Falling For The Cowgirl

The simple truth was, the job aside, she hadn’t found a man she could trust since her father died. She’d trusted her last boss and he’d failed to defend her when the rumors swirled.

The only long-term relationship in her life was Gus. Gus never lied and never let her down.

Spits of rain landed on her as she settled into the saddle. AJ shifted and picked up the reins, urging Ace forward. She didn’t have all day and, by the looks of things, the sky was getting ready to burst wide open. Travis would have to catch up.

And he did. Minutes later the thunder of hooves indicated Travis and Midnight were at her side.

“What? You couldn’t wait?”

Annoyance marred his face and AJ struggled not to laugh. Travis Maxwell did not like to be bested.

“The clocking is ticking. It’s about to pour and I still haven’t made it to see that cattle of yours.”

“Northwest pasture. See that big oak tree out there?”

“Yes.”

“That’s your landmark. Veer right.”

It took her a moment to realize why he was giving her directions. By then he and Midnight were racing toward the tree, leaving her and Ace literally in the dust.

“That was a false start if ever there was one,” she called after him.

Travis’s laughter rode on the wind, only encouraging AJ to lean forward in the saddle and spur Ace into the gray dawn. Rounding the massive oak tree, she closed the gap between them. Straight ahead in the distance, on a small grassy knoll, the silhouette of the cattle came into view.

“You’re not too bad in the saddle,” he observed when she caught up. His face was without expression as he narrowed his eyes in assessment.

“I told you in the interview. I was raised on a horse.”

“People say a lot of things in interviews. Ask Rusty.”

AJ jerked back slightly at the comment and pinned him with her gaze, but he had tipped his hat back to look at the sky.

“Uh-oh,” Travis murmured. “Here it comes.”

He was right. Fat drops turned into sheets of rain in a heartbeat. AJ pulled the folded square of clear slicker from her pocket, shook it out and slipped the plastic over her head.

“Got another one of those in your pocket?”

“No. Sorry. I didn’t think—”

“That’s okay. I won’t melt, but just to be sure, let’s duck under the oak tree. That canopy will help some.”

She turned Ace around and followed Travis beneath the stretching arms of the massive tree. For moments they sat in silence as water fell in constant beats onto the hard red clay. The greedy ground drank until full, then the water began to overflow, running downhill in winding rivulets around the horses’ hooves and over the roots of the oak.

Her father called sudden downpours like this “toad stranglers.”

“What’s that sound?” Travis asked moments later. He inched Midnight forward and peered through the curtain of rain.

“Thunder?”

“No. Sounds like a truck bouncing over the ground.” He continued to search the landscape. “But there’s no road out here.”

“Travis, look. Over there. You’re right. It is a truck, coming up on the other side of your steers from the woods.”

“Sure is. A truck and a trailer.” He released a breath. “Cattle rustlers. Must have cut the fence and come around the lodge.”

“You have fifteen head. Why would anyone take a risk for so few cattle?”

“They’re worth a bit over a thousand dollars each at market, that’s why.” He pulled up the collar of his jacket and lifted the reins. “Whoever those rustlers are, they surely know we’re easy pickings out here.”

“Are your calves tagged or hot branded?”

“Tagged. And, yeah, I know that doesn’t stop rustlers. They remove the tag. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to hot brand.”

“No cameras out here?”

“Cameras are in the budget for this year. Add that to your list.”

“My list?”

“Yeah, of all the things I’ve let slide because I haven’t had reliable help.”

“What are we going to do right now?”

Travis pushed his hat low on his ears. “The only thing we can do. Save the stock.”

“What if they’re armed?”

“I can’t let them walk onto our land and take my cattle, can I?”

“You can call the Timber police.”

“Chief Daniels and his two-man police posse? Seriously? It’s Sunday. If I call now, I’ll get dispatch and she’ll tell me that they’ll be out here to take a report later.” He shook his head. “No one is going to miss church for my little herd. If I want to save the cattle program that we haven’t even launched yet, I have to act.”

Overhead the clouds crashed, punctuating his words. The sound was followed by a crooked fork of yellow and pink light that flashed across the sky, illuminating everything for a brief moment. Midnight balked at the sound and Ace reared up, side-stepping in distress.

“Easy, Ace,” AJ crooned, doing her best to soothe the animal.

“Can it get any better than this?” Travis muttered. “We’re under a tree, in a lightning storm, while my cattle are being stolen.”

Once again, thunder was chased by a shock of electricity that split the sky. Ace kicked her hind legs, offering a loud, agitated whinny before she bucked and took off.

“Whoa!” AJ reached for the saddle horn, holding tight and fighting for control as the mare stampeded in a path straight toward the rustlers.

One more crash of noise had Ace spinning around and changing direction in a mad frenzy. AJ slid helplessly to the ground and landed with a thud and a splash right in a puddle.

“AJ,” Travis yelled, concern lacing his voice. He jumped from Midnight and was by her side in an instant.

Disgusted, AJ waved a muddy hand in gesture. “I’m fine. I slid and landed on my backside. Go get your rustlers.”

Travis laughed. “You scared them away. They backed up, circled around and disappeared through the trees and out the same way they got in.”

“Did you get a look at the truck pulling that trailer?” she asked.

“Dark-colored pickup, maybe black or brown.”

“Or burgundy?”

“Hard to tell. Raining too hard.” The sky flickered with lightning as she spoke.

“Was it a Ford?”

“I told you it was raining too hard. The only thing I know for certain is that the truck is covered in mud.” He swiped at the water on his face and looked at her. “You recognize the vehicle?”

AJ hesitated. Was it Jace’s burgundy pickup truck? Surely her stepbrother wasn’t that reckless. She couldn’t be sure and she wasn’t going to point the finger without more proof.

“It’s raining too hard to be sure,” AJ answered. She positioned her palms on the ground and tried to gain traction; instead she slipped on the slick mud.

Travis put his arm around her. “Let me help you.”

“I’ve got it.” She moved from his touch, struggling to a standing position. “Where’s Ace?”

“That horse is way smarter than we are. She’ll be back at the stables before we arrive, I imagine.”

“How am I going to get back?”

“You’ll have to ride with me.”

“No way. I’m covered with mud.” She eyed him. And no way was she sharing a saddle with Travis. Her peace of mind couldn’t handle being that close to the man.

Scooping up the stallion’s reins with one hand and the saddle horn with the other, Travis mounted Midnight. Reaching down to AJ, he held out a hand. “Come on. We’ll grab the Ute and fix that fence. Then we’re going to have to move the cattle closer to the barn until I can get someone to work night shift.”

“You don’t have enough wranglers to work day shift.”

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious.”

“Aren’t you at least going to report this when we get back?”

“I’m not calling Chief Daniels out to the ranch on a Sunday to tell him that we almost got rustled and that we can’t identify the vehicle much less the thieves.”

“You’re embarrassed?”

“Yeah, I am. I’ll stop by and file a report on Monday.” He glanced at the sky. “Looks like most of the fireworks in the sky have died down.” Again he offered a hand.

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