Page 1 of Unforgettable Cowboy
Chapter One
Hayes Matthews hadlong expected his day of reckoning to come compliments of a gnarly saddle bronc.Instead, it came at the hands of corporate policy.
Fucking bureaucrats.
When he’d retired from rodeo and signed on with the sprawling Buckhorn Ranch south of Kalispell, he’d been glad to end his rodeo career on his own terms.His body wasn’t snapping back like it used to, and while he still competed in local rodeos, he no longer found satisfaction in constantly being on the road, spending every waking moment either traveling to a rodeo or competing in one.
He’d felt pretty damned smug about his smooth segue from competitor to responsible employee with a salary and benefits—right up until the Buckhorn sold to Wellington Communications.Then the bean counters and their minions had come onto the scene, and he found himself fighting people wearing fake western wear whenever he needed to accomplish something.Fucking maddening.
Hayes forced his jaw muscles to relax as he turned his truck onto the road leading to the Tree Fork Ranch fifteen miles southeast of Marietta, Montana.He’d turned in his notice earlier that day and the Buckhorn Ranch part of his life was officially over.If he’d known that the ranch had been in the final stages of a sale prior to accepting the full-time position, he wouldn’t have…who was he kidding?
He would have totally taken the job.The Buckhorn was a prestigious ranch and he’d felt confident that he could handle non-ranch types running the operation after the sale was finalized, figuring that, in the name of efficient business practices, they would listen to the people who knew what they were talking about.
Nope.
The last straw had come that afternoon when he’d gotten news that his uncle, Wade Matthews, had suffered an accident and was in the hospital.When Hayes asked for emergency family leave, he was told that an uncle didn’t qualify.It didn’t matter if the guy had raised Hayes and his brothers from a young age after they’d lost their parents in a car accident.He was an uncle.Uncles didn’t qualify.How many times had hard-headed Suzanne repeated that even as Hayes explained the circumstances?
Often enough that Hayes had finally lost his tightly controlled temper.He’d torn an oversized sticky note from the holder on her desk, pulled the black marker out of his shirt pocket and wrote “I quit” in wide black lines on the pale blue paper, signed and dated it.To his credit, he did not stick it to her forehead.Instead, he slapped it onto her desk directly in front of her.Suzanne had flinched, then raised a cool gaze.
“Do you understand the ramifications of this act?”she’d asked.
Hayes had swallowed the retort that sprung to his lips, turned and stalked out of her pseudo-western office.Yes.The ramifications were that he would no longer have to fight to do what needed to be done.He no longer had to explain why the pivot irrigation system remained running during a half-hour squall.Or why things with cattle needed to be done by a certain date, even if it didn’t jibe with their schedule.He’d have no more micromanaging corporate types interfering with him.
On the drive south to the hospital in Marietta where his uncle Wade had been admitted with a seriously broken leg, he’d had at least six calls from Suzanne that had gone straight to voicemail.After passing through Livingston, he played the calls.
The first informed him that Suzanne had met with her boss and HR, and while it meant bending the rules, they were open to finding a solution that worked for everyone.Translation: there was no one to step easily into Hayes’s shoes.Tough luck, Suzanne.He’d put up with corporate bullshit for over a year, which was a year too long.There were other jobs, and thanks to his frugality he had a decent bank account.Winning big had not meant spending big.Hayes loved the risk of rodeo, but he also knew that his career could end in a heartbeat.All it took was a couple of mental errors or an unfortunate combination of events and he could be out of a job.Therefore, even though he had a reputation for recklessness in the arena, he’d saved his money.Now that he was out of a job, he was glad of it.
Wade was heavily sedated after the surgery to deal with a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula bones, and Hayes was taken back by how worn and gray his uncle looked against the stark white of the hospital sheets.And out of place.Wade Matthews, man of action, did not belong in a hospital bed.
“He’ll be more aware tomorrow,” the attending nurse murmured, giving Hayes a look that clearly said she didn’t know if that was a good thing.
“He can be a handful,” Hayes replied, and the nurse laughed, albeit grimly.
“I was on duty when he came in.He was in terrific pain, as you can imagine, but all he could talk about was losing time on the ranch.”
“Sounds like Wade.”
As he drove away from the hospital, he was grateful that Suzanne had been such a butt about the definition of “immediate family.”Her stubborn adherence to the rules had been the kick in the ass he needed to get himself out of a mind-sucking job.
Half an hour after leaving the lights of Marietta behind, Hayes turned off the county road and onto the long driveway leading to the Tree Fork Ranch.Despite the thousands of times he’d traveled the road, tonight felt different.
Because you’re coming home for real?
That might be it, even though he didn’t plan to stay.Right now, his future was truly up in the air.
The familiar buildings came into view, silhouetted against the twilight as Hayes crossed the last stretch of driveway and clattered over the old cattle guard.He’d expected all the buildings to be dark given the hour and the fact that there was no one on the ranch—or at least there shouldn’t be—but a dim light shone through a window of the barn.
Had it been burning since Wade broke his leg?Possibly, even though, as Hayes understood it, the incident occurred during daylight hours.
Then there was the matter of the Ford pickup he didn’t recognize parked close to the barn.He turned his truck in a sweeping circle on the wide drive and came to a stop with the headlights reflecting off the Wyoming plates.Had Wade bought himself a new truck from out of state?
Or had someone decided to capitalize on Wade’s injury and help themselves to tools while the ranch was empty?
If so, they were going to be dealing with one cranky cowboy, because this was all he needed at the end of a very long day.
*
Bailey Hunt hadgone still at the sound of a vehicle, crouched in the stall next to the roan mare she’d been doctoring, and now her muscles were beginning to protest.The rig rolled to a stop outside the barn and Bailey rose to her feet, wishing she could see through the walls.She put a hand on the sturdy roan’s side and glanced at the palomino in the adjoining stall.Both mares had their ears pricked forward and their eyes on the same wall Bailey wished she could see through.
