Rocky Mountain Freedom (Six Pack Ranch)

by Vivian Arend

  “You guys keep the place neat,” she noted as Travis pulled up beside the barn and parked next to a couple of older Fords.

  Travis waved a hand toward the main house. “You try slacking off when you’ve got a boss like him around.”

  Ashley turned to see Travis’s dad pacing down the well-worn path between the house and the work area of the yard. She smiled. Mike Coleman was the salt of the earth. She’d liked him the minute she’d met him.

  He looked up as he drew closer, his frown breaking into a smile. “Well, there’s a prettier face than I usually see this time of the day.”

  “Dad, you remember Ashley?”

  He nodded, the grey hair dusting his temples the biggest thing making him stand out from Travis. It was obvious the two were father/son. “Welcome back.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Coleman. Travis offered to help me with a work project I have—I hope you don’t mind if I take a few pictures around the ranch?”

  “Not at all.” Mike pulled open the barn door, pausing before he entered. “Of course you’ll have to join us for dinner in payment.”

  She grinned. “You got the idea of who owes who mixed up, but I’d love to sometime. I’ll explain more later. Don’t let me keep you from your work.”

  Mike winked before twisting toward Travis. “Blake’s in the other barn. You want to go take over?”

  “Yes, sir.” Travis grabbed her by the hand and pulled her with him.

  Ashley caught Mike watching them before he disappeared into the barn. Great.

  “That was stupid. Now you’re going to face a whole lot of questions about me.” She hurried to catch up to Travis’s side instead of being tugged along like a reluctant little kid.

  “Nope.”

  “Your dad stared after us while you dragged me away all caveman,” she complained.

  Travis tossed her a leer. “I wasn’t being a caveman. I promise, that would involve more hair pulling and a hell of a lot less clothes.”

  She’d stepped into that one. “Shut up, Travis.”

  He laughed.

  “Hey, if you do need a break or anything, go on up to the house and say hi to my mom.” Travis motioned her ahead of him into the smaller of the two main barns. “She’d enjoy getting you a drink and shooting the breeze for a bit. Give her a break in her day as well.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  She stopped to let her eyes adjust to the lower lighting, using the pause as an excuse to not say any more about visiting with Marion.

  While the older Colemans were the politest people ever, there was something about the way Mrs. Coleman looked her over that made Ashley uncomfortable. As if she’d been judged to see if she was worthy of Travis and found wanting.

  When they’d been together the previous year, there had only been a couple events Ashley had gone to with the entire family, but both times she’d felt it. She hadn’t given a fuck back then—she was seeing Travis, not his folks, but this time she didn’t want to burn any bridges.

  She wanted to settle in Rocky. The Colemans were a powerful part of the community. Getting in either of their bad books wasn’t a smart idea.

  The barn smelt like all other barns she’d ever been in—earth and shit and warm bodies and sweet straw. She followed Travis deeper in to where they found Blake in a smaller penned-off area. He was wiping down a tiny calf with an old sack, a streak of dirt across his entire forehead.

  “You’re really getting into your work.” Travis leaned on the railing. “What you got?”

  “Hey, Travis. Triplets. First was stillborn—I had to pull it before these other two made it. They’ll be okay, though.” Blake glanced up from his task and spotted Ashley. “Now you’re a sight for sore eyes, Ashley.”

  “Hi, Blake.”

  Blake let the calf down carefully by its mom before exiting the pen. “I’d give you a hug, only you don’t want to stink for the next however long. Good to see you.”

  “Same.”

  Travis grabbed a couple buckets from the shelf. “Ashley’s going to take pictures of us for some work projects. I said I didn’t think anyone would mind.”

  Blake shrugged as he backed down the hall, wiping his hands clean. “Don’t mind at all, only you got insurance on that lens?”

  Ashley paused. “Why?”

  “When it breaks from taking shots of his ugly mug, of course.” Blake grinned as Travis tossed a curse after him. “Hey, Ashley, you planning on being around for a while, then?”

  “I hope so.”

  Blake unzipped his dirty coverall and sat to pull it over his boots. “You want to do me a favour? Jaxi’s been talking about having new pictures taken of the girls. I hate the ones they did at the shopping mall the last time—damn fake background with painted daisies on it, or some such nonsense. You feel up to clicking a few shots in our backyard?”

  Ashley laughed. “Not a problem. I’ll call Jaxi and set up a time.”

  “Thanks.” He yawned, pulling a hand across his mouth at the last minute. “Sorry. It’s been a hell of a night.”

  She smiled and moved farther into the background to let the guys get caught up before Travis headed into his workday. She brought out her camera, switched lenses, then took a deep breath.

  This was it. Time to begin.

  Ashley looked around for inspiration. Checked the lighting and the angles for shots. One good thing about having a whole bunch of projects to work on, she wasn’t stuck following one path. She could allow herself to simply drift for a few days. Take some experimental pictures—see what direction called to her.

  She’d told Travis to ignore her and he pretty much did. Blake disappeared, and the barn settled into the soft sounds of animals moving around and the low buzz of the electric lights over the worktables. Ashley took some close-up shots of textures for backdrops. The aged wood of the barn walls up high where they’d remained untouched by hands or animals, tiny fibers sticking upright from the greyish-brown surface. A shot of the smooth curve of a board at hand height, where a million touches had added to the polish and given the curve a high-gloss finish.

  She clicked picture after picture of Travis as he used an old coffee tin to scoop oats into feed stalls for the horses. His hands were firm as he pushed aside beasts and checked them over.

  He looked up a few times and smiled—the twist to his lips that made her heart pound without even trying. She caught him with the enormous head of a horse nearly resting on his shoulder as the beast nuzzled him for more treats. Travis pushed his hat back into place and patted the creature before moving on to the next task.

  Smooth motion, smooth energy.

  A sensation of coming home crept up as she worked, ideas percolating how she could make each of her projects into something special. Something that would set her mark on the art world and make it possible to do it for a living.

  Her goals were lofty, but she had to follow her dream.

  And trailing after Travis and snapping shots of that magnificent backside as a part of chasing her dream?

  It wasn’t too shabby a life.

  Chapter Three

  Travis patted the mare on her rump and closed the gate, back from checking the new calves in the far paddock. Exhaustion had soaked into every one of his bones, and it was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other and head through the trees to find Ashley.

  Seven days she’d been dogging his steps. If he hadn’t been caught up in the frazzle of calving season, he would have been driven crazy by her constant presence.

  As it was, he had the filthiest dreams going on and woke up stroking himself, images of her soft body under him filling his brain. But actually going after her and getting her to reconsider them not being a couple?

  Maybe come May. After he’d slept for a solid twenty-four hours and could put more than two words together to dazzle her.

  He stopped in the middle of the narrow bridge between the main Six Pack land and the second house where Blake and Jaxi had settled. The creek und
er him was more of a trickle than a flow. Full runoff was still coming as the high mountain peaks remained snow-covered and frozen. Here at the lower elevations the temperatures were milder—thank God—and leaves had already budded in an early spring.

  He bit back a yawn and went the rest of the way over to the second ranch house.

  A couple of hay bales were arranged by the fencepost between the yard and the north field. Two little girls dressed to the teeth sat perched on top of the bales, and Travis smiled. He wasn’t much for kids, but he had a soft spot for his nieces, mainly because it was a fucking lot of fun to see how tied up in knots they, and their mama, got his big brother Blake.

  Ashley clicked off shots as Travis’s sister-in-law Jaxi arranged the squirming two-year-old tykes and their six-month-old baby sister. Travis paused far enough back he didn’t disturb them. Just marveled at the complete western outfits Jaxi had found in miniature. From jeans and flannel shirts down to the teeny boots and hats.

  Blake was right. Even Travis who knew shit all about kids and poses thought the setting was far better than the silly pictures currently stuck up on his parents’ mantle with the rest of the smiling faces of grandkids and graduation shots from him and his brothers.

  Posing in a formal gown and cap hadn’t been him.

  His cell phone rang, and he turned away to answer it, stepping behind the trucks to stop from interrupting the photo shoot.

  “You still not done for the day?” he asked his dad.

  “I stopped two hours ago. One of the privileges of getting old.” Mike Coleman got to the point. “You free to come up to the house for a bit? We need to chat.”

  Chat? “I didn’t do it.”

  Mike laughed. “No, you’re not in shit.”

  “—Mike. Watch your language.”

  It was Travis’s turn to laugh as his mom’s scold interrupted them.

  His dad lowered his voice. “She caught the grandsons cussing and thinks it’s all my fault. Now I have to mind my manners all the time. Pain in the ass, I tell you.”

  “Be thankful she didn’t catch them smoking, or she’d take away your pipe,” Travis noted.

  “Hell, you’re right.”

  “Mike!” Marion warned again.

  Travis snickered as his dad muttered in the background. “I’ll be over in a couple minutes,” Travis said. “I have to tell Ashley where I’m going.”

  He made it to the main house in less than five minutes, stepping past an unfamiliar car in the parking area. The warmth of his childhood home greeted him with familiar scents and sights. The never-ending aroma of coffee in the air, the worn hardwood flooring polished to a spotless shine by his mom.

  His father was seated at the long family table, Travis’s cousin beside him. Karen’s dark hair was pulled back into a typical working ponytail. Her lined jean jacket, thick enough to keep out the cool spring temperatures, was draped over the back of her chair, leaving her dressed in a neat cotton shirt.

  “That explains the strange car outside.”

  Karen tapped the awkward cast covering her lower limb. “Can’t drive my truck right now, so the shop gave me a loaner that’s an automatic.”

  “Makes sense.” Travis joined them, sitting across from Karen and helping himself to a cup of coffee from the thermos on the table. “Other than the broken leg, how you doing?”

  Karen sighed heavily. “Never realized how frustrating a physical injury would be. Not only is getting around more trouble, but me being out of commission is causing other problems. I need some help.”

  “That’s why she’s here.” Mike leaned back in his chair and gestured to Karen. “I’ll let you do the explaining.”

  Travis frowned. He didn’t think Karen would be the one to show up if the Whiskey Creek side of the Coleman family was having issues. His Uncle George was pretty much a tight-fisted captain of his ship—reluctantly allowing his three girls to help at the ranch only because he had to. “You having trouble keeping up with calving?”

  His cousin rolled her eyes. “Oh, we’re getting by. My dad contacted some friend of his and convinced him to send over his sons to give us a hand.”

  “Well, that’s good.” Travis paused at the face Karen made. “Isn’t that good? Uncle George wouldn’t ask just anyone to come work with your cattle.”

  “Oh, they’re skilled enough, I guess. It’s a royal pain in the behind having to put up with strangers around the place, but yeah, it’s going okay. Only I have a different issue.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Of all the years to try to expand operations, I picked this one. I’ve been working since last fall on a side project—using some of the Whiskey Creek horses for a new adventure camp in the Willmore Wilderness Park outside of Jasper National Park. My partner and I are all set. We’ll be offering trail rides during the spring and summer. I was supposed to go out and check on things on a regular basis—troubleshoot, make sure all the horses we’ve provided are well cared for and healthy over the entire season. But mostly a lot of office work and grunt labour plus a bit of riding.”

  Travis nodded slowly. “You won’t be getting up on a horse anytime soon, will you?”

  She shook her head. “Not until the end of May for sure, and they’ll have run at least two camps by then. Not to mention all the setup and organizing at the start. I was supposed to head out after this weekend, but…” she tapped her cast again, “…obviously not.”

  What a mucked-up mess. Everyone Travis knew was knee deep in spring chores. “You want to know names of people to hire?”

  Karen shook her head. “I want to hire you to go in my stead as supervisor.”

  Travis hadn’t seen that one coming at all. “Bullshit.”

  “You’re capable. You’re good with horses, and you worked at a camp a few years back, so you know what to expect.”

  “Yeah, I worked at one, but I didn’t run it.” Travis’s brain flooded with memories from his time away. The chores they’d done on a daily basis prepping the animals for trail rides, caring for them at the end of the day—it hadn’t been a terrible job. He’d had a ton of time off from what he remembered.

  But supervisor?

  “You’d be in charge of ordering supplies and making sure that the head wrangler has everything he needs—I’ve got everyone else in place, only I can’t go and do my job. I’d really appreciate having someone I trust go in my stead.”

  Travis couldn’t stop his grin at her words. “Now you’re patting my ego.”

  “Nope. I call it as I see it. You’ve got the second-best touch with the horses out of everyone in the Coleman clan, other than me. I am the best.” She grinned. “See? I’m not talking you up just to convince you to go. You know there’s no way I’d ask someone I didn’t trust to be in charge of my babies.”

  High praise indeed, but there were still a couple of huge issues. “I’m glad you think I’m skilled enough to take over for you, but there’s one big trouble. If I’m off doing your job in the mountains, that leaves the Six Pack spread short on help.”

  “That’s why she talked to me first,” Mike interrupted. “We can manage. If it gets rough, we’ll convince Daniel to throw in his hand for a short while.”

  “You can have one of the Marlette boys who invaded my place this weekend,” Karen offered. “Heck, you can have all three because I don’t want them underfoot all summer long, getting in my way.”

  Travis paused. He loved the ranch and working with his family, but a change of scenery for a few months might be exactly what he needed. “I don’t have to actually lead the trail rides, do I? I don’t know that area well enough to feel comfortable guiding.”

  Karen shook her head. “My partner has that part under control. James and his girlfriend are registered guides, plus Dani’s got her medical ticket and they have their own horses, so like I said, the job is mostly coordination and supervision.”

  “Hell, maybe I’ll do it,” Mike proposed. “Sounds like less work than I’ll be pulling back here
.”

  Karen grinned. “You know it. Why do you think I’m so pissed off I don’t get to go?”

  Travis laughed. “Dad, you’re serious you don’t mind me being gone until Karen can take over?”

  His father nodded. “Especially if Karen’s right and we could get a little help from the Marlettes, we’ll be fine.”

  “Depending on how well I recover, you might end up out there the entire season, Travis,” Karen warned. “No use in me going out once you’ve got the routine down pat.”

  Shit. It was all making great sense until he remembered his favour to Ashley—he didn’t want to leave her in the lurch, but he didn’t want to turn down family in need. “I hate to bring this up, but you know my friend Ashley?”

  Karen nodded.

  “She’s doing research for some projects. Taking pictures around the ranch and stuff. I don’t know how she’d feel about wandering around when I’m not here.”

  Karen paused. “Well, she’s welcome to come shoot at Whiskey Creek if she wants. Or for that matter, she could go along with you.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh, man. You think she would? I mean, I’d pay her, but we could use some photos for the website and to use in a brochure, and—”

  Mike laughed. “See? Not a problem, Travis. Ask Ashley if she’d like to go with you, and if she still needs shots around the ranch, she can contact me or Blake or Karen. We’ll figure it out however we can.”

  And this was what family did—they helped each other. There was no reason not to offer Karen the hand she needed. Travis gave her a wink. “I’m yours. Put down the details in writing so I can go over them again if I need them.”

  Karen sighed in relief. Mike shook Travis’s hand then rose and disappeared into the kitchen with his coffee mug.

  Travis accompanied Karen to her car. “I promise to do my best for you.”

  She had to concentrate as she manoeuvred herself behind the wheel, but once she settled, she popped open her window and gave him a smile. “You’ll do great. Honest. I trust you. And between you and my head wrangler, you should have a great summer.”

  She took off before he could ask the wrangler’s name, but that was the moment Ashley stepped out from between the barns, her blonde hair shining in the afternoon sun as she strolled slowly, taking pictures as usual.