Claire McEwen - Return To Marker Ranch

Seth’s cheeks paled except for some flecks of red on his cheekbones. “That’s not my job.”

“It’s fall, Seth. We have a lot to get done this time of year and we’ve all got to do our part. Plus, I am your boss lady. So you’d best get started.”

Seth’s eyes bugged, and he stared at her, stuck without a snide comeback for once.

She turned Dakota to go, but Jim’s soft voice had her pausing.

“Well done, there, Lori.”

“Thanks,” she murmured.

Jim picked up the box of calf weaners. “I’ll just get started putting these on,” he told her, his voice louder than usual, so Seth could hear. “Seems like weaning is gonna go a lot easier with you at the helm.” He shot her a wink that Seth couldn’t see.

Bless Jim. He might grumble and question the decisions she made in private, but he’d support her 100 percent in front of the others.

“I appreciate that, Jim,” she said. “I’ll be back to help out in a few minutes.” She didn’t have to look at Seth to know he was scowling. And that she’d scored her first real win in her struggle to take the reins of Lone Mountain Ranch.

She turned to go and spotted Wade leaning on the fence near the white barn, watching her intently. The last time they’d seen each other, she’d been yelling. Now he’d seen her go head-to-head with Seth. Well, at least he wouldn’t have any illusions that she was the sweet young girl he’d left behind. She walked Dakota over to him, bracing herself for whatever their next confrontation would be.

He was wearing that old straw cowboy hat that made his dark eyes even more impenetrable in the shadows beneath the brim.

“Looks like you showed him.”

She glanced at Seth, slouching back to his truck, radiating a bad attitude that she could feel from here. “I hope I didn’t upset him too badly. He’s just been giving me such a hard time. But now he looks angrier than ever.”

“Hey, it’s your ranch. Run it how you want. If he hates it, he’ll leave and go work somewhere else, and you’ll both be better off.”

“That would be awesome. He hates having a boss lady, as he calls me.”

Wade grimaced. “Well, keep an eye on him. If he doesn’t come on board soon, fire him.”

He seemed to come in peace, at least. So she teased him a little. “Listen to you, all managerial.”

“I learned a thing or two leading a platoon.” He sobered, took off his hat and looked right into her eyes. “But evidently I don’t know much about being a good neighbor. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the answer you wanted about the water. I just needed time. And honestly, I was scared.”

“Scared?” He’d always seemed so tough. It had never occurred to her that he was even familiar with that emotion. “What are you scared of?”

“Failing. I don’t know what I’m doing with the ranch, and it makes me too careful about certain things and not careful enough about others. So with the water, I just balked. I didn’t want to make a mistake that could cost me the ranch.”

“Well, I know that feeling. Too well.”

His mouth softened into a brief smile. “But I’ve realized that you were right. We should share the water.”

Relief relaxed muscles she hadn’t even realized she was tensing. She wanted to raise a fist and shout hooray, but she kept herself calm. “That’s great news. Thank you.”

“And I brought you something.” He pulled a carrot out of his back pocket, the greens still on it, and held it up like a bouquet. “I would have brought apology flowers, but I knew you’d be working and there wouldn’t be any place for them. This seemed better.”

“It’s perfect.” He understood her, and it warmed her a little inside. She turned Dakota sideways and reached for the carrot, shoving it in the back pocket of her jeans. “I’ll share it with Dakota later on, if that’s okay.”

“That’s the idea.”

It was her turn to apologize. Her horrible words had been eating at her ever since she’d stormed off his ranch. “I’m sorry I said so many rude things.”

“I reckon I deserved it.”

“Maybe a little...” She couldn’t resist.

He acknowledged the teasing with a brief smile and rushed on. “But I hope you can help me with something.”

“What do you need?”

He flushed a little. Swallowed hard. “Look, I’m new at this ranching thing. I mean, growing up, we had animals pass through, but mainly my dad was stealing them from one person and selling them to another, so they never stayed around long. I have no idea what I’m doing. Seeing your ranch running so smoothly... How do you do it?”

Wade asking her for ranching tips? Not what she’d expected when she’d seen him standing there. “Well, part of it is that I’ve been doing it forever and I studied it in school, and part of it is that I’ve been trying out some new management practices. As you can see—” she inclined her head slightly to where a group of men were standing around Jim with bemused expressions on their faces “—it’s going over really well with the staff.” Sarcasm couldn’t mask her frustration.

“They may give you grief about it, but I’d bet deep down most of them are pretty impressed.”

She swung down from Dakota, since evidently Wade was here for a long chat, and tossed the reins over the mare’s neck so she could go get a drink at the trough. “I hope you’re right. Those are calf weaners they’re holding. Calves weaned with this method retain thirty percent more body weight because they’re not panicked and pacing everywhere.” Wade was staring at her, mouth slightly open, looking stunned. She flushed, realizing she’d probably stupefied him with her love of data. “I’m sorry. I can go on about this kind of thing for hours.”

To her surprise, he smiled. A first since she’d seen him again. Dimples cutting into his stubbled cheeks, lines crinkling his dark eyes—it was all as knee weakening as she remembered.

“That’s exactly why I need your help,” he said.

She studied his eyes, trying to understand his meaning. Bad idea. They were too much for her—all dark and potent like strong coffee. Only they made her a lot more jittery than coffee did. “My help?”

“I know you’ve been angry at me. And for good reason. I shouldn’t have dug my heels in about the water. And now here I am, asking for...” He paused, turning his hat in his hand. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet, but she could hear the edge in it. “Honestly, I’m desperate. I need to learn about ranching. When I got my first bunch of heifers a few months ago, I didn’t know they’d need a booster vaccine...”

“...and they’ve got respiratory illness,” she finished for him.

His eyes went wider. “You know your stuff. But I don’t. The vet showed me how to give them shots, but it’s just not going that smoothly. I was hoping you’d consider coming by and giving me a hand.”

He was in trouble if he didn’t know how to do such a basic task. But help him? As in, spend time with him? Lori turned to retrieve Dakota, who’d finished drinking and was starting to wander off, gathering her thoughts as she gathered the horse’s reins. She wanted to be someone who helped her neighbors, but working with Wade wasn’t a good idea.

“Look, if you can help me, I’ll give you first pick when we make our irrigation schedule. I’ll hire Bill Cooper, and you can set everything up with him so it suits your needs. But in exchange, I’m asking for your help. Teach me how to give the shots. How to handle the cattle well. I’m reading books all the time, but I have so many questions, so many gaps in what I know. I need a mentor, Lori. I need you.”

Damn him, he made begging look noble—and sexy. And when he added first priority on irrigation to the mix...well, how was she supposed to resist? But mentoring meant a lot more time together. “I don’t know, Wade. I’m happy to help out with the injections, but I’m new at running my own ranch. I honestly don’t have much time. Isn’t there someone else you can ask?”