Learnin' The Ropes

by Shanna Hatfield

  “I know, but I kind of liked the idea of holding you close.” His eyes glinted with mischief while the smile riding his full lips made him nearly irresistible. “Besides, if you were really worried about it, you would have spoken up before I started across the yard, when you first realized you were getting a free ride to the door.”

  “You knew I was awake and carried me anyway?” Lexi showed surprise and guilt at being caught in her little deception.

  He moved closer to her. “Yes, ma’am. I think my efforts need some sort of reward.” Ty pulled her against him, not wanting to say good night. Not yet.

  “What kind of reward?” she asked, leaning into him, absorbing his warmth and strength.

  “A kiss would be a good start.” He leaned down and touched her lips with his as electricity jolted through him. He would have continued exploring the possibilities of a suitable reward except Baby hit him in the legs from behind, knocking them both off balance. Ty grasped Lexi to him with one arm while throwing the other out and catching the stair post to keep from toppling to the floor.

  “Baby! That is so not okay. Naughty, naughty girl,” Lexi scolded, as she and Ty caught their balance and looked at the dog.

  Baby was so excited to see Ty, she leaned against his leg and whined, keeping herself between him and Lexi. She appeared to be smiling as she looked up at Ty with big, bright eyes.

  “Guess this is good night then.” He tipped his hat to Lexi and walked outside, taking the dog with him.

  As he strolled to the bunkhouse, he reprimanded the dog.

  “Baby, I’m not sure how you could have any worse timing. Are you trying to keep me away from Lexi? Don’t you want me to get to know her better?” Ty asked, scratching the dog on her back as he stood on the bunkhouse porch. At this late hour, it looked like everyone was already in bed. Quietly opening the door, he blocked Baby from following him inside. “Scoot, Baby. See if you can behave the rest of the night.”

  In his room, the sweet scent of Lexi clung to his clothes and he inhaled deeply, knowing she would invade his dreams all night.

  Lesson Ten

  Go with the Flow

  “If ya ever feel like a fish out ‘a water,

  jes watch what everyone else is doin’

  and follow their lead.”

  “Are ya ready for this?” Swede asked Ty as they watched pickups pulling horse trailers flood into the ranch yard bright and early that morning.

  Ty grinned. “Ready or not, here they come.” Although Swede had tried to give him an idea of what would happen during branding, Ty would be on a big learning curve the next three days.

  The cattle had been gathered and sorted into three herds of five hundred each. The plan was to work through one herd a day. Swede explained to Ty that although they could do the branding and work the cattle with less help if they used a calf table and a working chute, it wouldn’t necessarily speed up the process. That was why they liked to do things the old-fashioned way, with a bunch of ropers and a lot of fun.

  Neighbors and friends would help them brand and then they would spend the next few weeks traveling to neighboring ranches to return the favor.

  While a few of the women would join the men out with the cattle, the rest would put together a big lunch as well as morning and afternoon snacks and a light dinner. Lexi would have hired a caterer, but the women working together to make the food was as much a part of the tradition as the men swapping stories while they burned brands.

  Lexi rushed out the door of the main house and was soon visiting, sharing hugs with the women and smiles with the men. Some she hadn’t seen since her father’s funeral and it was nice to reconnect with people she’d known all her life.

  Busy getting ready for branding and finishing the spring farm work, Ty and Lexi had hardly seen each other. Today was the first time he’d indulged in watching her since the day they went to Portland. She appeared to be a favorite with young and old alike, accepted with warmth by all those gathered in the ranch yard. He couldn’t blame anyone for having good taste.

  Dressed in jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved cotton work shirt with a hat on her head, Lexi blended in with the rest of the cowboys and cowgirls. Her raven hair fell in a thick braid down her back. Ty noticed the roses in her cheeks and the pink of her lips as she worked through the crowd.

  She was nearly to the bunkhouse when a rig stopped nearby and a woman barreled out of the passenger door of the pickup, sweeping Lexi up in a tight hug.

  “Oh, my sweet girl, I haven’t seen you forever!” The woman looked like an older version of Lexi.

  “Aunt Bertie! I didn’t think you guys could come,” Lexi said, beaming as she hugged her aunt.

  Bertie let go of Lexi, only to pass her off to a slim, lean man that appeared to Ty to top him by at least three inches.

  “Uncle Linc!” Lexi laughed as he swung her off her feet and spun her around. “It’s so good to see you. Thank you for coming.”

  “Well, you didn’t think we’d miss out on branding, did you?” Linc asked, leaving his arm around Lexi as they walked to the bunkhouse.

  Linc shook hands with Swede while Bertie gave him a hug.

  “Aunt Bertie, I want you to meet my new mechanic and good friend, Ty Lewis.” Lexi took Ty’s hand and pulled him toward her aunt and uncle.

  Ty tipped his hat, as Swede had taught him, and shook her aunt’s hand before extending a hand to her uncle. Bertie looked so much like Lexi, he would have pegged her as a relative if they’d met on the street in downtown Portland.

  “Ma’am, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Ty said, drawing on his best manners. “I thought for a minute Lexi had a sister she forgot to mention.”

  “Oh, go on with you.” Bertie slapped his arm, clearly pleased with his comment. “Her mama was my older sister and this little gal has been my baby since she was born.”

  Hearing her name, the dog skittered around the corner and plowed into Ty. He braced himself for the impact and took a couple of side steps to maintain his balance.

  “Looks like you won over the dog,” Linc said with interest. “The only man she cottoned to was Lex.”

  “So I’ve heard.” Ty patted Baby on her back while she happily wagged her tail at the attention. “For whatever reason, she has adopted me.”

  Linc and Bertie exchanged a glance with Swede as he imperceptibly nodded his head. The three of them had known each other since before Lexi was born and they all watched out for her best interest. The dog had run off more people than they could count. To see Baby completely taken with Lexi’s new mechanic made him more than a little noteworthy.

  “Shall we get this show on the road?” Linc asked as the last of the trailers pulled into the yard and cowboys unloaded their horses.

  “Yep,” Lexi said, linking her arm through her aunt’s as they walked back toward the house. Lexi had been trying to figure out how to be in two places at once. She wanted to be out with the cattle but felt obligated to stay in the house and help the women prepare lunch. With Bertie there, she could work with the men and not worry about what was happening in the kitchen. Her step lightened as she kissed her aunt on the cheek and hurried to the barn to saddle Rowdy.

  Those on horseback rode out to the pen where they’d work the first bunch of cattle. As a handful of riders sorted the cows from the calves, Ty mentally went through the process as Swede had explained it to him. It seemed simple enough.

  Branding irons grew hot using portable propane tanks while three women filled syringes with vaccine. At Lexi’s signal, a group of ropers went into the calves and roped the first five. As the horses drew the ropes taut, they pulled the calves back to where the brands heated. The wrestlers took over, throwing the calves on their sides and removing the rope. The rest of the ground crew converged, branding, vaccinating, tagging, dehorning, and castrating the calves. As he watched the first bull calf go under the knife, Ty inwardly shuddered and prepared himself for a long day.

  Once the crew finished with the firs
t group, Ty stepped up to do his part as one of the wrestlers.

  Mid-morning, women arrived with a multitude of doughnuts, hot coffee, and coolers of beverages. After a quick break, the women returned to the house to finish lunch preparations while the rest of them went back to branding.

  At the noon break, Ty stretched his muscles, knowing he’d be sore before the day was out. The crew returned to the big ranch yard for lunch where makeshift tables were piled high with food. Ty wasn’t sure he had ever seen that much food in one place before in his life and took a moment to look it all over.

  Much to his surprise, Ty found himself sitting next to Lexi. After she asked her Uncle Linc, who was sitting on her other side, to bless the food, they all dug in. Ty bit into crispy fried chicken, savored bites of fall-off-the-bone tender ribs, and inhaled the yeasty scent of fresh rolls, still warm from the oven. Dessert was a buffet of delectable temptations including brownies, pie, and slices of cake.

  A rest followed the meal to let their food settle. Good natured joking and visiting went on around the tables until Swede and Linc stood, along with Lexi, signaling it was time to get back to work.

  The afternoon passed in a blur of dust, ropes, bawling calves, and burning hide. Ty had gotten used to the smell when the brands burned into the sides of the calves and resigned himself to being coated from head to toe in manure and blood due to the nature of his job for the day.

  As he wrestled the calves to the ground and held them there, he was right in the line of fire of anything and everything. Rather than wrinkle his nose in disgust, he tried to take it all in stride and act like he’d done it hundreds of times before.

  He was glad Swede had warned him to wear his oldest clothes, ones he didn’t mind getting completely filthy. A ratty old T-shirt and a pair of jeans that had definitely seen better days, along with his steel-toed shop boots, served him well as he worked. Although his clothes didn’t come close to being considered cowboy attire, he managed to get the job done as well as the next guy. More than once, he was grateful for the boots protecting his feet from stomping, kicking hooves.

  A few times throughout the day, he looked up and caught Lexi watching him with a proprietary look in her eyes. Pleased by her interest, he watched her instead of paying attention to the large calf he held. The calf yanked its leg back and delivered a kick to his inner thigh that made him suck in a huge gulp of air. Sharp needles of pain raced up his leg. He bit his lip to keep from uttering words that would make his mother rise right up out of the grave and shove a bar of soap in his mouth for saying.

  Aggravated, he held the calf, hoping the ground crew was about finished so he could walk off the pain he fought to ignore. Grateful the calf hadn’t kicked a little higher, he would have died of embarrassment if it had.

  Lexi’s unique floral scent wafted over him about the time her hand settled on his back.

  “Ty, are you okay?” she asked, bending down by him. “Are you hurt?”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. His jaw clenched as the calf attempted to deliver another kick but missed.

  “It looked like he nailed you pretty hard,” Lexi said, still close. Most men would have hollered, cussed, and pitched a fit if they’d received the kick the calf delivered to Ty. Instead, he barely flinched, continued doing his job, and acted like nothing had happened.

  Throughout the day, she’d observed him, thrilled by how well he fit in with everyone. Even dressed in his “city-dude” clothes, as Swede called them, everyone accepted him and he more than proved he could do the work, better than many of them.

  It hadn’t exactly been a hardship for her to watch him wrestle calves all day. The formfitting holey T-shirt he wore outlined and accented every impressive muscle. From the bulging biceps of his arms to the thick muscles of his chest, Lexi couldn’t think when she’d enjoyed a branding more.

  “I’m fine, but thanks for asking.” Ty wished Lexi would step back. He didn’t want her to get hurt and he really didn’t want her watching him too closely when he stood up and limped off until it was his turn to wrestle another calf. In an effort to man up, as Swede often said, he put on his best poker face, released the calf, and walked away like he was on top of the world.

  When the last calf was branded and turned out with its mama, Ty joined the crew in their pilgrimage back to the ranch yard. Dinner was waiting and Ty sat down to eat with everyone. What he really wanted was a hot shower and a soft bed, but the aroma of so much good food was too tempting to resist. He passed bowls and platters around the table, heaping up his own plate.

  A platter of some unidentified deep-fried meat that looked golden brown and tasty ended up in his hands. He took a few pieces and passed it on. After a few bites, he still couldn’t identify the mystery meat. Not impressed with the flavor, he focused his attention on the other tempting treats on his plate.

  Swede turned to ask him a question and noticed Ty’s plate, slapping him on the back.

  “Whooee! You’ve crossed the line to official cowboy territory, dude!” Swede cackled. Although Ty was clueless as to what was stirred their amusement, others joined in Swede’s laughter.

  “What?”

  Linc leaned around Swede and pointed at the uneaten fried lumps on Ty’s plate. “Rocky Mountain oysters, my friend, are a cowboy delicacy.”

  “Oysters?” Ty asked, confused. The fried lumps he’d eaten were certainly not oysters.

  “Sure, dude. Cowboy caviar,” Swede said, waggling his bushy eyebrows at Ty. “Calf fries.”

  “Calf fries?” Suddenly, Ty’s eyes widened as he realized what they meant. “You fry up the…” Unable to finish his sentence, he clamped his jaw shut to keep from losing what dinner he had eaten.

  Covered in blood and manure, with his thigh throbbing painfully, he thought he’d been a good sport throughout the day. Rather than be insulted, he ignored the teasing that morning for his “city-dude” attire. He put his back and muscle into wrestling more calves than any two of the other men. After all that, he was not going to sit at the table and eat… animal parts that should never see the inside of a kitchen, while the crew around the table made fun of him.

  Hastily mumbling excuses, he rose from the table and retreated to the shop where he could have some peace and quiet. Hoots of laughter followed him across the ranch yard.

  He turned on his music and glanced at the door as Baby wandered in. Mournfully, she stared at him, sensing his mood as she settled down on her blanket in the corner.

  “That is just disgusting, Baby. Absolutely disgusting.” Ty picked up a part he’d been working on before he got called into cowboy duty a few days ago.

  Baby barked and wagged her tail, showing her agreement.

  Quickly losing track of the time, Ty looked up when Lexi walked inside carrying a plate with a big piece of berry pie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

  “I come in peace,” she said, sliding the plate onto the clean end of the workbench where he often sat to eat his lunch.

  Ty raised an eyebrow at her, but went into the bathroom and washed his hands. When he came out, he pulled another stool to the end of the bench, waited for Lexi to have a seat, and then sat down.

  “Since you didn’t get much dinner, I thought you might need a snack,” Lexi said as he took a bite of the pie. The pie was warm and the ice cream slowly melted into a rich creamy lake around the flaky crust and sweet berries.

  “Thanks. It’s good.” Ty was hungry and the pie was quite tasty.

  “I’m really sorry, Ty. I heard what happened and I should have warned you about Rocky Mountain oysters.” She placed a warm hand on his arm.

  Her touch sent fiery jolts racing up both their arms. Despite the electricity snapping between them, Lexi didn’t move her hand. Ty looked in her eyes. Although she sounded sincere in her apology, the mischievous sparkle dancing in the green depths of her eyes, along with the twitching corners of her mouth, gave away her humor over the matter.

  “Not a biggie,” he said. Not yet at the poi
nt he was ready to see any amusement in the situation, he was slightly annoyed that she could. “I’ll survive.”

  “I know you will.” Lexi tried without success to hide a grin. “But I am truly sorry we caught you by surprise. You fit in so well with everyone, I keep forgetting you’ve never done this before and all these experiences are new for you.”

  “You really think I fit in?” He wasn’t certain if she was offering flattery to soothe his wounded pride or if she really meant it.

  “Absolutely. You worked as hard as anyone today and picked up on what needed to be done without anyone telling you what to do. You wrestled more calves than the three Johnson boys together.”

  Ty hid his pleasure at her praise behind the last bite of pie.

  “I mean it, Ty, you did a great job today and I’m really proud of you. You’ve taken to life here on the ranch so well it’s easy to forget you haven’t always been here. You’re definitely learning the ropes very quickly.”

  “Thanks, Lexi.” Lightly, he rubbed his hand on her arm. He wanted to pull her into a hug and steal a kiss or two, but decided that would have to wait for another day. Preferably one when he wasn’t coated in cow poop and gore. Rising to his feet, he put his phone in his pocket, picked up the empty plate, and walked Lexi to the door.

  “Come on, Baby,” Ty called to the dog. She lumbered to her feet and preceded them out the door.

  “Oh, you were talking to the dog,” Lexi teased as Ty turned off the shop lights and shut the door.

  He walked her to the house, taking her hand in his. As he leaned down, she could feel his breath blow across her ear. “You’re far too beautiful to be called the same thing as that ridiculous dog, Lexi Jo.”

  Lexi blushed but held tight to Ty’s hand as they approached the house. As they strolled through the gate, Ty noticed Swede and Linc talking on one side of the porch while Bertie sat on the porch swing.

  “Girlie, come sit down by me,” Bertie said, patting the seat next to her.

  Ty offered greetings then took the dirty plate into the kitchen before returning outside. He spoke with the men for a few minutes, nodded to the women, and bid them all good night.