cru identified the emotion.
Jealousy. Hard, unrelenting jealousy that slammed into his body and had him swinging down from Severus and securing the horse’s reins before climbing over the pen’s railing.
“Why don’t you take a break, Dylan,” Cru said in a voice that didn’t sound at all like the easy-going person he strived to be. “I’ll help Penny.”
Both Dylan and Penny glanced back at him with confusion. And they had every right to be confused. Hell, he was completely baffled by the emotions that swirled around inside him. But that didn’t stop him from moving next to Penny as if he were staking his claim.
Her eyes squinted at him from beneath the brim of her hat. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t want you pulling out your stitches. And do you even know how to brand cattle?”
“My shoulder is fine, and I did my fair share of branding on the Double Diamond. Back then, we had to rope each cow and use a branding iron straight from the fire. This looks a lot easier.”
“It is if you know what you’re doing,” Dylan said.
Cru mad-dogged him. “I think I can figure it out.”
Dylan stared back at him before he glanced at Penny. “You want him to take over, Miss Penny?”
“It’s fine, Dylan. You go check on Billy and Sam and make sure they’re bringing in those cows from the east pasture like I told them and not taking a nap under some tree.”
Dylan shot Cru one more hard look before he nodded and walked toward a horse that was tied up at the railing.
When he was gone, Penny looked at Cru. “You want to play cowboy, you’re going to get to play cowboy. We have a lot more cattle to brand.”
She wasn’t kidding. For the remainder of the afternoon, they worked non-stop. And Cru and Penny didn’t make as good of a team as she and Dylan had. Cru made more than a few mistakes she had to correct before he got the hang of it. With little sleep the night before, he was dead on his feet by the time they were finished for the day. Penny, on the other hand, looked energized. Like she could brand another hundred head.
On the ride back to the ranch, she maneuvered Severus next to the cutting horse she’d swapped Cru for. He thought she was going to talk about how the branding had gone. Instead, she said something completely different.
“Knock, knock.”
Even as tired as he was, he couldn’t help smiling. “Who’s there?”
“Cows go.”
“Cows go who?”
“No, silly. Cows go moo.”
He tipped back his head and laughed, and she joined in. Cru forgot all about his sore shoulder and his tired muscles. He was a teenager again riding next to a sweet girl who told silly jokes. And for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel like a lone balloon floating through the sky.
It scared the hell out of him.
Chapter Twelve
“Personally, I thought the heroine was a complete idiot. I mean why would she choose to run off to Paris when she could’ve married that nice guy Neil who owned the butcher shop?” Luanne Riddell, who never seemed to like the books chosen by the Simple Ladies’ Book Club, shook her head in disgust. “Makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. She could’ve gotten any cut of meat she wanted whenever she wanted. A girl can’t ask for more than that.”
Penny glanced at Emma Johansen and they both rolled their eyes as Raynelle Coffman jumped into the discussion. “Having a thick-cut Porterhouse steak for supper isn’t everything, Luanne. Poor Rebecca had already made a tragic mistake with one man. She didn’t want to rush into a relationship with another—no matter how good he was with a butcher’s knife. Take me, for example.” She picked up one of the little hot dogs baked in crescent roll dough that the hostess Maureen Fulton had made and popped it into her mouth. All the women in Maureen’s family room waited patiently for Raynelle to finishing eating and continue. “After Donny Joe up and left me, I could’ve married Mickey Dennis, but I chose not to.”
“Mickey Dennis?” Sadie asked.
“Remember, he was that truck driver from Amarillo who used to deliver Ding Dongs to the Simple Market. The man was crazy about me and proposed after the third date. But instead of saying yes, I decided to spread my wings like Rebecca and experience life.”
Luanne snorted. “There is a big difference between a butcher who owns his own shop and a truck driver who delivers Ding Dongs, Raynelle. And just how have you experienced life? You haven’t even been out of the state of Texas.”
“I have too. I went to Texarkana to visit my Aunt Lucy just last summer.”
“That’s still Texas! Where do you think the Tex comes from?”
Jolene Applegate, one of the quieter book club members, spoke in a soft voice. “Well, I guess that would depend on what side your aunt lives on. If she lives on the east side, it would be Arkansas.”
“And going to Arkansas is not really the same as going to Paris, France, Jolie.” Luanne jumped up. “Just forget it. There’s no talking to some senseless people. I’m going to get myself more chips and queso dip.”
“Get me some while you’re at it, Lulu,” Raynelle said. “Sadie makes the best queso dip in the county.”
“Will do, sugar.” Luanne sent her a big smile as if she hadn’t just called Raynelle senseless.
When she was gone, Maureen turned to Penny. “You haven’t said much tonight, Penny. What did you think about the book?”
“I’m afraid I only got to chapter five. I’ve been a little busy with spring branding, although we’re all finished now. So next month I shouldn’t have any trouble getting the book read.”
“Sounds like you got it done early this year.”
They had finished the branding early. Thanks to Cru, Lucas, and Chester. Despite Penny’s concerns, the two old cowboys had proven they could hold their own in a saddle. And even out of the saddle, they seemed to be holding their own. Lucas got around much better now that he had the boot—Raul had even made him a special stirrup—and Chester had agreed to go to the doctor’s about cataract surgery. Except for a late afternoon nap under a shade t
ree, they worked from sunup to sundown. The ranch hands said Chester and Lucas even stayed up late some nights, regaling them with stories about their rodeoing days.
The only one who didn’t seem to be thriving on the Gardener Ranch was Cru. The carefree, charming bad boy had become a withdrawn, quiet cowboy. He didn’t offer to help her tag and brand again and instead herded with Chester or Lucas. When the long day was over, he headed to the bunkhouse and stayed there until the following morning. She should be thankful he was keeping his distance, but instead she missed his teasing remarks and flirtatious smiles.
She knew his melancholy mood had to do with the document she’d found in the barn. He must’ve discovered it in the charred rubble of Chester and Lucas’s house. Is that what had made him pass out? Had he just discovered his mother had left him in a bus station? The thought made Penny feel even more sympathetic towards him.
“I bet your daddy is happy the branding’s over,” Raynelle said, pulling Penny’s thoughts away from Cru.
“He sure is.” In fact, her father was happier than he’d been in a long time. She’d thought he’d be rude to Chester and Lucas. But he’d actually been cordial to their guests—or as cordial as Hank Gardener could be. She figured his happiness had to do with getting the branding done early and with Clint coming out to the ranch for the summer. She was happy too about her nephew coming, but she was also worried.
She hadn’t told Evie that Cru was staying at the ranch. She worried that if she did, her sister would go back on her bargain with their father and Hank would then kick Chester and Lucas out. Which was the same reason she hadn’t pushed Evie to tell Cru about Clint.
But as soon as the summer was over and Chester and Lucas had left, Penny was going to have a long talk with her sister. Cru was still cocky, but he wasn’t a carefree, irresponsible bad boy. He’d worked his tail off the last couple weeks on the ranch and refused to take pay. He watched over Lucas and Chester like a mother hen and had collected money from the other Double Diamond boys to help buy materials to rebuild their house. Maybe he wouldn’t have been a good father when he was fifteen, but Penny knew he would be a good father now. And she was going to do everything in her power to make sure Evie told him the truth.
