Page 20 of My Cowboy Trouble
"News travels fast."
"Honey, I knew about it before you'd even changed your socks. Billy posted about it on that Instagram thing. Even got video of you stepping in it." Clara Mae cackles, pulling out her phone. "You're what the kids call 'viral.'"
Kenzie groans. "Billy's on Instagram?"
"Oh yeah. He's got a whole fan page dedicated to the ranch. 'Life at the Dusty Spur' or some such. You're the star of today's stories." Clara Mae squints at her phonescreen, holding it at arm's length. "Look, forty-seven likes already! And someone commented with those crying-laughing faces. That means it's funny."
"Shoot me now."
"Now, now. Any publicity is good publicity." Clara Mae winks at me. "Isn't that right, Asher? You're the business mind around here."
"I typically prefer publicity that doesn't involve standing in horse shit."
"Boring." Clara Mae turns her attention back to Kenzie, and I can see the gleam in her eye that means trouble. "You know, Asher here's quite the catch. Got a head for numbers and hands for... well, other things."
"Clara Mae," I warn.
"What? I'm just saying. Girl needs to know her options." She pats Kenzie's knee with one gnarled hand. "All three of them boys are options, if you know what I mean."
Kenzie goes red from her chest to her hairline. "I don't think?—"
"’Course, they come as a package deal mostly. Where one goes, the others follow. Been that way since they were teens." Clara Mae's grin is wicked. "Just something to think about during those long, lonely ranch nights. Gets cold here. Real cold. Nice to have options for keeping warm."
"Clara Mae, don't you have somewhere to be?" I ask.
"Nope. Cleared my whole afternoon 'cause my niece is watching the store. Figured I'd check on youtwo, see how the fence repair's going." She looks at the fence we've been working on. "Coming along nice. 'Course, that's not the fence that needs fixing most urgently."
"You know about that?"
"Honey, I know everything. Including the fact that section fifteen is about ready to fall over completely. But this one looks good too." She heaves herself off the tailgate. "Well, I'll leave you two to it. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"That doesn't rule out much," I mutter.
"Exactly!" She cackles all the way back to her truck, leaving the pitcher and glasses. She should have plenty to share back in town.
The fence looks good.Actually, it looks great. Kenzie's managed to hammer in the last twenty nails without injury or property damage, and she's glowing with pride. There's dirt on her cheek, her tank top is soaked with sweat, and her ponytail has gone from neat to something that looks like she's been through a wind tunnel. She's never looked more gorgeous. Even though I've only known her a few days.
"I did it!" She steps back, admiring our handiwork with her hands on her hips. "I actually fixed a fence! Like, a real fence! That will hold actual cows! On a cow farm."
"Cattle," I correct automatically. "And this is a ranch. Not a cow farm."
"Whatever. Large animals that moo. The point is, I fixed something!" She spins in a circle, arms out, laughing. "I am a fence-fixing goddess! Bow before my hammer skills!"
"You're something, all right." I lean against the truck, enjoying her excitement. The sun's starting to dip lower, casting everything in golden light that makes her skin glow. "You're a regular ranch hand now."
"Does this mean I get a raise?"
"You're not getting paid."
"Then I definitely deserve a raise." She takes a long drink from her water bottle, and I watch a drop of water escape, trailing down her throat and disappearing into her tank top. "So what's next? Another section? I'm on a roll here. I could fix fences all day. Point me at a fence, I'll fix the shit out of it."
"Nope."
"No? But Trent said—" She stops, understanding dawning on her face like a sunrise. "This isn't the right fence."
"Oh, it needed fixing. Eventually. Just not as urgently as the one about half a mile that way." I point toward the other pasture, where section fifteen is indeed about to fall over.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
