“Does that mean you’re going to stick around?”
“Travis, it’s never up to me,” she murmured. “I can’t say that I ever left a ranch because I wanted to. You have no idea what it’s like to be a female in a male-dominated profession.”
The ominous words left an awkward silence between them.
“Don’t your ranch bosses stick up for you?”
“They’ve got a handful of angry cowboys who resent having to take orders from a female. If they get rid of me, all their headaches disappear.”
“And the moral stance?”
She fingered the napkin on the table, her eyes hooded. “Oh, the usual. Being nice to the boss means job security. Or my last position where ugly rumors of favoritism by the boss bested two years of loyalty and hard work. I can’t trust anyone to stick up for me when it isn’t in their best interest. And it’s usually not.”
“I’m sorry, AJ. That’s not going to happen at Big Heart Ranch. I can promise you that.”
She simply nodded her head without responding.
“I mean it, AJ.”
“I hear you.”
Once their server took their order, Travis tried to lighten the mood.
“Hard to believe it’s the beginning of June. Spring has gone by fast. We’ve only got a few weeks until everything has to be submitted for the grant,” he said.
“I’ve scheduled a tentative walk-through with the committee people.”
“Already?”
“Lucy told me that summer craziness starts July first.”
“Did she mention that they bus in the kids from the Pawhuska Children’s Orphanage each day for six weeks?”
“Yes, and I’m assigned a buddy. I’m pretty excited.”
“It’s fun. Exhausting but worth it. Each year brings a new adventure. This will be our fifth summer.”
“So is it as busy as she tells me?”
“Busier. We’ll have kids coming and going. The stables will be packed, as will the swimming pool and every trail on the ranch.”
“Then it’s good that I scheduled the walk-through for two weeks from now, before summer program starts. It gives us a window of two weeks on the other side, in case there are problems.”
“Problems?” he echoed. “We’re past tornado season.”
“Even heavy rain could postpone the inspection. Any number of mishaps could be problematic.”
“Unplanned disaster aside, do you think we’re ready?” Travis asked.
“Yes,” AJ said. “We’ve got this. It’s eighty percent paperwork. The ranch itself is in excellent shape. I’ve never worked on a ranch more prepared. We’re just waiting on your bull.”
His eyes widened and he pulled out his phone. “I nearly forgot. I got a call while I was at the doctor’s office this afternoon. We have a bull.”
AJ’s eyes brightened. “We do?”
“I’ve been talking back and forth with a small family operation located just outside of Pawnee, right off of Highway 64.”
“And?”
“We came to an agreement.”
She clasped her hands together. “You’ve seen the bull?”
“He sent me pictures, videos and all the stats.”
“When do we pick him up?”
“‘We’?” He grinned at her enthusiasm.
“You’re not going without me.”
“Wouldn’t think of doing that. How about if we head out after church on Sunday?”
“That’s perfect. I’m not on the schedule this weekend.”
He smiled, reached across the table and took her hand.
“What are you doing?” she murmured.
“Looks to me like I’m holding your hand.”
“You’re my boss. You can’t do that.”
“No. I’m Travis Maxwell and you’re my friend, Amanda Jane Rowe, and we’re out on a sort of date, on a Friday night.” He lowered his voice. “Is it okay to call you Amanda Jane?”
“Yes, though it’s sort of a silly name.”
“It’s a beautiful name.”
She cringed. “I prefer AJ or Amanda. Jace has called me Amanda Jane since the day our parents got married, simply to annoy me.”
“I imagine just having Jace around was enough to annoy anyone.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Okay. Amanda. The point I am trying to make is that you are my friend. Not to be confused with my efficient assistant foreman.”
“But this isn’t a date.”
“Details. Details.”
She stared pointedly at her hand resting in his. “Do you always hold your friend’s hands?”
Travis turned her hand over and studied each long, graceful finger. “This is a brand-new policy I’ve implemented. So yes, I plan to do it from now on.”
He smiled and she hesitated for a moment before relaxing and smiling back.
Being with AJ felt right. She was a woman who understood his world, and they could talk for hours about ideas for the ranch or debate the merits of certain books and even politics. She had a strong opinion on everything and he respected her intelligence, even if she did champion those ugly bison.
* * *
AJ jumped when the door of the office swung open, banging against the wall. Travis stood on the threshold with a jackpot smile on his face. The man was cute when he was over-the-top happy.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Natchez is calling us.”
“Excuse me?”
“Our baby. It’s time to pick him up.” He tossed his truck keys into the air and caught them.
“Our seventeen-hundred-pound baby, you mean.” She quickly straightened the paperwork she was working on and closed down the laptop. “I’m ready.”
He adjusted the ball cap on his head. “My truck’s over at the admin building.”
“Do you want to walk?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he called. He was already ten paces ahead of her even with a walking boot on and a limp.
AJ raced to catch up with him.
When Travis stopped short, she slammed into his back and stumbled, nearly bouncing to the ground. He grabbed her arms as she swayed and kept her on her feet.
“Are you okay?”
“Aside from those stars I see?” She blinked and looked up at him. “It’s getting so I’m thinking of putting a traffic light on you, Travis. This is the second time you’ve failed to signal. Why did you stop?”
“Look,” he breathed.
“What?”
“That.” He pointed to a pickup truck parked near the chow hall. “Have you ever seen anything so pretty? It’s giving me goose bumps.”
“What am I missing here? It’s a truck, Travis.”
“That’s more than a truck. A Ford F-150 Raptor Supercab.”
“Whose is it?” she asked.
“No idea, but I like their style.” Travis slowly walked around the massive vehicle, his mouth open as he inspected every inch of the exterior and crouched to the ground to peek at the undercarriage. “They call this the beast.”
AJ rolled her eyes. “No kidding?”
“This is the stuff dreams are made of, AJ.”
“A truck? You dream of trucks?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been saving every extra penny for five years so I can pay cash for one of these. I’m getting real close. By the end of the year I’ll be walking into the dealership and claiming one of these.”
“Exactly how much do they cost?”
He rattled off a number and she gasped.
“I hope you’re planning to live in it.”
“Come on. You’re supposed to dream big. Otherwise, what’s the point?” Travis turned to her and cocked his head. “What do you dream of?”
AJ frowned. “I don�
�t dream.”
He held open the passenger door of his old pickup. “That can’t be. Everyone dreams of something.”
Staring out the window, she tried to remember when she’d stopped dreaming. Maybe when her father died. It was so long ago she didn’t even realize it had happened and she wasn’t sure it mattered anymore. Yet, now that Travis mentioned it, the thought haunted her.
“We’re almost there,” Travis said as they passed the turnoff for Pawnee.
“Look, Travis, a produce stand. Let’s stop.”
“We’ve got to pick up a bull, and we grow produce at the ranch.”
“Not fruit. This will take five minutes. Please. That bull isn’t going anywhere.”
“Five minutes,” he grumbled. “I’ve heard that song before. I have sisters, you know.”
The truck had barely stopped before AJ slid from the passenger seat and wove her way through the open market inspecting seasonal fruit. “Are you coming?” she called.
“Yeah. If you’d slow down.”
“Fresh clover honey,” she said, grabbing a bottle.
“You want a basket?” Travis asked.
“I don’t need one.”
“If you say so.”
“Blackberries!” She turned to Travis. “Look at them. Huge.” AJ put her thumb next to one. “Did you ever see blackberries that big?”
“Ah, not lately.”
“Do you like blackberries?”
“In my pie.”
“Me, too, and I make a mean pie. My mother was a blue-ribbon pie maker and she taught me all her secrets.” She handed him the honey along with eight flats of blackberries. “Here, hold these.”
“That’s a lot of berries.”
“I’ll freeze them. Blackberry season will be over soon.”
“Maybe I better get that basket.” Travis adjusted his ball cap and headed in the other direction.
A few minutes later she realized he wasn’t behind her. AJ backtracked and found him holding her basket of produce, being held hostage by three women. They smiled up at him as they requested his autograph.
He nodded and grinned obligingly for their phone selfies. When the prettiest one put her hand on Travis’s arm, AJ’s head jerked back as an unfamiliar emotion hit her hard.
She crossed the distance to his side faster than Bess rounding the barrels. Looping her arm through Travis’s, she gently tugged.
“We’re late to pick up the baby, Travis,” she murmured.
Before AJ realized what he intended, Travis leaned down and planted a soft, featherlight kiss on her lips. He raised his head, tipped his hat to the women. “Sorry, ladies, I have to go.”
Shocked and speechless, her arm still locked with his, AJ glanced back at the women whose speculating gazes continued to follow Travis. It was a very good thing she didn’t know anyone in Pawnee.
Still in a daze, AJ followed Travis as they paid for the fruit and wove their way back to the truck.
“What was that?” she sputtered as she fastened her seat belt.
“I’m telling you, happens all the time since that magazine came out.” He polished an apple on his jeans and started up the truck. “Though it’s a lot more fun with you around.” He laughed and bit into the apple.
“You kissed me.”
“Yeah. No one in Pawnee knows you’re my assistant foreman.”
She paused for a moment as she realized that she’d thought the same thing. “But—but...why did you kiss me?”
“Thought that might stop those women from following me around the fruit stand.” He grinned. “It worked.”
“But...”
“But?”
“Never mind.” AJ sighed and turned to the window. Would he even understand that she was a grown woman whose last kiss was in sixth grade at a Valentine’s Day dance? She’d spent the rest of her life on a horse or going to college. Or both.
She put her fingers to her mouth. That simple kiss meant nothing to Travis Maxwell, but it meant everything to her.
“Keep an eye out for Fisher Ranch. There should be a sign.”
“What?” AJ swiveled around in the seat.
“Fisher Ranch.”
“You just passed the sign.”
Narrowing his eyes, Travis peered out the side window. “No. Not really.”
“Yes, really.” She pointed. “Back there, with the rooster weathervane.”
Travis groaned. “Turning this thing around is going to take an act of Congress.” Pulling off the side of the road, he carefully maneuvered the truck and trailer until he was going in the opposite direction.
“There. There it is,” AJ yelled. “Oh, isn’t it pretty?”
The butter-yellow farmhouse was surrounded with flowers. Colorful plantings ran the length of the front porch, hung from overflowing planters and circled the trees in the front yard.
Lush, freshly mowed grass encompassed another lot on the side of the little house and the other side yard held an enormous garden. There was even a hammock strung between two maple trees.
If she was a dreamer, this was what she would dream of. Roots. A house of her own. All her belongings in one place and no more boxes waiting to be unpacked.
“I see it,” Travis said. “I’m going to back the trailer in so we can get out without jarring the bull.”
“Nice job,” AJ said when he’d finished.
When a tall rancher came up to the truck to greet them, Travis rolled down his window.
“Travis Maxwell?” the man asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Brian Fisher.”
Travis jumped down and shook the rancher’s hand before he circled around to open AJ’s door.
“This must be your wi—”
“Assistant foreman. You can call me AJ,” she said as she stuck out her hand for him to shake.
“Assistant foreman. Well, pleased to meet you, ma’am.”
Travis looked at her as he held her door, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Would it be so bad to be someone’s wife? To have kisses from a man who loved her? AJ touched her fingers to her lips.
“My wife is in the barn,” Brian said. “We’re bottle feeding a few calves.”
“AJ, you coming?” Travis called.
“Yes. Right. Sorry, I was thinking.”
She’d been daydreaming.
Flights of fancy, more like. Silly, ridiculous, unattainable imaginings, but it was a start.
As they walked down the drive toward the house, a small black-and-white dog greeted them. A puppy really, less than a year old.
“This fella is the last of the winter litter,” Brian said. “We sold every last one but this little runt.”
The dog raced in energetic circles around AJ’s feet. “Oh, he’s adorable.”
“He loves the attention,” Brian said. “Come on out to the pen. I have Natchez waiting for you.”
A woman came out from around the corner and greeted them with a baby in her arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear the truck. It’s been a madhouse around here with calves needing to be bottle fed.”
“I’ll bet is,” AJ said. “I’m AJ, and this is Travis.”
“Missy Fisher. Pleased to meet you both, and glad to get Natchez to a good home.”
“What breed is this little darling?” AJ asked as she knelt to play with the little dog and rub behind his ears.
“He’s what we call a hybrid. That’s the politically correct term these days.”
“Oh?”
“That means that his mother is a purebred border collie who got loose and we don’t have a clue who the daddy is.”
AJ laughed at the description. “I may have to take him home.”
“Please do. He’s yours. We’ll call it a two-fer. Him and the bull.”
Brian Fisher laughed. “Careful or Missy will throw the goat in there, as well.”
“He’s right.” Missy nodded with enthusiasm. “You can definitely have the goat.”
Travis raised a hand. “We have plenty of goats. Thanks.”
The pup followed them as they walked over to the bull’s pen.
“Let me grab Natchez’s papers from the barn,” Brian said. “You go ahead and inspect him up close.”
“Thanks,” Travis said. He walked around the pen and then stopped next to AJ. “You really want a dog?”
“I do. I haven’t had a dog since I was a kid.” She paused. “Are they allowed at Big Heart Ranch?”
“I don’t think there’s a dog policy. I like them better than bison.”
She made a face. “Are you sure it’s okay? You don’t even have a cattle dog at the ranch.”
“Omission, I imagine. Though this fella is a little young for a cattle dog.”
“He’ll learn.”
Travis scooped the pup up and turned to Missy. “I think we’re going to be taking him home with us.” He met AJ’s gaze and she was glad he couldn’t see her heart melting at the gesture.
“That’s wonderful,” Missy said. “Seriously, look around. Anything else you want to take home, you go right ahead.”
Travis laughed.
“If you can hold the baby, AJ, I’ve got a kennel carrier inside you can have for the ride home,” Missy continued.
“Who’s this little guy?” AJ asked when Missy put the baby in her arms.
“Max. Nine months, crawling like crazy and into everything. Do not let him grab that cross or the chain that’s around your neck. He’ll eat them both, and I do mean that.” She smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, Max, I’d take you home, too, if I could.” The baby laughed and stuffed his fist in his mouth.
“We can take the puppy and the bull, but not the baby,” Travis said. “I’m going to have to be firm on that decision.”
“Very funny.” She stroked Max’s soft cheek then closed her eyes to inhale his sweetness.
“Ever think about having kids?” Travis murmured.
AJ’s eyes flew open and she froze. “I don’t think that far ahead.”
“Not one of your dreams, then?”
“I told you—”
Falling for the Cowgirl Page 12
