Rancher And Protector. Judy Christenberry

have taught a son. Rule number one: Tears were forbidden.

      But Robert Wilson wasn’t here now, and she choked back those forbidden tears.

      How could she survive without those memories? Without the ranch? She loved it here with the rolling hills, the mountain peaks in the distance. She loved being away from the city, where she could get up in the morning and look out her window and see blue skies all the way to the mountains.

      So once again the question was why hadn’t her father at least told her?

      She’d discovered he’d used Jason Barton’s down payment to pay off debts and set aside the rest to pay for his funeral. There wasn’t much left. She hadn’t wanted to give Jason Barton a discount on the price of the ranch, but she couldn’t blame him for not giving her the month with nothing in return. She knew how powerful men like him operated. They always had to get something in return.

      It was the stipulation he’d made that bothered her most of all. She didn’t want to spend the two weeks of the roundup with the man. He was too handsome, too powerful, too…she didn’t know what.

      From her initial response to him, she knew it would take a lot of energy to resist that charming smile. Better to be angry with him than to let him get under her skin. She could lose her ranch and her heart if she wasn’t careful.

      Monday morning, Rosemary was up early. She had her breakfast at five-thirty and then gathered her bedroll and saddlebags, along with her father’s rifle, and hurried out to mount up. She certainly wasn’t going to be late.

      But first she had to tell Sara Beth goodbye. “Thanks for all your work, Sara Beth.” Just fifty years old, the woman was tall, attractive, with a slightly rounded figure. Her hair, blond with only a few strands of gray, rested in a mound atop her head.

      “Child, you just be careful,” Sara Beth replied. “And keep an eye on Wes. He still thinks he’s a youngster, but he turned fifty-one last birthday.”

      “I know, Sara Beth. I’ll make sure he doesn’t overdo it.”

      “All right. Hurry home. I’m going to miss both of you.”

      Rosemary gave her a hug and then hurried out to the barn, where she could see Wes talking to a couple of men. They looked like cowboys, but Wes hadn’t mentioned hiring anyone new.

      When she reached the small group, she was shocked to see that one of the men was Jason Barton. He looked even better in well-worn jeans than he had in his designer suit and silk tie. Beside the barn was an expensive horse trailer attached to a dual-cab truck.

      “Ms. Wilson,” Jason Barton said in acknowledgment of her appearance.

      She nodded in return. He wanted to keep it formal? That was fine with her. She looked to Wes to introduce her to the other man.

      He did. “Rosie, this is Ted Houston, Jason’s ranch manager. He’s going with us, too, as you know.”

      She nodded again. “Fine. Are we ready?”

      “Yeah, the boys have the horses ready. Your horse is tied to the corral, with the others.”

      “Is Cookie packed up and ready?”

      “Yeah, he’s already left. He’s going to set up camp for us halfway there. We should make camp about four this afternoon.”

      “Good. Then let’s mount up.”

      Without waiting for an answer, she turned toward the corral. Maggie, the sorrel mare she’d been riding since she was sixteen, stood waiting. Rosemary untied the reins, put her things on the saddle and then petted Maggie before she mounted.

      Alongside Maggie was a gelding, large, strong, able to carry a big man like Jason Barton. A few days ago she’d faced him in spike heels, but today, in her cowboy boots, as was he, he towered over her.

      As she swung into the saddle, he moved to the gray’s side. Swinging into the saddle with great ease, he backed the horse up and moved in Wes’s direction.

      “Nice mount,” she said quietly.

      “Thanks. Shadow and I have been together for a few years.”

      “Did you bring a second mount?” All of her employees had two mounts for the roundup because of the hard work.

      “Yes, both Ted and I brought two mounts.”

      “Good. Take it from me, Mr. Barton. You’ll need them.”

      Jason followed the woman up to the group of cowboys already assembled. He introduced himself to all of them, though he’d met some of them when he’d come to look at the ranch. He also introduced Ted.

      But his gaze followed Ms. Wilson’s movement. He’d been shocked by her appearance this morning. Gone was the makeup, the earrings, the designer suit and especially the spike heels. Even her hair was different. It was in a braid down the center of her back. Not only was she simply dressed, but none of her attire looked new. She acted as if this was a normal activity she’d been doing all her life.

      He hadn’t expected her to be experienced, but she sat her horse with ease. Maybe she knew what she was doing…Still, he wouldn’t believe it until she proved herself on the roundup. Almost anyone could learn to ride a horse. Working on a roundup took more knowledge. Certainly Wes knew what to do. He hadn’t hired Wes to stay with the ranch because he felt the ranch was a little run down. He figured Wes was responsible for that.

      Now Jason was beginning to wonder.

      Wes set the pace at a lope. While Ms. Wilson stayed close to her manager, she seemed to know all the cowboys.

      Jason had expected her to ride with the trail cook and to help with the meals. Not to round up the cows. Was her horse trained as a cutting horse? If the mare wasn’t, its lovely rider wouldn’t be of a lot of use on the drive.

      Maybe she intended to supervise from camp, he suddenly thought. Only time would tell. Right now he was ready to do his best, to do the job in front of him. All his employees and business rivals would agree: Jason Barton believed in playing fair—as long as the other guy did, too. Guy or woman.

      He clicked at his horse and Shadow obeyed, picking up the pace.

      After about five hours Jason had to admit he was feeling stiff. A few weekend rides didn’t equate to five straight hours in the saddle.

      The irritating thing was that Rosemary Wilson looked as fresh as she had at 6:00 a.m.

      Wes told everyone to dismount and eat their bagged lunch under the shade of some tall trees. Like all the cowboys, Jason took care of his mount before he fed himself. There was a creek nearby and he led Shadow to it.

      Rosemary Wilson didn’t ask anyone else to take care of her mount. She led her horse to the water and waited until the horse had drunk her fill. Then she tied up the mare where the grass was green. Once her horse was grazing, she took her canteen and her sandwich and joined Wes.

      Jason knew she wouldn’t welcome him anywhere close to her; she’d communicated that clearly enough by her attitude. He joined them anyway, as did his manager, Ted.

      “You certainly picked a nice day for the start, Ms. Wilson,” Jason said, offering an easy smile to see if she’d relax a little.

      She didn’t. “Thank you.”

      “Do you think this kind of weather will last for the entire two weeks?”

      “Who knows?”

      “Wes, what do you think?”

      “It’s September. We sometimes get some cold fronts, even snow. But we’re hoping, since it’s at the beginning of the month, we’ll be all right.”

      “How rough are the foothills we’re going to be covering?” Ted asked.

      Wes and Ms. Wilson exchanged a look. Then Wes said, “Some of it is pretty wild.”