Colorado Courtship

by Cheryl St. John

  “Yes, I am.” He laughed and everyone joined him.

  “Well, I’ll see you all bright and early. Now, where do you want me to sleep, Aunt Min?”

  “I’ll show you to your room.” She looped her arm with Sunny’s and led her past the kitchen toward the other end of the house where the family’s bedrooms were, on the opposite end of the house from where Jed’s was.

  It had been a long day, so right about now sleep sounded good to him, too. “Think I’ll turn in early myself.” He faced Emmett. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  “That we do. But it won’t be quite as long with Sunny around.”

  Jed glanced in the direction where Minnie and Sunny had gone, making sure they were out of earshot. “She really that good a hand?”

  “She really is. Don’t let her size fool you. Just wait until you see what all that niece of mine can do.” Pride filled out Emmett’s barrel chest even farther.

  Jed couldn’t wait to see just what the lady could do. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

  Chapter Three

  With the sun nowhere near to rising yet, Sunny didn’t want to sit around doing nothing until it did. So she decided to make herself useful. Dressed for the outdoors, she quietly opened the mudroom door and stepped outside. Mid-January’s bitter cold stung her cheeks and the crisp, frigid air frosted the inside of her nostrils.

  She pulled the red-and-white bandanna from around her neck and covered her mouth and nose, then yanked the collar of her coat upward to where it touched the back of her tall-crowned cowboy hat. She was grateful for her ankle-length thick woolen coat along with the leather chaps that covered the top of her winter boots and kept the cold from biting into her legs.

  Her eyes traveled over her uncle’s ranch. White, white and more white. Well, with the exception of the red barn, outbuildings and wooden structures, and the animals who were mooing and nickering for her to come and feed them. The last time Sunny had visited her relatives, she’d helped with the chores, so she knew the basic routine. She’d start in the barn first.

  Because the wind had blown so hard during the night most of the freshly fallen snow didn’t cover the hard-packed layers already there, making the ground under her feet slick. She focused on keeping her feet underneath her. The last thing she needed was to end up stranded out here.

  Most of the four- to five-foot drifts were piled high against the barn door or the buildings. She jerked up the shovel that rested against the barn and moved the snow away from the door before abandoning the shovel and stepping inside. Wasn’t much warmer inside than it was outside. Horse, hay and leather scents seeped through her bandanna. All scents she loved. She smiled as they filled the world around her.

  She used a metal bucket and dumped grain into the built-in boxes inside the stall where her horses were. “Morning, Rascal. Morning, Rowdy.” She patted each neck in turn, and their eyes blinked with tenderness and love for her in response to her gentle touch.

  Horses from the other stalls whinnied, so she went down the line and fed the rest of them first grain, then hay. She broke the layer of ice in the water buckets and the water tank in the corral.

  When those chores were finished, she milked the Jersey cows and put the milk in the ranch house mudroom, along with the eggs she’d gathered after feeding the chickens.

  With at least an hour to go before sunlight, Sunny decided to hook up the two draft-horse teams her uncle used. She’d never told anyone how she’d always been intimidated by their massive size. A lot of healthy respect went a long way in knowing they could trample her. Tethered to the metal ring in front of the four-foot-high grain boxes, crunching their oats and stomping a foot now and again, while they finished eating their grain, Sunny went and gathered their harnesses.

  While they ate, as she had so many times before, she stood on the harnessing platform, which made putting the harnesses on them much easier.

  Though they were much, much higher than her, she showed no fear as she led them outside and past the tongue of the sled. She backed the draft horses up to the tongue and completed hooking them up, huffing and puffing and straining the whole time she did it. Doing them alone took the wind right out of her. She and Pa used to do this together. It was definitely a whole heap easier with two people.

  Standing on her tiptoes, she draped the lines through the rack at the front of the sled. A feeling of being watched came over her. She squinted, peering into the wooded area, then the outbuildings, the corrals, and ending at the barn. There Jed stood in the doorway. Goose bumps rose on her arms, and chills raced up her spine, and neither one had anything to do with the cold. Many a good-looking cowboy had crossed her path but none as fine as Jed. Before she allowed her mind to wander in a direction it had no business wandering, she reminded herself why she was here. With that settled in her mind, she greeted him with a pleasant smile. “Morning, Jed. How long you been standing there?”

  He smiled in return, and her mind went right back to where it was just seconds before. Oh, horseflies. Help me out here, will You, Lord?

  * * *

  “Long enough.” Jed headed toward the front of the wagon where Sunny stood.

  Her uncle wasn’t kidding when he said just wait and see what his niece could do. The sun wasn’t even up yet and that niece of his had all the chores done except for feeding the cows. “You sure handled those boys well, which ain’t easy with them two. Usually Samson and Goliath sidestep when you back them up to the tongue.”

  She tilted her head back and gazed up at him. All he could see was the puzzlement in her eyes. “I didn’t have a bit of trouble with them.”

  “So I noticed. You’re lucky. You got them on one of their good days. Emmett is thinking about replacing them.”

  “I hope not. I’ll take them if he does.”

  “You may want to rethink that. Wait until you’re around them a few times.”

  “Fair enough. Well, I’d best hook up the other team now.”

  “I’ll help.”

  Together they readied the other team. When they finished, knowing Boomer and Tucker’s gentle nature and that they wouldn’t take off, Jed tied them to a hitching post while Sunny climbed onto the bed of the other sled and grabbed the lines. She braced her knees against the rack, pulled back on the left line and turned the horses around, and stopped the sled right in front of him. “Hop on.” Her eyes smiled and he assumed under that bandanna her mouth did, as well.

  He stood there for a moment, admiring the ease with which she’d handled the rowdiest team Emmett had, then climbed aboard and stood beside her. His five-foot-eleven frame towered over her.

  “You want to take over, or do you mind if I do it?” She held out the lines to him.

  A smile curled inside him. Made him feel good that she asked him and that she respected him as a boss. “No. You go right on ahead. I’ll stand here and enjoy the ride for a change.”

  She gave a quick nod, then with a slap of the lines, she guided the team like an expert out to the lower meadow and lined them right up alongside the haystack, impressing Jed even more. It had taken Cody, one of his other ranch hands, three tries to get that maneuver accomplished without taking out half the haystack.

  “Whoa, boys.” She pulled back on the lines, bringing the horses to a stop. “Will these two stand here without being tethered to a rock or something?” She gazed up at him with those big brown eyes of hers.

  “For a few minutes they will. If they’re standing in one place too long, they get pretty restless.” Restless wasn’t quite accurate. Those two got downright belligerent.

  Sunny gave a quick nod, then wrapped the lines around the side of the rack closest to the hay pile. She snatched one of the metal hay forks off the bed of the sled and climbed up the wooden rack. She made her way up the mound as if she were climbing a ladder instead of loose hay.

  Jed shook his head, wondering how someone so small could climb up with such ease while holding a metal pitchfork in her hand no les
s.

  After he got over his initial shock, he joined her at the top. The two of them worked at knocking the snow and ice off the top layer, huffing and puffing as they did. Once they had it removed, they worked in layers, loading the loose hay onto the bed of the sled.

  Three-quarters of the way through, Jed heard voices. He looked toward the opposite end of the haystack. Here came Matt, George and Cody driving Boomer and Tucker, the pair of matching dapple grays Jed and Sunny had readied earlier. Cody guided them until they were alongside the stack.

  Didn’t take long before the three hired hands made their way to them. They stood below gazing up at Sunny with curious stares on their faces.

  Jed opened his mouth to introduce her to them, but George started talking before he had a chance. “Hey, thanks for doing the chores, boss.”

  “I didn’t. Sunny did.” He yanked a thumb her direction.

  George looked over at Sunny. “So you’re Sunny, huh?”

  Sunny stopped forking the hay and dipped her head George’s direction. “Sure am. And you are?”

  “George Elder.” George raised his hat and that wild lock of his blond hair fell across his forehead. He raked the strand back into place and replaced his hat.

  “Nice to meet you, George. I’d come down and shake your hand but I ain’t climbing up this here thing twice in one day.”

  “How’d an itty-bitty thing such as yourself get up there anyways?” George asked, clearly puzzled.

  “Same way anyone else does. Put one foot in front of the other and climb.”

  Jed chuckled under his breath at that one, and his gaze went to the three cowboys. Something told him they’d just met their match.

  “Ah, c’mon, tell the truth now. You ain’t any bigger than a tick, so how’d you really get up there? Did the boss man here help you?” An insinuating smirk ran across George’s face.

  One Jed didn’t like at all. He narrowed his eyes at George, hoping he would get the message.

  “Ah, who told?” Sunny yanked her hat off and slapped it across her knee. When she did her bandanna fell from across her nose down to her neck. “I’ve done been found out.” White puffs floated from her mouth as she exhaled. “Yup. That’s it. Jed picked me up and tossed me up here ’cause you know there’s no way someone who ain’t ‘any bigger than a tick’ could get up here all by themselves.” She shoved her hat back onto her head, slid down the stack and quick as a wink climbed up on top of it again.

  Jed looked over at George. His mouth hung open wider than a canyon, and so did Cody’s and Matt’s.

  “First time I’ve seen you speechless, George.”

  “I would’ve never believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.” George stood there shaking his head.

  “Well, maybe you didn’t really see it, George. Maybe your eyes was playing tricks on you.” The serious smile curling those full lips of hers belied the mirth in her eyes.

  Stunned Jed into silence. Neither he nor George said anything for a moment.

  Sunny, well, she went back to tossing hay onto the sled as if nothing was amiss. It was. Not only had the men never had a woman sass back to them but they’d never been outwitted either. That was, until now.

  Jed finally cleared his throat. “By the way, Sunny. That’s Cody Bower.” He pointed to the tallest one of the men. At six foot three, Cody had four inches on Jed.

  Sunny looked down at him, and Cody raised his hat to her. The copper color in his hair magnified under the bright sunshine. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He tugged his hat back onto his head until his ears stuck out like a monkey’s. Jed had never understood why he did that.

  “Nice to meet you, too, Cody.”

  “And that’s Matt Duncan.” Jed pointed to Matt.

  Sunny’s attention drifted toward Matt—the only teenager of the bunch. Matt removed his hat but all you could see was the top of his molasses hair. “Ma’am,” he drawled, never looking up.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Matt. Judging by your accent, you must be from the South.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I am.”

  “Whereabouts in the South are you from, Matt?”

  “Chattanooga, Tennessee, ma’am.” Matt still hadn’t looked up at Sunny yet. Jed felt sorry for the shy boy. The only relative he’d had was an uncle who had moved them out West to start a new life. Shortly after hiring on to the Flying W Ranch, his uncle had keeled over, died of a heart attack. Emmett had kept the boy on and gave him a job. The Westons had a way of taking in strays. And Jed wasn’t talking about animals either.

  “Oh, I’ve heard of that place.” Sunny smiled and her face beamed. “A fur trader from Tennessee came through our ranch several years ago. Told us all about Tennessee. How green it is. How friendly the people are there. You must be right proud of your home state.”

  Matt’s head rose toward Sunny. “Yes, ma’am. I am.” Homesickness drifted through his voice and across his face. Jed knew Matt missed his family something awful.

  “Well, someday I’d love to hear more about it.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Daylight filled his eyes, replacing the darkness in them from moments ago.

  Without even knowing it, Sunny had said the right thing. Jed knew it helped Matt to talk about Tennessee, to remember his folks.

  “Hear you have a ranch up the mountain a ways. I’d love to see it someday,” Matt said with a half smile.

  “Hey, there you go, Sunny,” Cody piped in. “Matt’s a hard worker. A great hand. Knows all there is to know about ranching. You and Matt could get hitched. Then you’d have a man to help you to get that place of yours up and running again. Course, he ain’t much taller than you so not sure how that would work.” Cody guffawed.

  Matt blushed and ducked his head.

  George stood there with not only his mouth wide as a canyon again but his eyes, too.

  Sunny whipped her head in Cody’s direction. Fire flashed from her eyes.

  Before the scene got ugly, Jed spoke up. “Don’t you men have work to do?”

  Cody yanked his gaze to Jed’s.

  Jed narrowed his eyes, sending Cody a warning glare. The young man was always spouting off without thinking and his mouth had gotten him into more trouble than he was worth.

  Cody’s pale complexion turned the same shade of red as the bandanna around his neck. He nodded, and without saying another word, he headed back toward the direction he’d come from, looking back once, then twice, then three times.

  George and Matt excused themselves and followed him.

  Jed turned toward Sunny, not sure what to say or if he should say anything at all.

  “I get so sick and tired of being teased ’cause I’m small.” Sunny sighed, driving her fork into the hay with more force than what was needed.

  “You get teased a lot about that, do you?” Jed stabbed his hay fork into the mound and tossed a large heap onto the almost-filled sled.

  “Yup. Get mighty fed up with it, too.” She stopped forking hay and looked over at him. “But I’d rather be teased about that than—” She stopped, her eyes snagged on his. In a flash she scooted down the stack and onto the sled, stabbing her pitchfork into the dried grass. Without a glance his way she positioned herself on top of the hay behind the rack, braced her feet against the boards and picked up the lines.

  Jed let out a short breath before joining her. He braced his legs alongside hers, careful to keep enough distance between them. “What were you about to say?”

  “Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it. Forget I said anything.”

  He wanted to argue. Instead he nodded. He knew enough not to pry information out of the cowboys, and from what he’d seen, she was tougher than any cowboy he’d ever worked with.

  Chapter Four

  “What next?” Sunny asked Jed after they finished feeding the cows. She was relieved the other hands were still feeding cows up on the upper meadow. She’d barely started this job and it was happening already. If only she’d been born a boy. She sighed, dre
ading the inevitable—the constant teasing from the men about her size or her tomboyishness or even worse...that it was her fault her family’s ranch had failed.

  That’s what Pa’s hired hands had told her the day her pa had to let them go. It wasn’t true of course, but still, it hurt nonetheless knowing people believed that. Well, she could no more control their flapping tongues or what they believed about her than she could the weather that had all but destroyed their ranch. So she was just going to keep going, keep walking and keep working and trust that someday, somehow, she would make this all work out.

  “We need to check the water hole.” The words had no more left Jed’s mouth than Sunny noticed her uncle galloping toward them.

  “Whoa.” Sunny pulled back on the lines, stopping the horses right when her uncle reached them. “What’s wrong, Uncle Emmett?”

  “I need you to come with me, Jed. I got a cow upside down.”

  “I can help.” Sunny handed the lines over to Jed.

  Uncle Emmett’s green eyes met hers. “I’d rather Jed help me this time, Sunshine.”

  Oh. Sunny’s shoulders drooped. She knew why he wanted Jed. Even though her uncle said he believed in her abilities, his actions just now spoke something very different.

  What did it take to prove to people she was just as capable of handling whatever problems came up on a ranch as any man?

  After all, she’d been doing it her whole life.

  She sighed, realizing the only person who truly believed in her was her pa, and he was gone. Oh, Pa. I miss you so much. It had only been a little over two months since his death, and while she’d cried buckets of tears, she hadn’t really had a chance to fully mourn the loss of him yet. She’d been too busy taking care of business and arranging things with her neighbor, who agreed that in exchange for watching over her place while she was gone he could use the outbuildings and meadows.

  Thinking about the ranch she loved so dearly, determination rose up inside of her. She wouldn’t let her uncle’s decision bother her none. Instead she’d work even harder to prove to him and anyone else she was more than capable. Nothing or no one would stop her from bringing her homestead back to the greatness it once was. She was here to do a job, a fine one at that. “What else needs done, then?”