Harlequin Romance Bundle: Crowns and Cowboys

by Judy Christenberry

  “Child, you just be careful,” Sara Beth replied. “And keep an eye on Wes. He still thinks he’s a youngster, but he turned fifty-one last birthday.”

  “I know, Sara Beth. I’ll make sure he doesn’t overdo it.”

  “All right. Hurry home. I’m going to miss both of you.”

  Rosemary gave her a hug and then hurried out to the barn, where she could see Wes talking to a couple of men. They looked like cowboys, but Wes hadn’t mentioned hiring anyone new.

  When she reached the small group, she was shocked to see that one of the men was Jason Barton. He looked even better in well-worn jeans than he had in his designer suit and silk tie. Beside the barn was an expensive horse trailer attached to a dual-cab truck.

  “Ms. Wilson,” Jason Barton said in acknowledgment of her appearance.

  She nodded in return. He wanted to keep it formal? That was fine with her. She looked to Wes to introduce her to the other man.

  He did. “Rosie, this is Ted Houston, Jason’s ranch manager. He’s going with us, too, as you know.”

  She nodded again. “Fine. Are we ready?”

  “Yeah, the boys have the horses ready. Your horse is tied to the corral, with the others.”

  “Is Cookie packed up and ready?”

  “Yeah, he’s already left. He’s going to set up camp for us halfway there. We should make camp about four this afternoon.”

  “Good. Then let’s mount up.”

  Without waiting for an answer, she turned toward the corral. Maggie, the sorrel mare she’d been riding since she was sixteen, stood waiting. Rosemary untied the reins, put her things on the saddle and then petted Maggie before she mounted.

  Alongside Maggie was a gelding, large, strong, able to carry a big man like Jason Barton. A few days ago she’d faced him in spike heels, but today, in her cowboy boots, as was he, he towered over her.

  As she swung into the saddle, he moved to the gray’s side. Swinging into the saddle with great ease, he backed the horse up and moved in Wes’s direction.

  “Nice mount,” she said quietly.

  “Thanks. Shadow and I have been together for a few years.”

  “Did you bring a second mount?” All of her employees had two mounts for the roundup because of the hard work.

  “Yes, both Ted and I brought two mounts.”

  “Good. Take it from me, Mr. Barton. You’ll need them.”

  Jason followed the woman up to the group of cowboys already assembled. He introduced himself to all of them, though he’d met some of them when he’d come to look at the ranch. He also introduced Ted.

  But his gaze followed Ms. Wilson’s movement. He’d been shocked by her appearance this morning. Gone was the makeup, the earrings, the designer suit and especially the spike heels. Even her hair was different. It was in a braid down the center of her back. Not only was she simply dressed, but none of her attire looked new. She acted as if this was a normal activity she’d been doing all her life.

  He hadn’t expected her to be experienced, but she sat her horse with ease. Maybe she knew what she was doing…Still, he wouldn’t believe it until she proved herself on the roundup. Almost anyone could learn to ride a horse. Working on a roundup took more knowledge. Certainly Wes knew what to do. He hadn’t hired Wes to stay with the ranch because he felt the ranch was a little run down. He figured Wes was responsible for that.

  Now Jason was beginning to wonder.

  Wes set the pace at a lope. While Ms. Wilson stayed close to her manager, she seemed to know all the cowboys.

  Jason had expected her to ride with the trail cook and to help with the meals. Not to round up the cows. Was her horse trained as a cutting horse? If the mare wasn’t, its lovely rider wouldn’t be of a lot of use on the drive.

  Maybe she intended to supervise from camp, he suddenly thought. Only time would tell. Right now he was ready to do his best, to do the job in front of him. All his employees and business rivals would agree: Jason Barton believed in playing fair—as long as the other guy did, too. Guy or woman.

  He clicked at his horse and Shadow obeyed, picking up the pace.

  After about five hours Jason had to admit he was feeling stiff. A few weekend rides didn’t equate to five straight hours in the saddle.

  The irritating thing was that Rosemary Wilson looked as fresh as she had at 6:00 a.m.

  Wes told everyone to dismount and eat their bagged lunch under the shade of some tall trees. Like all the cowboys, Jason took care of his mount before he fed himself. There was a creek nearby and he led Shadow to it.

  Rosemary Wilson didn’t ask anyone else to take care of her mount. She led her horse to the water and waited until the horse had drunk her fill. Then she tied up the mare where the grass was green. Once her horse was grazing, she took her canteen and her sandwich and joined Wes.

  Jason knew she wouldn’t welcome him anywhere close to her; she’d communicated that clearly enough by her attitude. He joined them anyway, as did his manager, Ted.

  “You certainly picked a nice day for the start, Ms. Wilson,” Jason said, offering an easy smile to see if she’d relax a little.

  She didn’t. “Thank you.”

  “Do you think this kind of weather will last for the entire two weeks?”

  “Who knows?”

  “Wes, what do you think?”

  “It’s September. We sometimes get some cold fronts, even snow. But we’re hoping, since it’s at the beginning of the month, we’ll be all right.”

  “How rough are the foothills we’re going to be covering?” Ted asked.

  Wes and Ms. Wilson exchanged a look. Then Wes said, “Some of it is pretty wild.”

  “We didn’t bring rifles,” Jason said. “Should we have?”

  Wes looked him in the eye. “Yeah. But we’ve got rifles, so if we run up on a bear or something, we’ll take care of it.”

  Jason turned to look at Ms. Wilson. “Did you bring a rifle?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Can you shoot it?”

  Wes laughed. “This little girl is one of the best sharpshooters I’ve ever seen.”

  The “little girl” only said, “Yes.”

  “I’m surprised, Ms. Wilson.”

  She raised one slim eyebrow. “Why?”

  “When you came to my office, you looked like you had conquered the world of fashion, not sharpshooting.”

  “You were mistaken, Mr. Barton.”

  Wes frowned. “Are you two going to be so formal the entire roundup?”

  “I don’t mind Ms. Wilson using my first name, though I can’t use hers unless she says it’s okay.”

  “Come on, Rosie,” Wes interjected. “Quit standing on ceremony. This is a roundup, not some fancy social affair.”

  Jason almost burst out laughing. He could see the stubbornness on her face. She wanted to remain cool, aloof, to hide behind formality. But she couldn’t admit it in front of Wes.

  Finally she acquiesced. “Fine. I’ll be glad to call you Jason, and you can call me Rosemary.”

  “Thanks, Rosemary.”

  She nodded and took a bite of her sandwich.

  Wes was watching him, as if he was wondering why Jason was pushing Rosemary from her comfort zone. But as Wes had said, they couldn’t be formal for two weeks.

  In spite of Wes’s bragging about Rosemary’s skills, Jason still wasn’t sure she would be of much use on the cattle drive. He would just have to wait and see.

  After a half-hour break, they were all in the saddle again, facing another four to five hours before they reached their first camp. Wes had explained that they would be at the halfway point this evening. Then they would travel another eight hours the next day. The day after, they would begin the search for cattle, at the farthest point and the highest elevation, beyond which the terrain was too rough for cattle to venture. Then they would gradually move back toward the ranch, sweeping the hills for the cattle.

  It would be a much slower trip coming back than it had been go
ing.

  When they reached the camp set up by the cook, they could smell dinner cooking and see a large campfire. The warmth would be welcome, Jason admitted. As the sun lowered behind the hills, the air had changed from crisp to cold.

  And the food would be just as welcome. His body was tired and in need of fuel. He’d tried not to slump in the saddle because Rosemary certainly wasn’t slumping. The woman must have a lot of muscles in that trim figure, he reasoned.

  Ted was apparently feeling much as he did. “I’m glad to see that fire. I don’t like the cold.”

  Jason frowned in surprise. “Haven’t you had to go out in bad weather to take care of the cattle?”

  “I usually get some of the men to do that work.”

  Jason thought he knew Ted Houston fairly well. He’d come highly recommended, and he’d ridden with Jason on a couple of weekends at a stable outside Denver, where Jason kept Shadow and several other horses. But a leader didn’t ask his men to do things he wouldn’t do.

  After they dismounted and tended their horses, including putting up a rope corral that would hold the horses for the night, they all moved quickly to the fire where the cook had an appetizing stew cooking over the fire.

  “It smells good, Cookie,” Rosemary said, finally smiling.

  “It’s Sara Beth’s recipe, Rosie, so you know it’s good.” He turned to Jason and held out a hand. “I don’t believe I’ve met you. I’m Albert Downey, but everyone calls me Cookie, for obvious reasons,” he said with a grin.

  Jason shook his hand. “Glad to meet you. I’m Jason Barton and this is Ted Houston.”

  “Welcome, boys. The tin bowls are stacked on the tailgate of the SUV. Grab one and a spoon and get in line. It’s chow time.”

  Jason waited for Rosemary to advance first. He fell in step behind her, his eyes on the sway of her hips in those tight jeans. They’d ridden through some of the most beautiful scenery in the west today, but Jason had to admit this was the prettiest sight he’d seen all day.

  CHAPTER TWO

  AS HE walked to the SUV, Ted came up alongside Jason. “That Cookie obviously doesn’t know who we are,” he said with an edge to his voice. “If he did, he’d be more respectful.”

  Jason spared him a quick glance. “We’re helping with the roundup, Ted, nothing more. There’s nothing wrong with how he treated us.” He took a bowl and spoon and moved after Rosemary who had gone to get her bowl and spoon in front of him.

  But she wasn’t the first one in line. Others had gone before her. She wasn’t standing on ceremony as Ted seemed to expect. Jason had to admit he was fascinated by Rosemary, but he assured himself it was only because of the contrast between the woman as he’d seen her in Denver and the woman who stood before him now.

  When his bowl was full, Jason followed Rosemary to the canvas stools Cookie had set up around the fire. Selecting the one next to her, he sank down, relieved to have canvas under him instead of leather.

  “Long day?” Rosemary asked.

  “Yeah, but you seemed to hold up well.”

  “I’ve done this before.”

  “Surely not recently.”

  “No, not recently. My father let things slip on the ranch the last two years.”

  “I thought maybe it was Wes’s fault.” Jason didn’t mean his remark as an insult, but he realized he’d offended Rosemary again.

  “How dare you?” she said before she stood and moved to another camp stool, making her disdain obvious to everyone gathered around the fire.

  Wes, who was just now being served as the last man in line, watched Rosemary as she moved to another seat. Then he crossed to the seat she’d abandoned and sat down.

  “How you doing, Jason?” he asked.

  “Fine. Cookie makes a mean stew.”

  “Yeah, he does.”

  “Who is Sara Beth? He said it was her recipe.”

  “She’s my wife. She’s been the housekeeper on the ranch for a long time. That’s how I met her.”

  Conversation had resumed around the fire. The men had all been watching Rosemary, as if to determine she was all right. But with Wes’s approach and general conversation, he’d apparently reassured his men.

  “What did you say to Rosie?” Wes asked, his voice lower.

  “I’m sorry, Wes. I spoke without thinking. She thinks I insulted you.”

  “How’d you do that?”

  “She said her dad hadn’t done much on the ranch the last two years. I said I’d thought it was your fault.”

  “That’s not unreasonable.” Wes took a spoonful of the meat and vegetables. “Rosie is a little touchy about things right now. She feels she abandoned her dad when he needed her. In truth, the old man sent her away. I think he was just too tired, and didn’t want to admit that to her.”

  “That must’ve made things hard for you.”

  “Yeah, but I couldn’t abandon him or the men who worked for him. And Sara Beth would never have agreed to leave him or Rosie.”

  “I see,” Jason said. “I’m sorry I upset her. I didn’t realize the circumstances. I’ll apologize to her whenever she’ll let me.”

  “No need. I’ll talk to her. Just remember this is a hard time for her. Give her a little space.”

  Jason knew what Wes was telling him, but something inside him didn’t want to listen. “I’ll be more careful about what I say to her.”

  Wes gave him a considering look, and Jason tried to conceal his response. He didn’t want Wes to forbid him to talk to Rosemary.

  “Okay. I’ll try to patch things up when I talk to her.”

  Jason let out a soft sigh. “Thanks, Wes. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem. We don’t want any fights in front of the men.”

  “No, of course not.”

  Rosemary watched Jason and Wes out of the corner of her eye as she ate her stew. She would demand Jason leave if he upset Wes. She wasn’t going to allow that. Wes and Sara Beth were her family—her only family, now that her dad was gone.

  Her eyes filled with tears at the thought of her father. He’d obviously been too tired, too ill, to handle the running of the ranch. Wes had apologized to her, but he’d said her father wouldn’t agree to anything that required any money. Clearly he’d been in financial difficulty, too, though she hadn’t known. She wondered if Wes and Sara Beth had even been paid all their wages, though they’d both told her they had.

  The biggest question, for her, had been whether Robert had sold the ranch because he didn’t believe she, a female, could handle running it. Even thinking the thought that she’d hidden in her heart almost brought her to tears.

  One of the cowboys sitting next to her leaned over and said, “You okay, Rosie?” Apparently mistaking her upset, he added, “If the man got fresh, we’ll take care of him.”

  “No! No, I’m just tired, Nick. There’s no problem.” She even managed to smile. “I’m just thinking about my dad. I wish he was here.”

  “Yeah, he was a good man. We all miss him.”

  “Thanks,” she said softly and finished her stew. She certainly didn’t want the men to think Jason Barton had insulted her. In truth, he’d insulted Wes, but she supposed she couldn’t hold it against him. He couldn’t know why things had gone downhill at the ranch.

  After she finished her meal, she carried the bowl over to the big tin dishpan Cookie had filled with hot, sudsy water. Each man was expected to wash his bowl and spoon and put them back on the tailgate of the SUV. She had suggested that system when, as a teenager, she’d come out on a roundup and seen how hard Cookie had to work.

  Rosemary was glad Jason followed Wes to the dishpan to wash his own bowl. Then he motioned to Ted to do the same. She noticed Ted’s reluctance until Jason spoke to him. From what she’d seen of Ted in one day, he seemed ill equipped to lead men. Especially the men on her ranch who were accustomed to a fair, hardworking manager like Wes.

  What would happen to Wes and Sara Beth? Surely they would lose their jobs if Jason got the Bar G
. Would they hook up with another ranch in the area? She didn’t want to lose touch with the couple she loved dearly. Another reason to fight for her ranch.

  She retrieved her bedroll and saddle where she’d left them near the rope corral. She’d put her bedroll next to Wes, and he’d keep an eye out to be sure she was undisturbed by anyone.

  Not that she’d expect any of the men who worked for them to be a problem. Everyone had worked there for years, except for Nick, and he’d never caused a problem in the time he’d worked for them.

  But with Jason and Ted in the mix now, she wouldn’t take any chances.

  Wes got his bedroll and saddle and joined her. He always had her put her bedroll next to the SUV and he slept on the other side of her. They followed the same routine tonight.

  “You okay, Rosie?” Wes whispered.

  “Yes. I’m sorry about that. I know it was rude.”

  “What he said was reasonable, you know. He didn’t know any of us.”

  “I know, Wes, but it upset me that he’d criticize you for Dad’s behavior.”

  “Don’t worry about it. He understands now. So everything’s okay?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “All right. Go take care of business while I keep an eye on everyone.”

  When she returned a few minutes later, she found Wes talking to Jason again.

  She spread open her bedroll and sat down on it to remove her boots. Then she tucked them in the bottom of her bedroll.

  “Why are you doing that?” Jason asked, distracted by her movement.

  “Doing what?”

  “Putting your boots in the sleeping bag.”

  “Because I don’t want any creepy crawlies in there when I put them on in the morning.”

  Jason raised his eyebrows and looked at Wes. “Does that happen?”

  Wes chuckled. “Not often. But it happened to Rosie once, and she refuses to leave her boots out of her bag. But she’s got a little more room in her bag than most of us, ’cause she’s a lot shorter.”