Page 15 of Red Hot Rancher

To distract herself, she put detergent in the dishwasher and started it. It was a crappy effort.

Chapter 5

Today would normally be a fun day. Even through the dirt and the manure and the hard work, and the aching toe that had gotten ground down by a hoof, Caleb liked working cattle.

Brigit made it hell.

Her voice echoing behind him. Her laughs as she joked around with Farah’s dad. And how did she smell that good when they’d been in the barn half the day running calves? Justin had left an hour ago. His friend’s absence only made Caleb more aware of her.

He adjusted his hat and concentrated on his task. Jesse was manning the hydraulic gate he’d already had to repair twice today. Caleb was recording and giving vaccinations.

He let the last calf go and took his hat off to wipe the dust off his brow. Farah herded the steer to the proper pasture. It’d get loaded in the next few weeks and hauled to the sales barn. He glanced out the open barn doors. The sun was sinking in the horizon, but they’d finished before dark. That was always welcome.

“You earned your money today.” Caleb grinned at Jesse. They’d worked past dark yesterday. Farah’s operation was a little larger, since it was her and her dad running it. With Jesse, they planned to grow it even more.

Caleb experienced a pinch of envy. He’d like to expand his ranch, maybe even pair with a genetics company to raise breeders, but when it was just him, he couldn’t advance in his profession and take on more duties on his ranch. Right now if it failed, it was just him that suffered.

“This shit is unreal.” Jesse stared at Farah as she entered the barn and crossed to where her dad and Brigit were unhooking gates. “I expected more chaos, but it wasn’t bad.”

“Some years, things get exciting, but Grandpa taught me quick to weed out the problem cows. The older cows have enough experience they don’t get worked up. Then the calves don’t get too worried. I’ve had some of these for seven years.”

“What are you going to do with the four in the pen?”

One cow had broken her leg, two hadn’t calved in two years, and one had hoof rot from steeping herself in the spring-fed pond too long. There was always one in the bunch who liked to marinate in the pond until she got sick.

“The hoof rot we can treat. The others…”

Jesse flashed a grin. “From feed to fork?”

“That’s why we don’t name them.” Respect the animal, care for it, but don’t get attached. He needed to make as much as he could off each head to keep the ranch running. Grandpa had been savvy about squeezing every penny out of the stock he had, but he hadn’t been as good at growing the ranch. Caleb tried to keep improving, but he always seemed behind the curve.

“Give me a call when you round ’em up to sell.” Jesse sauntered away.

“Thanks, man.”

Derrick called across the barn. “I’m gonna get grilling. You kids go get cleaned up and come over in forty-five. I know we worked up an appetite.”

Jesse and Farah went with him, leaving Caleb alone with Brigit. Her cheeks were rosy, and her breath puffed out. Once the cows had cleared out, the temperature in the barn had plummeted.

She’d ridden here with Justin and since he was gone, Caleb didn’t look forward to sharing the small cab of his pickup with her. Justin’s house was too small when they were both in it together.

“I can give you a ride to the house to clean up,” he offered. “You’re coming back to eat, right?”

She took off her work gloves. “I don’t know. I hate to keep feeling like I’m intruding.”

She’d gotten along with Farah and Jesse. Not super friendly, but a step above business relations. Farah’s dad liked to take everyone under his wing and hadn’t missed the chance to shoot rapid-fire questions at Brigit about their farm and ranch operation. Even Caleb had been stunned by her knowledge of the operation’s history, its growth, and her family’s plans for expansion. She didn’t run it, but she’d paid attention her entire life. She didn’t just do the work and collect an easy paycheck from her kin.

“It’s a tradition to get together after the cattle are done.” It was like a goodbye to summer. The cows were in their winter pastures closer to home, any fields were hopefully in—though Caleb didn’t have time to grow his own silage to supplement the cattle—and a payday from cattle sales was hopefully soon to come. “You helped all weekend. Come eat. Unless you have plans.”

Come to think of it, the two weeks she’d been at Justin’s, she hadn’t gone out once. Not with friends, not with her family, not at all. She worked and applied for work.

She grimaced. “My friends have never been to Moore. And I think Oliver got them in the breakup.”

“Ah, it’s like that.” He wanted to ask about her friends from Moore. Didn’t she have people she’d kept in contact with over the years? He lived here, but there were still guys who came back to visit that would hit him up to go out.

Thinking back to when they were kids, he couldn’t come up with a group of girls she’d hung out with. She was friendly with everyone, sometimes painfully so. But many times, she’d formed a trio with him and Justin.

As if answering the questions he didn’t ask, she said, “Pathetic, I know. But I was always nose-deep in a textbook. Socializing wasn’t on my mind.”

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