by Myla Jackson
“When are you due to head back out in the field?” he asked.
“Not for another week. Then I’m off to Montana.” Isaac glanced at the house. “I hired her. I’ll take care of the mess in the kitchen. You check on the cow and see if there’s anything you can think of.”
“Dad always took care of the sick animals. Anytime I tried to help, he refused. Said I’d do more good by getting Dusty out there to help him. He was too stubborn for his own good.”
“Yeah.” Isaac shoved a hand through his hair. “And Dusty’s not here to help.”
“It’s probably not a good idea to call him.” Trent scratched his five-o’clock shadow. “The man’s probably pumped up on morphine or some other painkillers.”
“Wouldn’t be right to bother him.” Isaac glanced at his brother hopefully. “Would it?”
“No.” Trent tipped his head toward the barn. “I’ll go see what I can do to make her comfortable.”
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Something not burned.”
“Frozen pizza?”
“We had that last night.”
“Frozen chicken wings?”
Trent sighed. “We need to sell this place. I miss the restaurants in Houston.”
“And the smell of oil refineries?” Isaac’s lips thinned. “I’m not selling.”
“You get to escape every other week.”
“We can hire more help.”
“Damn right. I have deadlines I can’t miss.”
“Saving the world one oilrig at a time?”
“Maybe. At least I’m trying to help make this country less dependent on foreign sources of fossil fuels.”
“So noble.” Isaac bowed, his whole attitude reeking of sarcasm.
“Don’t knock it, you’re in the same business, finding oil for speculators.”
“Yeah, but you have a talent for building things. It doesn’t have to be oil rigs.”
“Oh, go cook something.” Trent stomped off to the barn, his brother’s taunt hitting far too close to home. After the brightness of the Texas outdoors, the interior of the barn was dark and filled with shadows.
He stood for a few moments, allowing his sight to adjust to the darkness.
Then he heard Lucky talking.
He followed the sound to the last stall where the heifer lay on her side, breathing hard.
Lucky crouched on the ground beside her, smoothing a hand over the animal’s neck.
He must have made a noise, because Lucky glanced over her shoulder, her gray eyes rounded, sad. “She’s dehydrated.”
“The vet’s coming in the morning.”
“If we don’t get fluids in her, she might not make it through the night.”
“There’s only one large-animal vet in the county.”
“Then we have to do something.” Lucky pushed to her feet. “Where are your supplies?”
“In a cabinet in the tack room.”
“Show me.”
Trent led the way, and Lucky followed him.
“Do you keep salt, potassium chloride and calcium chloride?”
He stared at her. “I have no idea.”
She frowned.
“What? My foreman usually handles ordering supplies for the animals and takes care of any sick ones.”
“You own the ranch.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t ask for it.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Inheritance from my father. The only thing he ever gave me.”
She tilted her head, a smile playing at her lips. “I detect resentment.”
“Yeah.”
Her smile disappeared and she brushed him aside. “I don’t have time for it,” she said, her voice brusque, no-nonsense. One by one, she went through the cabinets until she located a box of salt and two more with calcium chloride and potassium chloride. She pulled them down onto a counter and then reached for the metal tube lying on a shelf above.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving that cow’s life, if I can.”
“You’ve done this before?”
“I told you, I worked on a ranch. I’m good with animals. That heifer is dehydrated. If we don’t get her hydrated, she might not be around for the vet in the morning.”
Curious now, he watched as she measured amounts of the three ingredients into a clean bucket. “How do you know she’s dehydrated?”
She rolled her eyes his way as if to say any idiot would know if they had worked around cattle much. “Her eyes have receded.” Once she had the ingredients in the bucket, she filled it with water and stirred. “If you’ll bring that tube and pump, we can get started.” She didn’t wait for him.
Trent grabbed the lid for the bucket that had a pump affixed to it, the tubing and nose pincher and hurried after Lucky.
She’d set the five-gallon bucket of liquid to the side and was herding the cow out of the stall and out the back door of the barn into the small corral. She didn’t stop until she had her in the chute with the neck clamp. Quickly, efficiently, she situated the heifer in the clamp and held out her hand for the nose pincher with the short gray tube attached.
Trent handed her the items she asked for and observed while she worked on the heifer, shoving a longer tube through her mouth and into her belly. Soon she had the concoction she’d stirred up pumping into the heifer’s stomach.
“Are you sure this is what you do?” he asked, remembering his father and Dusty doing something like this when he’d let Trent near enough to watch.
“I’ve done it more times than I remember. I grew up on a cattle ranch in the panhandle. I was drenching cows at the age of nine.”
An hour and five gallons of liquid later, they moved the heifer back to the stall, gave her food and water and closed the gate. In that time, Trent had a whole new respect for the ranch hand they’d hired and it had nothing to do with how beautiful she was or how sexy she looked naked. Though that helped.
“She should be okay until the morning when the vet comes.” Lucky brushed her hands on her jeans and sighed. “The horses have been fed. Tomorrow I’ll check hooves and teeth. Is there anything else you want me to do?”
“I think you’ve got everything under control.” He had to admit he was surprised by her expertise and hard work. He hadn’t known many women…make that any women who could have done what she had that day. “You’re amazing.”
She snorted. “Except for the K.P. detail.” Her head hung. “My father raised me to work the ranch, but he didn’t bother to teach me to cook.”
“I gathered that.” He jerked his head toward the house. “I smell something that isn’t smoke. Isaac isn’t bad at the grill. Wanna go see what he’s prepared?”
She glanced down at her dirty jeans. “I need a shower. Then I’m headed to the Ugly Stick. I have to work off the damages from last night.”
He frowned, not too happy about having her work all day then late into the night at the Ugly Stick. “I can give you a ride.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m not certain how late I’ll be. I’d prefer to take my own truck.”
“I don’t mind. I was going there anyway, after dinner,” he lied. The more he was around her, the more he found himself wanting to be around her.
She trudged toward the house, biting at that full bottom lip. “All right. But I’ll drive my truck.”
He glanced at the old pickup. “Will it make it there and back?” He didn’t relish walking home in the middle of the night. “I really don’t mind driving.”
“Then you drive, but I’m taking my truck.”
“We’ll take your truck.” Biting back a grumble, he held the door for her as she entered through the kitchen. He hadn’t planned on going to the Ugly Stick, but now that he’d committed, he couldn’t take it back. Besides, after a full day working the ranch, Lucky had to be tired and shouldn’t drive herself home alone.
“Took you guys long enough. The steaks are getting cold.”
“Where�
��d you get steaks?” Trent asked.
Isaac’s chest puffed out. “Found them in the back of the freezer.”
“I can’t eat until I’ve had a shower.” Lucky glanced around the kitchen.
Isaac grinned. “I did the best I could with cleaning up. A coat of paint will take care of the rest.”
“I could pick up a can on my way through town, if the hardware store is still open.” Her face fell. “On second thought, I will when I have some money in my pockets.”
“We have some ceiling paint in the barn,” Isaac offered.
“I can paint the ceiling tomorrow.” Lucky glanced from Isaac to Trent. “Unless you want me to do it before I go to the Ugly Stick. I can, you know.” She started for the back door. “In fact, I think I should. It’ll cut down on the smoky smell.”
“No!” both Trent and Isaac said at once.
Her eyes widened. “I don’t mind. I created the mess, I should have cleaned it up.”
“We don’t mind, do we, Isaac?” Trent said.
“Hey, speak for yourself. I had to toss the pan and use steel wool to get the charred remains of a pork chop off the stove.”
“I’m sorry.” Lucky chewed that lower lip again. “Maybe it would be best if I moved on. My bad luck seems to be following me, even here.”
Trent slipped an arm around her shoulders. “I’d say you have a knack for more than that.” He glanced at his brother. “You should have seen how she took care of that heifer. What did you call it?”
“Drenching.” She shrugged. “Any ranch hand could have done it.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Trent nodded toward the hallway. “Do you have extra clothes?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the back room.”
Trent glanced over her head at his brother.
“I put her in the spare bedroom last night.”
She’d slept in the house the night before and he hadn’t known it. His cock twitched. And if he had, what would he have done? Stayed up all night wondering what she looked like naked?
“I don’t expect to stay in the house long. Just until I can earn enough money to rent my own place.”
“We don’t mind your staying here, do we, Trent?” Isaac shot him a pointed glare.
“Not at all.”
Lucky stood straight. “I don’t take charity unless I have to.” She shot a glance at Isaac. “And I plan on paying you back that forty dollars, as soon as I can earn extra money.”
“You work here now. Your quarters are provided as part of the payment package.”
“Do you have a bunk house?”
“No. Only the foreman has his own small house on the property.”
“Then I’ll find a place to stay in town.”
“Don’t be stubborn, Lucky.” Isaac slipped an arm around her shoulder. “What if one of the animals needs you in the middle of the night? Trent and I are hopeless. We’ve had no training in animal husbandry.”
“Isaac’s right,” Trent added. “It’s either we pay your rent in town, or—”
“—you can stay in this house. We have three extra bedrooms. You might as well use one.”
Her brow furrowed and she chewed on that darned lip again, making Trent want to take over and taste it himself. “What’s it gonna be?”
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “Okay. But only until I can earn enough to pay my own rent. And don’t tell me you’d do the same for a male ranch hand.”
Trent smiled. “Actually, we would. Isaac and I have jobs other than ranching. We need the help and we’d pay for and put up with someone who can take care of things when we can’t. And today, you’ve proven that you can more than take care of the ranching duties.”
“All that said, it helps that you’re prettier than a toothless cowboy.” Isaac clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Go get your shower. You’re staying here.”
Isaac watched as she walked away, waited until she was out of earshot and then turned on his brother. “What the hell are you doing with Lucky?”
“What do you mean?”
“She hasn’t been here an entire day and you’ve already had sex with her in the creek?” Isaac crossed his arms. “I saw her first. I was the one who hired her to work at the ranch. I want to date her. Did you think of that?”
“Seems to me you had your chance already. When did you have time to steal a kiss from her?”
“I didn’t steal it. She gave it free and clear.” He glared at his brother, wanting to tell him that he’d had sex with Lucky, but he wasn’t one to kiss and tell. It was up to Lucky to share that information. Apparently, she hadn’t. “You have a crappy reputation with women. What happens when you get tired of her? If she fancies herself in love with you and you don’t return her feelings, our ranch hand will pull up stakes and leave.”
“So?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I want her for me. She’s just the kind of woman I pictured myself with for the long haul. Kind, independent, hardworking.”
“Beautiful, sexy and with legs that go on forever?”
“That too.” Isaac stabbed a steak with a fork and slammed it onto a plate. “Don’t run her off like you do every other woman.”
“If she’d wanted you, don’t you think she’d have shown it?”
She had and they’d done it. Isaac clamped down on his tongue to keep from saying that. “I was giving her a chance to get used to the idea of me and her.”
“You snooze, buddy, and you lose.” Trent slid one of the charred steaks onto his plate, spooned a helping of microwaved baked beans next to it and set it on the table.
Isaac placed the last steak on another plate and set his and Lucky’s plates on the table, a jar of steak sauce and two glasses of ice water. “I’m not done yet. But you’re right. I’m playing it safe. I think I could be the right guy for Lucky.”
“And I’m not?”
“Hell no. You aren’t stable enough. She needs someone who will care for her always.”
“She needs someone who can stir her passion.”
“I got this.”
Lucky entered the room with her hair up in a towel, her face scrubbed clean. “You two didn’t have to wait for me. Dig in.” She sat, lifted a fork and knife and polished off the steak like a true ranch hand.
Yeah, no dieting, stiletto-wearing, frou-frou woman with more hairspray than brains. Lucky was the real deal.
Isaac studied her and his brother as they ate in silence. Tonight he would step up the pace on his goal to woo the fair Lucky into committing to him. He had more charm in his little finger than Trent had in his entire body, and he cared about Lucky. That his brother had taken her in the creek had him scratching his head. Was Lucky like so many other women and preferred the bad boy to the boy next door?
Well, hell. He could be just as bad as the next guy. Lucky wouldn’t know what hit her. Isaac went after what he wanted, and he wanted Lucky for his own.
Chapter Seven
Lucky drove to Temptation on her way to the Ugly Stick Saloon with Isaac and Trent crowded onto the front bench seat beside her. She couldn’t convince them that she was used to doing things on her own, and they insisted they were going to the Ugly Stick anyway. Right. Two nights in a row. They didn’t strike her as big partiers.
Her truck might not be the newest, cleanest, best truck on the road. It coughed black smoke and the engine was sluggish when it started, but it was hers. She didn’t have much left from her life growing up as the daughter of a ranch foreman. When her father had died of cancer four years ago, he’d used up all his savings on doctors’ bills. All he’d had to leave her was the old truck.
“Since you’re going to be early at the Ugly Stick, could we swing by the grocery store? I need razors and shaving cream,” Trent said. “Anything you need, Lucky?”
She needed shampoo and something besides the harsh soaps the men used, but she refused to ask. It would be one more thing she’d need to pay back. At this point she
was quickly becoming an indentured servant with the IOUs she was racking up. “No, thank you.”
She parked out front of the grocery store and got out.
“Are you coming in?” Trent asked.
“No. I thought I’d spend the time checking out the town.”
He snorted. “That won’t take long.”
Isaac hooked her arm with a charming smile. “I can show you around if you’d like.”
The man was hard to resist when he smiled like that. “That would be nice.”
Trent grunted, glared at his brother and entered the grocery store by himself.
Isaac proved to be a good tour guide, mentioning the historic buildings, the shops along Main Street, and he gave her tidbits about the people who owned them.
Small, quaint and homey. A community she could grow to love.
In the center of town, they passed a beauty salon called the Shear Safari, decorated like an African savanna with lions, giraffes and water buffalo painted on the windows. A woman waved from inside.
Isaac paused and waited for her to emerge from the salon.
Lucky recognized the woman as Mona, one of the two tipsy women who’d witnessed her knocking Audrey’s truck into the ditch.
“Isaac, honey, who’ve you got there?” Mona hooked her arm through Isaac’s and smiled all friendly-like at Lucky.
Lucky felt a little stab of anger at the way the woman clung to Isaac. Not that she was jealous or anything. After all, she’d almost made love to the man’s brother in a pool earlier that day. She had no claim over the Jameson men. Warmth spread over her breasts and up her neck. Wow. She got hot just thinking about them.
Isaac waved toward the woman dressed in leopard-print Lycra stretch pants. “Lucky Albright, this is Mona Daley, our resident beautician.”
“Cosmetologist,” Mona corrected, and held out her hand.
Lucky shook her hand and shifted in her cowboy boots. For the first time ever, she wished she could wear girlie clothes and do her hair like Mona’s.
“How’s Grant doing on the Rafter R since his retirement?” Isaac leaned close to Lucky. “Grant was the best bronc rider on the rodeo circuit until he quit this past year.”