Part Time Cowboy. Maisey Yates

general dampness that clung to the air, and walked down the path that should lead her to the shed.

      An engine roar disturbed her silence, and she turned to see a black truck barreling down the long, secluded drive that led to her house.

      She stopped and watched, trying to catch a glimpse of the driver. She failed, but she figured it was too grand an entrance for someone who wanted to Freddy Krueger her, so she was probably good.

      She shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and headed back to where the truck had parked. “Hello?”

      “Hi.”

      The feminine voice that greeted her wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Neither was the petite brunette who dropped down from the driver’s side, wearing a flannel shirt and a pair of Carhartts. Her braid flipped down over her shoulder as her boots hit the ground, and she looked up and smiled.

      Sadie vaguely remembered that there was a female Garrett, but she’d never known her. Unsurprising, really, since this girl looked wholesome and shiny, and all the things Sadie had never been.

      “Kate,” she said, extending her hand. “Kate Garrett. The sister.”

      “Nice to meet you,” Sadie said, shaking the other woman’s hand.

      “I didn’t want to drop by last night because I thought it would be rude, but I thought I’d stop in today just to say hi. And to ask what all your plans are.”

      There was something wide-eyed and sweet about Kate, something that stood in contrast to her firm handshake and confident manner. She was strength, and openness, and for a moment, Sadie envied that. The bravery it must take.

      “Well, I have plans to turn the house into a B and B that will hopefully be ready for guests in about a month and a half.” She put her hands on her hips and let out a long breath. “Enough time to get things arranged, and to settle in, hopefully.”

      “If you need any help, or anything, I’m happy to give it. I work at the Farm and Garden, and I know a lot about plants, animals, general repair stuff.”

      It stunned her, yet again, how nice people had been to her—exception being Eli—since she’d shown up. She’d imagined...she didn’t know. She’d turned Copper Ridge into such a dark place in her mind that she’d been sure people would all but greet her with torches and pitchforks. And yet, no one had.

       Facing your demons, and finding out there aren’t quite as many as you thought?

      “That’s really nice, but I don’t want to take any of your time,” Sadie said.

      “Really, I don’t have a whole lot happening right now. Just work. And it’s very male around here, so it’s nice to have a more feminine influence.”

      It occurred to her then that it was time to stop resisting connections. Five years, remember?

      “If I need something, I’ll take you up on that,” she said. “You’ll be better company than a random hired hand.”

      Kate laughed. “I try. What are you after today?”

      “Trim. Light fixtures. I might look at new hardware for the cabinets.”

      Kate wrinkled her nose, then looked at the house, and at Sadie’s car. “If you have renovation stuff to buy, you aren’t fitting it in there. Ten pounds of potatoes, five-pound sack. But if you want, you can come in with me and use my truck to make deliveries back to the property. You just need to be able to pick me up at closing time.”

      Sadie hadn’t had a firm plan for the day, but she couldn’t deny that the use of a truck had a very high chance of coming in handy.

      Her immediate gut response was to say no. Because accepting help meant the possibility of needing to pay someone back. Sadie was fine giving help, and expecting nothing in return. But she’d always been afraid of leaving town owing a debt.

       But you’re staying here. At least for a while.

      “Thank you, Kate,” she said. “That’s so nice of you. I would really appreciate your help.”

      * * *

      “WELL, SHIT,” CONNOR SAID, looking around the field. “I think we missed a calf.”

      Eli straightened and wiped the sweat off his forehead. It hadn’t seemed too hot earlier, but now the sun was high in the sky, beating down on them. The middle of the field provided no shade, and the work they’d been doing wasn’t easy.

      “You think?” he asked, looking around the field and spotting a red angus, one of the few reds who had ever popped up in their herd, who he knew full well had been ready to birth a while back. “Oh, yeah. She calved already.”

      “And I don’t see baby. Which means she’s got him hidden somewhere, or he’s dead.”

      “Dammit.” Eli tugged his T-shirt up over his head and mopped the sweat off his chest before chucking the shirt on the ground and getting up onto his horse. “Let’s go find him.”

      Eli spurred his horse on. “Got her number?” he asked, meaning the identification number on the mother cow’s ear.

      “Yeah, I know it.”

      “I’m going to guess he’s under the trees somewhere.” Eli gestured to the back of the field that led toward the houses. It was still heavily wooded, providing the herd with a place to escape the weather.

      Connor followed him, the horses’ hoofbeats the only sound as they galloped across the field. Eli kept an eye out for a carcass in the grass, but the absence of crows and buzzards had him feeling optimistic.

      Death was a part of ranch life, but it wasn’t one he enjoyed.

      Sure, they raised cattle for beef, but they took care of them. They had value to his family that ran deep. It was hard to explain to someone outside of the ranching community, but those in it understood the connection without him having to voice it.

      Hell, with a job this demanding, you had to love all the elements of it, or you’d never choose to do it. It was really why he chose to do it only part-time. Maybe that made him a fair-weather cowboy, but he was okay with that.

      He still got his job done. Both his jobs, in fact.

      He tugged his horse’s reins and slowed her down when they got to the edge of the trees and Connor dismounted.

      “Oh, great,” he said, looking back. “We got mama’s attention. But then, I guess that means we’re close.”

      But the last thing they wanted was to be on a twelve-hundred-pound mother cow’s radar while they tried to run down her three-day-old calf and give him a piercing.

      Eli got off his own horse and followed Connor under the trees. “Okay, Con,” he said, “make this fast because I don’t want to deal with mom cow’s attitude, all right?”

      Then he saw it, spindly and wobbly, under the trees. Black as night, obviously not inheriting his mother’s coloring.

      “Okay...” Eli said. “Let’s do this thing.”

      Connor crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Get in there, part-time cowboy. You’re on shift.” He handed Eli the applicator, which was already clean and ready.

      Eli took it, then flipped Connor his middle finger before wading into the foliage.

      He looked over his shoulder. The mother cow was jogging now, heading toward them, not happy to see them getting closer to her baby. And they couldn’t blame her. But he needed to get the baby’s tag on so they could match him up with his mother later. Easy enough to figure it out now, but harder later in a field of black calves.

      “Hurry up, man!” Connor called.

      “Right,” Eli said, tossing the word over his shoulder as he battled through the brush, sticks breaking beneath his boots as he headed