Falling for the Cowgirl

by Tina Radcliffe

  AJ looked around at the land she loved so much. She bit her lip and fought emotion as she ran a hand over Gus’s neck.

  Travis was right. Her father’s ranch was her past. Nothing she did could change things. The cowboy was asking her to commit to the future and move forward. Could she do that?

  In a split second she made the decision, knowing it was the right decision.

  She nodded as she met Travis’s expectant gaze. “You can count on me. I’m full-in, Travis,” she murmured. The words were true. There was a peace in her heart telling her that this was the path the Lord had set her on.

  Chapter Four

  “Let’s head over to the sale barn,” Travis said to AJ as they left the auction registration office with their bidding number. “I want to look at the starter calves.”

  “Have you got the auction itch today?” she asked.

  He chuckled. “No. I’ve made that mistake before. Jumping in and being swept up by the excitement.”

  AJ offered a grin that said she understood what he was talking about.

  “But I will admit that the market’s low right now,” he continued. “A good day to be a buyer. I’m excited about that, and I’m hoping we can come away with something to smile about.”

  The huge metal door to the sale barn was open and the pungent odor of hay, cattle and manure invited them to the arena that had been portioned into pens. Unseasonably warm spring weather warranted the use of huge fans to move the thick air. Above them, scaffolding walkways allowed buyers to peer down and evaluate the many lots of animals.

  Travis rolled up the sleeves of his denim shirt, adjusted his Stetson and led the way through the maze of pens, checking cattle and taking pictures of lot numbers with his phone. To the uneducated eye, the layout seemed to make no sense, but he’d been evaluating this particular sale house for weeks, walking up and down the rows, crunching the numbers and monitoring prices to prepare for the day he’d bring another load of starter calves home to Big Heart Ranch.

  A group of smiling cowgirls walked by, their gazes flirtatious as they inadvertently blocked the path in front of Travis and AJ. Travis grabbed AJ’s hand and tugged her past them. “’Scuse us, ladies,” he said with a tip of his hat.

  “I think they were looking to be your posse,” AJ chided.

  “I’ll pass,” he muttered. Travis reluctantly released her hand as they continued to walk by pens, assessing cattle. Holding AJ’s hand seemed almost right, and that was a puzzlement.

  They continued to walk, viewing cattle and exchanging looks as they went, with no need for words.

  “What did you think about that last lot?” AJ finally asked.

  “You read my mind. That lot is the top of my list.” His phone buzzed and he pulled the cell from his pocket. “Good timing. That’s Dutch’s text. He’s ready to hit the road with the trailer as soon as I call him back with news we got what we came for. We can load out and get home before the auction is over.”

  “Your senior wrangler is an interesting character,” AJ observed as he tucked his phone away.

  He smiled. “You mean your senior wrangler.”

  “I guess technically that is correct.” She picked up her pace to keep up with his long strides. “He has some crazy idea that his seniority precludes him from getting up before dawn.”

  “He told you that?”

  “Not in so many words. In fact, I can’t repeat what he said when I woke him before sunrise this morning.”

  Travis couldn’t hold back a belly laugh. “You?” He adjusted his hat. “You woke up Dutch?”

  “Yes, I did. And I’ll do it every day until we have clarity on the issue.”

  He stopped walking and stared at her in stunned surprise. “Dutch and his seniority have been an ongoing battle for the last five years.”

  “The battle is about to end.”

  “You’re a mighty brave woman, AJ Rowe.”

  “I’m persistent. My father taught me that. I may go down, but I’ll go down fighting.”

  “You can be sure that I’ll keep my eye on the situation. If you’re successful, a steak dinner is in your future.”

  “Start saving your pennies. I’m a big eater.”

  He laughed with pure pleasure at the fire in her blue eyes. Dinner with AJ held an enticing promise, even if it meant facing the wrath of Dutch. “Go for it,” he said.

  “Since we’re going for it, I’m working on the schedule.”

  “Okay,” he prompted.

  “I went and introduced myself to your college boys this morning. They tell me you let them have every weekend off.”

  “They have to study.”

  AJ frowned as she looked at him. “You’re kind of a soft touch, aren’t you?”

  “You’ve been talking to Lucy.”

  “No. Why?”

  “That’s her mantra.” Once more he paused in the aisle. “You may as well hear the truth from me. Each of the Maxwells approaches life differently. Lucy’s the bossy one. Takes pleasure in telling people what to do. Emma is the baby and our charmer. She finesses everything and everyone.”

  “And you?”

  He rubbed his chin. “I avoid confrontation at all cost.”

  “Have you considered therapy?”

  Travis chuckled at her flat honesty. “Cowboys don’t do therapy. I’m a lover, not a fighter. Nothing wrong with that. Isn’t that Biblical? Turn the other cheek. Besides, I pay you to handle the drama.”

  “True enough.” She released a breath. “And I’m not without sympathy. I worked my way through college on ranches. Except, in my book, everyone rotates weekends.”

  “You’re the boss. But if you get knocked off the Christmas card list don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Making a few wranglers unhappy is the least of my concerns. We’re covering Rusty’s job and trying to watch the herd at night. That’s stretching everything and everybody thin.”

  “How about those cameras?” he asked.

  “You only just told me about them yesterday.”

  “Call Lucy and nudge her.”

  “I’ll do that when we finish here.”

  He started walking again. “We better move. They’ll be getting to the calves anytime now.”

  When a tall, fresh-faced cowboy stepped into Travis’s path he was forced to stop short.

  Rafe Diego. Just what he didn’t need. The young wrangler’s hat was pushed to the back of his head and the smirk on his face made it clear that he was up to something.

  “Travis Maxwell.” The cowboy strutted closer, showing off his oversize brass rodeo buckle and shiny boots. “Haven’t seen you with a lady except your lovely sisters since—”

  Travis cleared his throat, effectively cutting off the arrogant cowboy. “How is it you’re able to talk with those boots tucked in your mouth, Diego?”

  Rafe ignored him and immediately turned the full wattage of his smile on AJ. She, in turn, shifted her attention to a pair of Angus yearlings in the pen behind her.

  “Something I can help you with?” Travis asked.

  “Simply being neighborly.”

  “Great. See you around, then, neighbor.”

  “Hold on there,” Rafe said with a hand on Travis’s arm. “Don’t you want to introduce me to your lady friend?”

  Travis narrowed his eyes and stared at Diego’s hand.

  The cowboy wisely stepped back.

  With a pained sigh, Travis turned to AJ. “AJ Rowe, this is Rafe Diego.”

  Rafe tipped his hat. “Please to meet you, ma’am.” He cocked his head to one side as though serious thinking might be going on between his ears. “Rowe? Weren’t you up in Skiatook at Lake Ranch?”

  AJ tensed and put her hands in her pockets. “Yes.”

  Rafe offered a slow insinuating nod, his gaze going fro
m Travis to AJ.

  “Take care,” Travis said with a nod to AJ to keep moving. Whatever was going on in the cowboy’s head, he didn’t like it. “See you later, Rafe. We’ve got a meeting with some calves.”

  “Whoa. Not so fast. Timber charity rodeo is coming up. You plan on participating?”

  “The ranch will have several representatives.”

  “Bronc riding?” Rafe asked.

  “Could be.” Travis narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

  “Prize money’s looking real good.”

  “That so? The Timber Rodeo’s only two weeks away. Shouldn’t you be getting in shape instead of jawing with me?”

  Rafe stood straight and sucked in his gut. “I am in shape, old man.”

  Travis clamped his mouth shut, not willing to engage further with the cowboy. Rafe was the next generation of bronc riders. Recently off the circuit, he was as cocky as he was talented.

  Once more, Travis began to move on to the next row of pens, in the direction of the auction ring.

  “I heard you lost Rusty,” Rafe called.

  Travis pushed up his sleeve and examined his watch before he faced the cowboy again. “That was less than twenty-four hours ago. How did you hear about it already?”

  “Are you kidding? That’s the scuttle of the day at the Timber Diner. Word spreads faster there than honey on a hot biscuit.” He grinned. “So, are you hiring?”

  “AJ is the assistant foreman at Big Heart Ranch,” Travis said. He tilted his head back to take a swig from his water bottle.

  “The what?” Rafe’s head jerked back with surprise. “You sure do get around. I guess it helps to be a pretty little thing, don’t it?”

  Travis started coughing at Rafe’s words.

  “You okay?” AJ asked.

  “Yeah. Yeah.” The words were choked out. “But he’s not going to be.”

  “I have this,” she returned. AJ stepped right up in Rafe’s face and looked him up and down. At five-feet-six, she was nose to his chin. That didn’t stop her. “I don’t care what you heard, Mr. Diego, but I’ve earned my position wherever I’ve worked.” Distaste was all over her as she spoke. “If you can handle taking orders from a woman, then yes, I’m hiring. Be sure to send your résumé to Big Heart Ranch, attention of the ‘pretty little thing.’”

  The cowboy’s face paled. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Travis took a perverse pleasure in the dress-down and even more in seeing the cowboy’s retreating form.

  “Well played,” Travis said. He offered his knuckles to her for a fist bump. Eyes still lit with fire, AJ touched her small fist to his. “I should take you with me more often,” he murmured.

  Her face pinked at the words. “I guess you probably want to know what he was talking about. Lake Ranch, I mean.”

  “Not really,” Travis said. “As you said, you earned the right to do the hiring on Big Heart Ranch. That’s all I care about.”

  With a nod of his head, Travis turned and headed down the dirt path, unable to stop a wide smile. “Let’s go get a good seat in the ring before the auction starts,” he said.

  When he looked over his shoulder and spied Rafe talking to a few shady characters, Travis sobered. The group of cowboys huddled together across the way glanced in his direction, making awkward eye contact. Trouble was written all over them. No doubt nothing good was going to come of besting that cowboy. Nothing good at all.

  * * *

  AJ didn’t wait for the last gurgles of the coffeepot in Travis’s office to finish. She needed caffeine now. Carefully moving the carafe, she slipped her mug under the stream of dark jet fuel.

  Once it was full, she raised the mug up and inhaled deeply before sipping. “I may live, after all,” AJ murmured. Overwhelmed was her mantra the last week, yet she loved every bit of her job. Being needed and appreciated was a good thing. She sank into a chair at the makeshift card-table desk set up for her and continued to work on the grant paperwork.

  “You know what time it is?”

  Too weary to be startled, AJ looked up at Travis’s voice. The man filled the doorway and she did her best not to stare at his beard-shadowed jaw or the wide shoulders. That would make her as bad as Rafe Diego. Judging a person by their appearance. She’d never done that before. Never even thought about a man, like she did Travis. Despite her good intentions, thoughts of the tall rancher snuck up on her when she least expected. It was annoying. And it had to stop.

  “You awake?” he asked.

  She raised her eyes and took a generous sip of coffee before commenting. “Barely, and yes, I know what time it is. Close to midnight,” she answered.

  Travis chuckled. “Tripp’s bringing Emma’s horse back over from the girls’ ranch for you in...” He glanced at his watch. “Six hours. He says Bess can board over here until the rodeo so you can get in more practice time.”

  AJ groaned. “This would have been good information to know before I drank this coffee.”

  “You can always find time for a nap tomorrow. That’s what Saturdays are for.”

  “Oh, is that what they’re for?” She shook her head and placed a hand on a pile of papers to the left of her. “I thought they were for going through this batch of job applicants. Thirty-six candidates. The ad appeared in the Independence on Tuesday. This is Friday. How can that be?”

  “Tight economy. So, how do they look?” Travis asked.

  When he slid into the chair next to her and reached for the paperwork, AJ moved her hand out of the way. But not in time. His big hand covered hers, the warmth wrapping itself around her like a cocoon, and she froze, unable, unwilling, to move.

  Travis’s eyes darkened for a moment as he watched her. “We always seem to be getting tangled up, don’t we?”

  AJ wished she could come up with a clever response. Not going to happen. The man left her tongue-tied so often she knew better than to try. She slipped her hand free and handed him the stack of applications while feigning a nonchalance she was far from feeling.

  “I recognize a few of these names,” he said as he flipped through the pages. “I might be able to give you some insight on their work ethic. Although, we’ve already established that I’m a pushover and you should ignore anything I say.”

  She barely held back a laugh.

  He studied the pages for minutes and then frowned. “You put a call out on the cowgirl network?”

  Surprised at his question, AJ examined the dark liquid in her mug. Travis had hit much too close to the truth. She actually had reached out to a few folks, but that was more information than he needed right now.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Lots of female applicants.”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “Not as long as they’re qualified.” He looked at her. “Keep in mind that we only have two open spots in the ladies’ bunkhouse.”

  “We’re only hiring two wranglers,” she returned.

  He opened his mouth and then closed it again.

  Silence stretched.

  “How’s the grant paperwork going?” Travis asked.

  “Beside the fact that my eyes are crossed? Fine. I’m working on your cow day conversion stats.”

  “Aren’t you using RangePro? You know Emma’s husband, Steve, developed that program. I mean before we lost him.”

  “Lost him?”

  “Car accident.”

  “Oh, so sorry.”

  Travis nodded. “If you have any questions about RangePro, Emma can answer them.”

  “Here’s the thing, Travis. A cattle management software program is only as good as the information you input.”

  “Yeah. I get that.”

  “This hasn’t been updated since you bought your first head of cattle.”

  “That may very well be true.”

  She frowned. “It’s abso
lutely true. It’s going to take me a bit of time to get everything up to date.”

  “Other than that, how are things looking?” he asked.

  “Other than giving RangePro another forty hours of my life, everything is fine.” AJ rubbed her head. “By the way, I’m looking into another opportunity.”

  “Oh?”

  “There’s another grant out there that you may qualify for. Smaller, but still an attractive opportunity for Big Heart Ranch.”

  “What are the parameters?”

  She ticked off on her fingers. “A novice ranch or farm operation that strengthens family farming, has young people directly involved in producing, is part of an educational program, has a specialty product and women producers.”

  “Specialty product? What would that be?”

  She smiled.

  “Bison,” he said flatly.

  “And I’m your female producer. Hiring me and other women can actually help you nab this grant.”

  “Bison aside, looks like hiring you was a smart move.”

  She stared at him. “A smart move your sisters made. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I had the distinct impression you did not support that decision.”

  “Perhaps, but I’ve since come to revise my opinion.” Travis directed his attention to the laptop as her words hit home. “Nice that we have so much grazing land, right?”

  She nodded. “What would be nice is if Big Heart Ranch produced their own hay supply.”

  “Maybe next year. Not enough manpower right now. Bottom line is we can’t have the ranch operations overshadow the kid operations.”

  “You’re paying premium prices for hay. Another long winter and the kid operation may be kicking in funding to support the ranch operation.”

  She shoved papers at him. “Another option is pasture renting. Here’s the stats on what’s going on locally and regionally.”

  He glanced at the paperwork. “Next spring we’ll revisit this and decide what our next step will be.”

  “A year,” AJ repeated. “Seems so far away.”

  “You plan on sticking around that long?” he asked.