by Delta James
Charlie chuckled. “You’re right… hissing and spitting is so much better. We’d best get on up to the house. Ruth’ll have dinner waiting on us.”
“You go on. If she’s been out all day, she needs to eat a good meal and be surrounded by people who love her.”
“Last time I checked, Ryder Malone, that included you.”
Ryder smiled ruefully. “Yes, but she’s not ready to hear that. I’ll be here for breakfast and I’ll bring some of my things into the guest room. You and I can finalize getting you over to Crooked Creek. Then I’ll have all day to deal with the resulting fallout.”
This time, Charlie laughed out loud. “I think it’s a good thing you have no illusions of this going easily or well.”
“Oh, it’ll go well enough when she gets used to having someone she has to answer to. But easily? That ain’t going to happen.” He smiled and headed to his truck.
Chapter Eleven
Sierra entered the kitchen and the delicious aroma from Ruth’s dinner filled the air. She smiled. Then she glanced at the table and saw it was set for four.
“Ruth? You can just set the table for three.”
“Now, Sierra…”
“No. Either the trustee eats his meal at my table or I do, but not both.”
Charlie had followed her into the house. “I just saw Ryder leave in his truck. I think it’s safe to say that he won’t be joining us.”
Sierra hung up her jacket and hat. She kept on her down vest. “That’s fine for tonight, but I meant what I said.”
“I’m sure you did, but you’re going to be putting Ruth in an awkward position. The Flying M has always been known for its hospitality. Anyone could stop by at meal time and we’d just set an extra place.”
“Not anyone, Charlie, just friends. And he may be a friend of yours and Ruth’s, but he’s no friend of mine and never will be. Maybe it’s just better if I plan to eat all of my meals alone. Then you two won’t have to worry about it.”
“Sierra, that’s enough,” said Ruth, who had rarely scolded her even growing up. “Your daddy would be ashamed of you behaving this way.”
The icy stare Sierra gave her took Ruth aback. “Do you honestly think at this point I much give a damn what my father’s opinion would be? He set this bullshit in motion knowing he wouldn’t be here. He left me to deal with it by myself, it would seem. You’ll forgive me for not being overly concerned with what he might think of my reaction. You two have a good evening. I have things to do tomorrow and probably won’t be around much.”
She started to leave the room. “Sierra, Ryder said he’d be here in the morning. He wants to go over some plans he has for running things. I think he’d like it if you were here and it might be good for you to have some input.”
She turned and looked at Charlie with the same disdain she had given Ruth. “And I care even less what Ryder thinks or wants. Good night.”
Sierra turned with as much composure and dignity as she could. They both watched her go to the stairs and catch herself on the banister. She took a deep breath and walked regally up them, knowing Charlie and Ruth were watching. They couldn’t see the silent tears streaming down her face. She walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her, locking it securely. She had no desire to see or speak to anyone else tonight.
Knowing Ryder the way she did, Sierra was not surprised that he had won Ruth and Charlie over to his way of thinking. She’d thought it would take him longer, but apparently his time in Europe had only strengthened his persuasive skills and charm.
Sierra removed her clothes and crawled into bed. Wrapping herself around one of her bed pillows, she sobbed. She cried the way she hadn’t allowed herself to do when Ryder had all but destroyed her. His betrayal had cut her deeply. No one in her life had ever hurt her so badly, and she’d sworn no one would ever had the ability to do so again. She had clawed her way out of that sad, dark place and sworn she would never allow anyone to force her from the light again.
A little while later, Sierra heard a knock on her door. She didn’t answer. She heard the person, most likely Ruth, try the door. Finding it locked, she knocked again and then called, “Sierra, honey, don’t you want something to eat?”
“No, thank you,” she answered.
“Sierra, please eat something. I’ll leave it outside your door.”
Sierra heard Ruth put the tray down and walk back downstairs. She felt bad that Ruth was hurting, but she didn’t know if she had the emotional bandwidth to deal with anyone else’s grief. And Sierra knew that the grief of her father’s passing was making everything seem more intense than it might have been. That and the fact that his will felt like such a betrayal.
Sierra napped for a few hours and awoke ravenous. She opened the door and looked at the tray. The food had long gone cold. She picked up the tray and took it back to the kitchen. There was prime rib with roasted potatoes and asparagus. Sierra got out the cutting board and diced the prime rib into bite-sized pieces. She diced up the asparagus. Opening the fridge, she got out two eggs and then grabbed an onion and a red bell pepper. She diced the onion and bell pepper and then threw everything but the eggs into a skillet.
Sierra looked up to see Ruth in the doorway watching her intently with her eyes brimming with tears. The two women crossed the space between them and hugged each other.
“I’m sorry, Ruthie. I should never have spoken to you like that. What Ryder and my dad did is not your fault or Charlie’s. I don’t want you to feel put in the middle; I’ll try to be civil to Ryder but I don’t think I can stomach having to eat with him.”
“Honey, you should know he talked this morning about moving up here for a while and moving Charlie down to Crooked Creek.”
“And my life just gets better and better. Is he planning to take over Daddy’s room?”
“No. He asked me to make up the guest room.”
“Good thing I have that lock on my bedroom door.”
Ruth giggled. “I remember when you put that on there. Your daddy had a conniption fit.”
Sierra smiled. “Hey, a girl’s gotta have her privacy.”
Ruth hugged her. “Why don’t you go sit down and I’ll finish putting that together for you. Do you want an omelet made or scrambled eggs?”
“Scrambled is fine. And I can do it. Why don’t you sit down and keep me company while I eat. I hate to eat alone.”
“Then why opt to do it if Ryder is going to be here?”
“Because I hate being around Ryder even more. Please, Ruth, I don’t want to fight and I don’t want to be angry, but I’m going to interact with Ryder as little as I possibly can. Daddy may have forced this on me, but I’ll be damned if I’ll make nice.”
“Don’t be mad at your daddy. He was dying. I think he wanted to make sure you were going to be okay.”
Sierra started to argue with her but stopped. There was no reason to upset Ruth… or Charlie for that matter. She’d do what she needed to do to keep her home and her people safe and happy. She’d let Ryder have his sixty percent of the net profits for the next two years and the second he signed off, she’d kick his ass off the Flying M for good.
Sierra reached over and squeezed Ruth’s arm reassuringly. “Perhaps you’re right, Ruth.” Sierra vowed from that point forward to keep her feelings and her thoughts to herself.
Sierra finished making her dinner and then pointedly changed the subject while she and Ruth sat together. When Sierra was finished, Ruth shooed her out of the kitchen saying she’d leave the dishes until morning. Once Sierra had gone upstairs, Ruth set the table for breakfast in the morning. Once again she set places for four.
* * *
Sierra came down in the morning dressed to head out for the day. She wanted to check on the mustang herd, but also wanted to ensure there were no straggling cattle still up in the high country. She trusted her men and Charlie, but felt it was better to be safe than sorry and it gave her an excuse to be gone all day.
She smiled as she s
aw the table set for four. Before leaving the kitchen, she moved the place setting to the kitchen counter, grabbed a Diet Coke, made two prime rib sandwiches, one for breakfast and one for lunch, and grabbed several bottles of water. She headed toward the barn.
She had just finished saddling Joker and was putting the saddlebags that held her food and water behind her saddle and tying it down when Ryder pulled in. She finished tying off the saddlebags and led Joker out of the barn.
“Going somewhere?” Ryder asked conversationally.
“No, Malone. I always saddle my horse up with a day’s provisions to do absolutely nothing and take him back to his stall.”
“Don’t be a smart ass, Sierra.”
“Better than being a dumb ass,” she retorted. “And if you don’t want sarcastic answers, don’t ask stupid questions.”
“Put Joker up and let’s go up to the house for breakfast. I have some things I want to talk to you and Charlie about.”
“Why? Doesn’t matter what I think or want…”
“Of course it does. It always has…”
“In that case, why don’t you do all your executoring and trusteeing from Crooked Creek and stay the hell off my land?”
* * *
Ryder wiped one hand over his mouth, trying not to lose his temper. He’d forgotten how quickly she could get under his skin if she was trying. The men were starting to gather around to watch the show. If she wasn’t careful, he’d give them more than an eyeful.
“No?” she quipped. “Then I guess what I want isn’t your concern. I won’t stand in your way, Malone, and you’ll get your fee, but I’m going to do what I see needs doing regardless of what you think.”
“Maybe that’s why your father appointed me trustee… that childish streak. God forbid maybe somebody else has something to offer. Your mind is made up and you have no interest in finding out whether or not any of the assumptions you’re basing decisions on are valid.”
“You are absolutely correct. My mind got made up about you a long time ago. Well, not that long, just five years. And just about this time of year as I recall. Or has that slipped your mind?”
He dropped his voice low and edged closer to her. “I haven’t forgotten anything, Sierra. Let’s not do this with an audience, all right?”
She leaned into him. “Better yet, let’s not do this at all.” She swung up onto Joker. As Ryder tried to get close enough to touch her, Sierra reined the big horse in his direction, causing him to step back. “I’ll be back some time tonight.” She turned toward the men who had gathered and Charlie who was looking at her very disapprovingly. “Y’all have a nice day,” she called sweetly before kissing to Joker and loping away.
Charlie walked over to Ryder. “Like I said… a long, hard road. Let’s get on up to the house. I’ve been thinking about your idea to swap out some of the men from one ranch to the other.”
Ryder gave Sierra’s parting figure one last look. He shook his head. As they got closer to the house and well out of earshot of the men, he said, “And if Freckles isn’t careful, she’s going to have to walk that road because sitting down or riding a horse will be very uncomfortable for her.”
Charlie laughed out loud and clapped him on the back. “That’s the spirit. That feisty filly of yours is going to deal you fits. And I have to tell you, I think it’s going to be entertaining as all hell.”
Ryder chuckled ruefully. “I’m so glad you see it that way. That woman can get me feeling like a bronc who’s got a burr under his saddle.”
“If I were you and she offers to saddle Mouse or hands him to you saddled, I’d make sure she hadn’t put one under his saddle for real.”
Both men were laughing as they entered the kitchen. Ruth tried to put on a brave face, but failed. “Ruth?” Ryder asked, walking over to her. “What’s wrong? Was Freckles a brat to you too?”
Ruth smiled. “No. I set the table for four this morning. I just hoped she’d sit down and join us.”
“Don’t you worry about her, Ruth, she will. She had saddlebags with her and they looked like they had food in them.”
“They did. As far as I can tell a couple of prime rib sandwiches, water, and some fruit—although I suspect the oranges are for Joker.”
Ryder laughed. “Joker likes oranges?”
“Loves ‘em,” said Charlie. “And he’s fussy about his water. If he doesn’t like the taste, he won’t drink. Sierra always carries Tang with her so that if he turns up his nose at the water, she can make him drink it.”
Ryder started to laugh. “Seriously?”
“Yep. You want to get on that horse’s good side? Give him an orange.”
“Do I just hand it to him or cut it in sections?”
“Peel it, and then hand him several sections at a time.”
“I’ll remember that. Any ideas how I get on Sierra’s good side?”
Ruth had gone back in to the kitchen to get the biscuits from the oven.
Charlie dropped his voice to a quiet whisper. “I think the stick may work better than a carrot for a while,” he said with a grin.
Ryder laughed. “I think you’re probably right.” He thought to himself, And I’m thinking two kinds of stick. One to take to her backside and the other between my legs to use between hers.
Chapter Twelve
Sierra was well away from the barn before she slowed Joker to a walk and glanced back to make sure Ryder wasn’t following her. She alternated between loping and walking Joker toward the far high pasture. That was the area that was furthest from the barn on which she wanted to check. She figured once she made sure the horses were safe, she’d work her way back down to the barn checking the other high pastures. If Ryder’s truck was still there, she would unsaddle Joker and then grab her truck and head into town for dinner. The local diner wasn’t fancy, but the food was good.
Sierra smiled when she rode into the valley where they’d left the mustangs. They were still there and seemed to have made themselves at home. Not wanting to disturb them, she quietly withdrew and started her loop back to check pastures and get home hopefully before dark. She really didn’t need Ruth, Charlie, or her men worrying about her. She found several cattle that had not yet been brought in and moved them ahead of her down to the lower pastures—two young steers and a mother with a calf. She got out her phone and texted Charlie what she’d found and where she’d put them. Turning her phone back off, she continued on her way.
She arrived back at the ranch just as the sun started to set. She rode into the barnyard and saw that Ryder’s truck was still parked next to hers. She remembered that Ruth had said he’d talked about moving in. Perhaps he’d already done that. She took a deep breath and rode up to the barn.
“Hey, Sierra! New boss man said he wants to see you,” said Billy.
Billy Carter was one of the youngest, but most talented hands on the Flying M. A high school dropout from Boise, Billy had found a job and a home at the Flying M.
Sierra led Joker into his stall and went about the business of getting him settled for the night. “Well, what Ryder wants and a couple of bucks will get him a cup of coffee just about any place in town.” She walked past the hand and put her saddle and bridle up.
“I think he means it, Sierra. He wasn’t too happy that no one knew where you were headed or that your phone was turned off.”
“Look, Billy, I get it. We’re stuck with him for at least the next year. You want to get along with him. That’s swell. You do whatever you feel you need or want to do. But I plan on doing the same. And for me that doesn’t include kowtowing to the new boss man. He may well be your boss, but he damn sure isn’t mine. See ya, Billy.”
Sierra walked out of the barn and got in her truck. By the time Ryder knew she had returned, she was halfway down the lengthy driveway. He swore under his breath before walking down to the barn.
Ryder nodded toward the departing taillights. “She give you any indication where she was going or when we might expect her back?”
>
“No, sir. I told her you wanted to see her…”
“I doubt I want to know her response.” Ryder smiled to put Billy at ease.
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad. She just said what you wanted and a couple of bucks would buy you a cup of coffee.”
Ryder laughed. “That sounds like her. In fact, it’s pretty tame for her… did she look like she was feeling all right?”
Billy laughed with him. “Yes, sir. I just don’t think she likes you very much.”
“That’s not true. She’s just convinced herself of that.”
* * *
Sierra pulled into the diner. It was moderately full, but she found a booth toward the back.
Julie, the waitress, had attended school with Sierra and had worked here ever since. Her family had started this diner back in the 1950s and while not fancy, it was known for good food and friendly service.
“Hey, Sierra! I didn’t get a chance to see you after your daddy’s funeral. So sorry. He’s going to be missed.”
“Thank you.” Sierra realized that she wasn’t up to making small talk with anyone about her father. She was still so angry with him that it was hard to hear nice things about him. “Can I get one of your dad’s grilled meatloaf sandwiches with onion rings and a Diet Coke?”
“You bet. Have it for you in a jiffy.” Julie turned and headed behind the counter, her ponytail bouncing.
“Sierra?” She looked up to see Doc Walker.
“Doc?”
“Mind if I join you?”
“I’m not very good company, but if that doesn’t faze you, please yourself.”
“So you’re still angry at your father?”