Karen Rock - Winning The Cowboy's Heart

Jewel rolled her eyes and Heath’s mouth twitched as they exchanged a swift, secretly amused look that meant nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

“No mischief, Pa, promise. Like Sierra said, we’re family.” Heath caught everyone’s eye until they nodded along, heads bobbing like a clutch of chickens.

“I have faith.” Ma’s mouth curved into a smile. “You’ll do just fine without us. Love you!” And with that, she gripped Boyd’s hand and stepped up into the truck’s cab.

Boyd angled his head toward the pickup. “What she said.” He hopped in behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.

“Goodbye!” everyone hollered as they drove away, returning Joy’s wave through the rear window.

As soon as the pickup disappeared, their smiles whisked off their faces. Justin’s mouth twisted into a snarl. Cole drummed thick fingers on his cast arm.

James sauntered over to Heath. “Nice act, but we’re not your family.”

“Your ma says so,” Heath countered. A cattle dog joined the children. It raced around the perimeter—barking madly—but Heath whistled, and it came bounding up to him. “Down, girl.” He tousled her mane affectionately, and she gave a resigned whimper and curled herself at his feet.

“Let’s keep a couple of things straight.” James planted his boots wide. The remaining Cades and Lovelands crowded close. A flashback to their softball game pileup last month had Jewel bracing. “One. Jewel is here only because of Ma, not out of any sense of kinship with you. Right, Jewel?”

She struggled to nod under Heath’s keen stare. James was right. She’d never volunteer for any other reason...the way Heath’s T-shirt stretched across a well-defined chest and a toned stomach—the kind of stomach that put six-packs to shame, notwithstanding.

Lordy, he was one beautiful, brawny cowboy.

“We already figured that out, genius,” Cole uttered with infuriating calm.

Heat rolled off Justin in waves. “Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because whenever anyone needs help, Cades usually just throw money at it.” Scorn darkened Cole’s accusation.

Jewel opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. Her family gave generously to local charities, whereas the Lovelands gave their time, always the first to arrive when someone needed aid. Then again, time and a pair of hands was all they had to offer since, as her grandmother would have said, they didn’t have two nickels to rub together.

“At least we’ve got money to send,” Jared insisted.

“Money you’ve made for a hundred years while denying our easement to the Crystal River.” Fury dripped from Darryl’s words.

A vein started to protrude from Jared’s forehead. “The one taken away after your cattle trampled our property and bred with our longhorns?”

The shouts of the playing children filled the sudden, tense silence. Daryl’s daughter was spinning under a dogwood tree, her head tipped back and her arms flung out. The boys raced each other to a fence post and back.

If only life could be that uncomplicated again...

“Lie,” Daryl charged. “Your ancestor’s brother judged the case instead of recusing himself. He stole it from us.”

James shrugged. “Then why didn’t your family appeal?”

“Our family wouldn’t have had enough money to pay for a lawyer.” Heath pulled off his hat and damp strands of dark hair clung to his temples. “Driving cattle farther to reach the Crystal River means herd depletion. Loss of revenue.”

Jared made a sweeping motion with his hand. “How do you have enough money to hire a lawyer now?”

“None of your business.” White appeared around Cole’s clamped lips.

Sierra gave an exasperated huff. “Our attorney’s taking twenty percent.”

“Of the five million you’re suing us for in damages?” Jewel demanded, dragging in air too fast.

“That’s right,” Heath said evenly.

“You’ll never win.” Justin’s boots crunched on the driveway’s gravel as he paced.

Cole stepped in front of Justin, blocking his way, and leaned down so the tips of their noses nearly touched. “Guess we’ll see next month.”

Another silence fell, this one heavy and muffling, like a blanket. Heath shot Jewel an inscrutable look, then waved his hands. “Let’s leave this to the lawyers. For now, we’ll honor our promise to our parents.”

“I didn’t promise nothing,” spat Justin, eyeball to eyeball with Cole.

“Me neither.” Daryl puffed his broad chest.

“Daddy, how come you’re so mad?” Daryl’s little boy, Ned... Nick...no... Noah looked up at his father with a worried frown.

Daryl’s tense expression softened when he glanced down at his child. “I’m not mad.”

“You look mad,” asserted his daughter, whose name started with an E... Emma. “And the Cades are nice. Javi and I are BFFs.” She looped her arm through Javi’s.

“I don’t like girls,” Javi added, the innocent comment diffusing the tension as smiles and muffled snorts circled the group. “But she’s my cousin—her and Noah, right, Pa? More family is always good, isn’t it?”

James studied his son and shook his head. “Guess kids can teach the adults now and again. Let’s go.”

One by one, Jewel watched her family leave, exchanging waves or hugs. Cole, Sierra and Daryl strode away next. Only then did it hit her. She’d be living in enemy territory, around the clock, as the extra ranch hand they needed for an outfit of this size. Sure, her ranch was only five miles away, but it might as well be light years in distance from the family, the only home, she’d ever known.

“Where’s your gear?” Heath asked.

Jewel nodded at her stallion, Bear. His black tail slapped at flies beneath the poplar she’d tied him to. “In the saddlebag.”

Heath cocked his head. “What about the rest?”

“Rest of what?”

“Clothes? Toiletries? Girl stuff...makeup?”

Her face scrunched. “I brought a comb, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Deodorant. Underclothes. I’m assuming you have soap and laundry if my jeans need a scrub.”

“Won’t you want to spiff up every night? Change outfits?”

She scowled at him. “Cowgirls don’t ‘spiff up,’ we dust off. And do I look like I care about outfits? Makeup?”

The intensity of his close stare nearly rocked her back on her boot heels. “Guess I thought, like most women...”

“I’m not most women.”

“I can see that.”

She jammed down the rising sense of not measuring up, untied Bear and led him around. “Where can I stable him?”

“This way.”

She followed Heath to the rear of a well-kept barn. The smell of fresh manure drifted through an open window. Inside the lofted space, they traveled across creaky, straw-littered floorboards. While its finishes were outdated, the water system hand-pumped, the horses appeared well cared for in roomy stalls.

After settling Bear and feeding him his favorite treat—apple-flavored licorice—she threw her arms around his neck. “Don’t be scared, Bear,” she whispered. “This is just temporary.”

He nickered, and she released him to join Heath at the other end of the barn. He waved her into a small room where he’d spread Loveland Hills’ survey map on a desk.

“Here’s where we’re driving cattle today.” He pointed out a spot.

“The calves have all been vaccinated?” At Cade Ranch, they didn’t go to pasture without protection.

“Yesterday.” Heath leaned over to smooth a folded map corner, and his arm brushed hers. The brief touch, in this intimate space, did something funny to her knees, softened them somehow so they dipped slightly.

She propped a hip against the desk to keep her feet under her...to battle the irresponsible urge to lean closer to him. “Us, too. Are they weaned?”