no. I resigned it when Mom died. There…there was a lot to do. It happened so suddenly I couldn’t face going back to a job I hated.” Jennifer stopped as sudden tears clogged her eyes and throat.
Jason paused as he saw how much Jennifer was suffering and felt a sudden guilty pang at asking his questions. It had been insensitive, and he knew firsthand how hard it was to lose a parent.
“I’m sorry about your mom,” he said, and continued with his meal.
“How did she die?” Sam asked.
Jenny sniffed and composed herself. “In a car accident, it was very quick. She had her faults, but…I miss her.”
“I see,” Sam said. “She never remarried?”
“No. She wasn’t a very warm person.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Sam agreed, smiling back.
They ate in silence the rest of the meal.
When Rachel began clearing the table, Jennifer got up to help her.
“You go ahead and change into your riding clothes, Jenny, so you won’t keep your father waiting.”
“All right, Rachel. Thank you,” Jennifer said with a brief smile and rushed upstairs.
“I’ll help you, Rachel,” Jason said, getting up to carry dishes to the sink.
“I might as well help, too, instead of just sitting here waiting,” Sam said.
Rachel got all flustered; she wasn’t used to the men helping her out at all. “Really! There’s no need.”
Neither man answered her, they just carried on bringing the dishes to the counter.
The dishes were almost all loaded into the dishwasher when Jennifer came back into the kitchen. “I’m ready,” she said.
Both men turned to stare at her. She was dressed in cream tights, plush coat and a riding hat.
“You’re wearing that?” Jason asked, trying hard not to laugh. She was going to stick out like a sore thumb with the other cowboys.
Jennifer looked down at her garb. “It’s what I always wore in New York. I don’t have any jeans. Will it be okay?”
“That’ll be fine,” Sam said, shooting a warning look at Jason. Before he walked to the door, he whispered to Jason to ride ahead and warn the other men not to laugh.
Jason buried his grin and excused himself and jogged off to the barn.
Sam gestured to the door to Jennifer. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, but…but are you sure my clothes will be all right?”
“Of course. Shall we go?”
“Thanks for lunch, Rachel,” Jennifer said, kissing her cheek.
“Uh, yeah, thanks, Rachel.” Sam held the door open for Jennifer and followed her to the barn.
Jennifer knew as soon as she had seen the smile on Jason’s face that she had made a mistake with her outfit, but it was all she’d had in New York to go riding in. Her mother had insisted that if she had to ride, then she would do it properly, dressed like a lady. Back in the city it had been acceptable, but Jenny knew that out here she’d need to buy some new clothes!
As if to prove to her father and Jason that she wasn’t just some silly city girl, Jenny insisted on saddling her own horse. She felt it was important to convince them she knew what she was doing. Of course, the saddle was much heavier than she was used to, but she managed to get it on top of the saddle blanket she’d already put on the young mare Jason had suggested she ride.
With dexterity, Jennifer buckled the saddle in place. She finished before Sam did. He looked over his shoulder. “You did that real fast. Are you sure she wasn’t holding her breath?”
“Yes, I’m sure. She seems well trained.”
“Jason trained her. He’s very good with the horses.”
“He seems to be a real help to you around here. How did you meet him?”
Sam paused in saddling his horse and looked off into the distance, as though remembering a darker time. “He met me. I was dead drunk in a bar and trying to find my keys to drive home. He stopped me. He told me I shouldn’t risk other peoples’ lives by driving.”
“That was good of him.”
“Yes, it was. I’d…I’d been drinking a lot. He stayed the night and talked to me the next day about what I was doing to myself and my property. I asked him to stay a few days with me.”
“And he stayed?”
“Yeah. And he showed me a lot of new ways to improve my ranch. He’d gotten his degree from Oklahoma State University. Until he could afford to get his own property, he was rodeoing to earn money.”
“That’s a hard life.”
“Yes, it was, but he was playing it straight. He didn’t drink because his parents had died in a wreck with a drunkard. He said that saved him. It’s hard to be foolish when you’re sober.”
“I can imagine,” Jennifer answered, and realized there was much more to the surly man she had shared lunch with only moments ago. He had a depth that surprised her and he had clearly been a good influence on her father.
“Ready?” Sam asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Jennifer nodded and swung up into the saddle. Lifting her reins, she guided the mare out of the barn. She felt like she’d come home once again.
“Where are we going?”
“Out to the north pasture.” After a minute Sam added,
“We’re going to separate the herd. It’s gotten so large it’s hard to handle, and we need to put the cows into two different pastures. Do you think you can herd cattle?”
“I think so,” Jenny answered, but the butterflies tumbled in her stomach.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
They rode at a lope—a nice, easy gait. Jennifer eventually relaxed in the saddle, looking around her at the green pasture. It all seemed so familiar to her, as though she had never been away. When they reached the north pasture the large herd was in and Jason already had the cowboys separating them by age. He looked so in control that Jenny just sat for a moment looking at him. He was certainly at home on a ranch. Jennifer watched for a moment longer and noticed how his tough working jeans molded to the muscles in his legs, and also his white cotton shirt accentuated the dark tan of his arms. Totally transfixed, Jenny didn’t notice that Jason was looking at her, too, and she blushed when they made eye contact.
Quickly trying to cover herself, Jenny turned to Sam and asked, “How do they know the age of the cows?”
“They’re guessing,
