“GODDAMN IT!” the ranch foreman yelled. “Pull!”
Walker wrapped the rope more tightly around his wrist, took it in both hands and hauled as hard as he could as the heifer struggled and fought against the mud. The slick goo must have felt like a predator’s mouth tugging her deeper in, and her eyes rolled in wild panic. Walker pulled harder, urging the other men on when they wanted to stop. The poor girl was going to freeze to death if they didn’t get her out. Granted, she was destined for the packing plant in a year or two, but there was no reason for her to go like this, cold and shaking and scared.
“Fuck this,” the hand next to him muttered.
“She’s almost there,” Walker said, getting a new grip on the rope. Actually, she seemed to be slipping deeper, but he wasn’t going to give up. “Come on. One more good haul should get her.” In the end, it took three more hauls, but they pulled her free. She stumbled a few feet, then went to her knees.
There wasn’t anything out here to clean her off with, and the ranch was a mile away, so Walker swept his gloved hand down her flank, over and over, sluicing off the thick mud. Her big body shook under his hands, but her panicked lowing had stopped. By the time he stood and went to his horse to grab a blanket, she was breathing almost normally. She struggled to her feet and took a few steps toward him.
“Well, look at that,” one of the cowboys crowed. “You really do have a way with the ladies.”
The younger one laughed. “I’ve heard they follow you around like cats in heat, but damn, I’d never heard anything about heifers.”
Walker laughed off the jokes and took the blanket over to scrub some warmth into the cow. It only took a few moments before she was alert enough to jerk away from his ministrations and trot back to the herd. Hopefully she’d stick close to the others and the collective body heat would do the rest.
“All right,” the foreman snapped. “Move ’em on the last mile, and come collect your pay.” He trotted off without a word of thanks.
They remounted and spread out to move the herd on. Once they got them going, the older cowboy rode closer. “Mr. Kingham is a real asshole, but the trail work with the guests is okay if you can get hired on at the lodge. Heard you was looking for work.”
Walker glanced at the guy. His name was Tom, but Walker didn’t know more about him than that. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Well, you’re here, aren’t you?” He tipped his chin toward the foreman. “He asked me to keep an eye on you, see how you did. Too many years at one of these dude ranches can make for a soft cowboy.”
“You think?”
Tom shrugged. “Teaching pretty ladies how to ride?” He shot Walker an arch look, but he smiled and shook his head when Walker met it with a straight face. “Hey, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. Just saying if you’re used to having a warm woman at hand, it might make it harder to face a cold night on the range.”
“Yeah, well. They bring their own sets of problems.”
“Don’t I know it? Anyway, the back end of the operation is pretty quiet. No guests out here. Obviously Kingham’s not ‘customer service oriented.’”
“Yeah, I worked here ten years ago. Kingham wasn’t here, but I know they only use a few dozen head of cattle in the guest areas and keeps the rest of the work behind the scenes.”
“Well, you don’t seem soft. I’ll put in a good word.”
“Thanks.” Walker was thankful, but not as thrilled as he should’ve been at the prospect of a permanent job. Maybe Tom was right. Maybe he had gotten soft. He looked toward the distant buildings of the guest ranch almost hidden in the long evening shadows cast by the hills. But they weren’t headed there. The working side of the ranch had its own outbuildings and trailers. The guest ranch was only an attractive outbranch of an operation that ran two thousand head of cattle every year.
It’d be good work, but Walker’s heart fell. He’d gotten used to being around people. Ten or fifteen cowhands, the whole staff of the lodge, the clients: moms and dads and lots of kids. And yes, the occasionally group of raucous ladies looking for a mountain adventure.
Working at a dude ranch was a hell of a lot of fun.
This assignment, on the other hand... Well, shit. At least he could go back to his own place every night. That, and the steady income was probably the best he could say about it.
Freezing rain hit his hat in a slow patter before it picked up to a steady drizzle. The rain left him feeling even more defeated. Apparently he could’ve just left the damn heifer wet and muddy, because she was about to get that way again.
Turning his collar up, he concentrated on edging in a few cattle who were trying to break off from the herd. Soon enough, he was tracking mud and water into his truck and leaving for home, his pay for the day’s work stuffed into his pocket. He’d earn another few bucks tomorrow. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was something. He’d rather not dip into his savings any more than he had to.
Body aching from the cold, Walker cranked up the heat in the truck, then cranked up his favorite George Strait album, as well. No point dwelling on his problems. If he’d wanted stability, he’d chosen the wrong career. At least it came with damn good music.
He was just settling into a good fantasy about the scalding shower he was about to take when his cell phone rang, and his fantasy morphed to something else.
Maybe what he needed was a shower and a beer and a woman in his bed. He pulled the phone from his pocket, already wondering which old friend it could be. Granted, in the past few years, most of his lovers had been brief hookups with ranch visitors, but there were always a few—
His fantasy of a quiet night of good sex died when he saw the display.
Nicole.
Apparently she’d let go of her anger. But Walker hadn’t let go of his, if that’s what it was. Anger at her, maybe, or just at himself. He’d been stupid enough to mess around with another man’s wife. That didn’t mean he had to make it worse.
He declined the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket. A shower and a beer and his hand, then. Good enough. And a hell of a lot smarter than a bad-news woman.
He was so tired by the time he pulled up to the apartment, his hand would’ve been the only good choice, regardless. He’d never been the kind of guy to get off and go straight to sleep. Taking care of a woman the right way was hard work, and he didn’t have it in him tonight.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. Normally, he’d never have gotten into his truck covered in mud, but there’d been no bunkhouse washroom to clean up in. And he couldn’t face cleaning off his floor mats tonight. Or the seat. And tomorrow would likely be just as muddy. He’d take care of it when the job was done.
A knock on the window startled him out of his stupor. He rolled down the window and was surprised to see Charlie’s face a few inches from his.
“Hey,
