Page 3 of Head Over Spurs

Over time, the ache from losing what could have been subsided. But that didn’t mean he didn’t still think of her. He probably always would. There was just something about Julesthat had drawn him in immediately. It was something he had never experienced before, and lightning wasn’t known to strike the same place twice.

With a shake of his head, he cleared the memory from the forefront of his thoughts and turned his attention to the ranch drive before him.

The first signs of light were climbing over the mountains as Riley turned into the Hayes Ranch. His pale green 1970 Ford F250 rumbled along the dirt road, wind whipping into the cab of the truck. He flexed his hand out the open window, a faint smile sitting lazily across his lightly tanned face. It still felt weird, the feel of his bare lip in the breeze. Cooper, a fellow ranch hand, had made a bet with him last week that Riley lost. He was forced to shave his beloved mustache.

Field stretched on around him, the only sound was that of the babbling river running along the drive. He preferred it over music early in the mornings like this. There was no better way to start his day than soaking in the glory of the ranch.

He didn’t grow up out in the wilderness like this, his parents’ house sat on the edge of Sterling Ridge’s town streets. But he had a horse. Jester.

They boarded him at a small stable on the edge of town and Riley spent all his time riding, grooming, and learning the ins and outs of horsemanship. It was his work with Jester that eventually led him to the rodeo too. But according to his older sister, that was just his reckless and wild personality. He didn’t feel like a reckless person, per say. He gambled with his actions at times, maybe. But he also trained hard to be a roughie.

It was his sister, Piper, who called in the favor for him after the injury though. Her closest friend, Gracie, was a ranch hand at the revered Hayes Ranch, and she went to the owner, Brett, on his behalf. They brought him on as a ranch hand as well initially.But it didn’t take long for the team to notice that his expertise was more aligned with caring for the horses. And when Floyd, the elder on the team, decided to step down as wrangler and enjoy the peace of living on the ranch without the labor, Riley was tapped for the role. That was how he was here, parking in front of the Hayes stables to start his day as the ranch’s wrangler.

Stepping out of the truck, he straightened his Stetson atop his head and adjusted his aviator sunglasses. The main compound on the over five-thousand-acre ranch consisted of the main house sitting atop a hill behind him, two cottages, and a cluster of barns. Surrounding the barns, a maze of fencing divided up a corral and some nearby pastures.

He made his way to the far barn that housed the horses and walked through the open garage-like barn door. While the barns were classic Wyoming on the outside, the inside had been transformed into a modern ranch space. Rather than dirt, the center aisle in the stables was an intricate brick floor, his boots echoing as he strode down it. He took a moment to pause on the far side and scan the horizon. The expansive field before him moved to and fro in the breeze, a handful of horses meandering within their fence happily. Behind the horses, jagged blueish-green mountains created a hard stop on the horizon. This was his favorite place. The way he got here was difficult, but the end result was a gift.

Turning back inside, he made quick work of mucking out the empty stalls and supplying them with fresh hay and feed before heading to the pasture to lead the horses back in for breakfast.

“Morning, Riley,” Maddie, one half of the town’s veterinarian clinic and love of his team lead’s life, called from her spot atop the fence. Beside her, Grey, his team lead, sipped coffee from a tin cup and aimlessly played with a strand of her hair. “Are youexcited for branding out in the wild, no fences to hold the herd?” she asked as he approached the couple.

“What’s not to be excited about,” he replied, grinning widely. “I can practice team roping with the champ here.” Riley motioned to Grey, who he had asked to join him in the local rodeo competitions and knew never would. He didn’t mind though. Being out here is what he lived for these days, missing the stadium lights less and less. “Are you coming? Should I tack up Cinnamon?”

He walked up to the mare in question and looped an arm around her neck as she nuzzled her head against him. Cinnamon was one of the sweetest animals he’d ever gotten to work with, she was social and patient. Grey had picked her for Maddie one day early on, and it turned out they were the perfect match. She was one of the sweetest people he had the chance to work with as well. Everyone at the ranch had immediately made him feel like family, but Maddie understood how it felt to be a transplant into the team. In fact, she’d come along shortly after him.

“Not this time,” she replied, turning to take in the disappointment in Grey’s expression. “My best friend is heading back home today after two months in Portugal. I’m going back to Denver to see her.”

“She should just come here if she loves to travel so much,” Grey muttered.

“It’s just one night, you’ll be up at camp anyway.”

“But we had a lot of fun the last time you came to camp,” the team lead replied with a wicked grin.

Clearing his throat, Riley quickly changed the subject from his friends’ sex life. “What was she doing in Portugal?”

“She was sent by a cowgirl magazine to document international women in ranching. She’s a photographer.”

His heart raced, electricity flooding his system at herresponse. A traveling photographer from Colorado. What were the chances? It couldn’t be a common job. Suddenly, he was right back in that place, desperate to find Jules, to understand why she’d left the way she did.

“That sounds amazing,” he choked out, realizing he hadn’t responded to Maddie. “I know you’ve mentioned your best friend before. But I don’t think I ever caught her name.”

“Mm,” Maddie started, swallowing the sip of coffee she’d stolen from Grey’s mug. “Her name is Jules Graham.”

The moment the name left her lips, it was as if the world had fallen away around him. He stared back at her, stunned into silence. He couldn’t form a thought, Maddie’s words looping through his brain on repeat. This was a new level of hell, having this information and still feeling like there was nothing he could do with it. And he had no one to blame but himself.

His horse splashed through the inches of water as he bobbed and weaved, head-to-head with a calf. On the edge of the lake, the water had risen beyond the shores, making for a flooded plain. Atlas, his sorrel gelding, was having the time of his life out here, and Riley couldn’t deny how fun today was either. Even if his thoughts were elsewhere, a single sentence still on repeat.Her name is Jules Graham.

“Last one,” he called over to Grey as he sent the calf towards him.

“Someone call Coop to meet us around with the hay truck,” the team lead replied as the smoke from the fresh brand curled in the air.

“On it,” Gracie said from where she lounged with one leg folded up casually across her saddle.

They moved slowly, but efficiently, to herd the cattle to therendezvous spot where Cooper, a fellow ranch hand and his closest friend, waited. All the while, Riley moved on autopilot.Her name is Jules Graham.

When they reached their destination, Cooper had already deposited the hay and the cows began to graze contently. With their job done for the day, they moved back up to where they’d camp for the night. All the way to camp, the same sentence.Her name is Jules Graham.

Like a well-oiled machine, tents went up, a fire was started, and the food was put on. Branding was like a celebration around here, and they always put together a big spread at camp before doing another cook-out back at the compound with everyone that stayed behind.

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