A Cowboy To Kiss. Mary Leo

on inside where we can talk, where we can sit a spell. Your mom can brew up a fresh pot of coffee or maybe a nice hot cup of tea might be better.”

      This mystery was now getting out of hand. She wondered if her dad and Jake’s dad hadn’t struck some kind of agreement, some kind of bargain that might turn everything she was doing for the ranch into something she wasn’t prepared to handle, like maybe a sale. Maybe her dad was thinking of selling the ranch to the Scott family? Was that it?

      “I don’t want to sit ‘a spell.’ Tell me here. Now. What’s this all about? You wouldn’t make some sort of financial deal with the Scotts and not tell me, would you?”

      “Never. You’re runnin’ the show now, not me. But there’s one thing I’d like to, well, make a couple changes to. That’s why we should go inside where we’ll be more comfortable. Your mom can put the tea kettle on.”

      “I don’t want any tea. I have a lot of work to do today, beginning with cleaning out these stalls.”

      She tossed the clean straw against the walls with her pitchfork, and moved everything soiled to the center. Then she used a shovel to pick up what had been piled in the center and dumped it into the small manure spreader she’d moved to the front of the stall.

      “I called him in to help you,” her dad said, picking up a broom and sweeping up anything that had fallen from her shovel.

      She quickly swept out the center of the stall once all the soiled straw was gone, sprayed an absorbent deodorizer on any wet spots on the rubber mats, and went on to the next stall, allowing the previous one to dry while her mares were outside.

      “You asked Jake to leave his own family ranch to come and help me? I thought you liked how I’m handling things. For the first time in years we’re making a profit again. I don’t understand. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

      Kenzie had worked out a plan for the ranch down to the smallest detail, which included how to care for each stall. She’d learned from experience that right before she’d bring her mares in for the night, she’d move the good straw back into the center, and add whatever straw was needed to make a soft bed. It took a little longer to care for each stall this way, but she was proud of the fact that her animals had never had any hoof problems since she’d been in charge.

      “Of course it is. I just thought—”

      She stopped cleaning and stared at her dad, a tall, slim man with kind eyes and graying hair: the textbook cowboy who couldn’t be away from his ranch for more than a few days at a time. When Kenzie thought back, she couldn’t remember her parents ever taking a vacation. The only place they would visit was the Scott Ranch a few miles outside of Starlight Bend, Montana, and even that had stopped in the last few years.

      “I don’t need his help, Dad. I already hired two ranch hands to come in three days a week. They’ve taken over some of the major work, repairing our vehicles, feeding and checking on the livestock, especially our new calves, and mending the holes in our fences. So far they’ve done a great job. The high school kids who normally help out took the day off to practice for the Cowboy Days next week. Besides, doesn’t Jake have his own work to do back in Montana? How can he possibly take off any time to come and help me...do what? Mend a fence? Clean out stalls? Unload hay?”

      “It’s not that kind of help he’s offering.”

      She punched the pitchfork into the ground and held it taut in her right hand. She didn’t know what the heck her dad was getting at, but the knot in her stomach seemed to be getting worse.

      “Then what can he possibly be offering?”

      Her mind spun to the bedroom, but she instantly tamped that thought down.

      “I asked him to give you a few pointers.”

      “Dad...please spit it out. What kind of pointers?”

      He sucked in a deep breath, then let it out. She could tell he was nervous about what he was about to say, but she didn’t understand why. She and her dad had an open, honest relationship. At least that was what she thought they had. At the moment she wasn’t so sure.

      “Pointers on a more organic, more natural method of ranching.”

      Goose bumps appeared up and down her arms as her stomach tightened. “What? Dad? You can’t be serious. I’ve...”

      He held up his hands. “Now, wait. Before you go gettin’ all riled up, just listen to me for a minute.”

      “I’ve brought this ranch back from the brink. We’re doing really well. You know how hard I work.”

      “And I appreciate that. I’m mighty proud of you and all that you’ve done. I’m just sayin’ that maybe we can go back to a few of the more natural ranchin’ ways, some of the old Western ways of doin’ things. I’m not too happy about spreading all them chemicals on our crops or using artificial means to impregnate some of our livestock. I’d like the simpler way, the cowboy way.”

      She took this as a real insult to all that she’d learned, and all that she’d done so far to keep the ranch out of bankruptcy. Didn’t her dad understand that?

      “Those natural ways weren’t working for us, Dad. You know that. We were in debt, a lot of debt, and we came close to losing this ranch. I’m trying to get us some purebred quarter horses. And I don’t want any inbreeding with our studs. I want to do this right this time.”

      “I’m convinced now that a lot of this ranch’s decline was because your mom and me just got too old and couldn’t take care of everything like we once did. And some of it might have been because we weren’t doing things right. Maybe Jake can show us a better process, tell us what we can change or add to what you’re already doing. I’d like to start with the stud quarter horses he’s brought.”

      “And who told him to bring those darn studs?”

      “Nobody. I offered, and your dad agreed.” Jake’s booming voice echoed behind her.

      “Dad—” She stared at her father for a moment, shaking her head. He simply didn’t understand what she was trying to do, and now he was telling her she should listen to a man who probably knew more about wooing a woman than he knew about actual organic ranching...which had to be more expensive and time-consuming than her dad could ever imagine.

      “And I’m not charging stud fees,” Jake added. She could hear the condescending innuendo in his voice. As if this was all some sort of joke...at least that was how it sounded to her.

      “That’s not the point,” Kenzie argued, unable to fully understand why her dad had gone behind her back. She felt completely betrayed. What could he possibly have been thinking by not discussing trucking in Jake Scott and his stud horses?

      “The point is,” Jake countered, “my boys are ready, willing and better still, they’re already here. And from the looks of some of your twitchy mares out there, they’re interested in these guys...so to speak.”

      A shiver went up Kenzie’s spine as she watched Jake walking up to her, guiding what had to be the most beautiful palomino she’d ever seen. Her mind raced back to the palomino she’d seen on Jake’s ranch when they were kids. Could this be the same horse?

      “Is this Running Star?” Kenzie asked, momentarily forgetting about the span of time that had gone by since she’d last seen the horse.

      Just the sight of such a beautiful cream-colored creature caused her to also forget about the ongoing argument. All she wanted to do was run a hand over what had to be the smoothest coat she’d seen in a long time. The horse was positively magnificent, and if she hadn’t already paid for frozen sperm, she’d match up this stallion with her mare Sweet Girl in a heartbeat.

      The horse nodded its majestic head a few times, as if it knew what she’d been thinking.

      “No. Running Star is too old to stud out, but he sired this fella. Morning Star is just about three years old and in top form.”