Page 3 of His Wild Mate

“You have something on your shoulder.”

“Dammit. Bennett’s been battling some reflux.”

“Gross man.”

“Just wait until you have kids and I’ll remind you of that.”

I just shook my head. Fat chance of that happening. Plus, the odds of me following in Wyatt’s footsteps and having quadruplets were next to none. I felt pretty safe there.

They were cute kids, and I didn’t mind pitching in every now and then knowing Wyatt and his mate Kate had their hands full, but I was just the unofficial uncle who could love on them, give them back, and go home for a real night’s sleep.

“Okay, listen up,” I yelled out at the gathering crowd. “I know you’re all busy, so I’ll try to make this quick. Whoever decided to put in a formal complaint to Thomas needs to speak up now or shut the hell up. It’s my understanding that you wanted the foreman gone. Well, you win, but now you’re stuck with me in charge.”

I paused to let that sink in a bit. Wyatt grinned at me and nodded. Austin and Clay, two more of my fellow Six Pack, walked over to him to see if he knew anything about this. Normally, I would have told them first, but I didn’t think this could wait. If any uprising was truly brewing, I knew I had to cut that shit down quickly.

“Now, if there were any other objections, besides that lazy, good for nothing, asshole, speak up now or forever hold your peace. Likewise, if any of you have any objections to metaking over as ranch foreman, speak up now. You guys know me. Hell, I’m one of you. But you also know that I don’t play around with unnecessary bullshit. So man up and talk straight with me. Are there any objections?”

“No sir,” they all yelled back in unison.

“Are there any other issues that I need to be made aware of?”

“Yes sir. We have a list of things that need to be addressed,” Ridge spoke up, holding a piece of paper high in the air.

With this new job, I was going to have to reassess leadership roles. I wouldn’t dare touch the dairy program, that was Clay and Ruby’s baby, and they ran a tight ship. Likewise, as long as he was willing and able, old man Dalton could handle the horses and stables. The man had worked here longer than I’d been alive and deserved that much respect. But I had been acting header and that was a role that was going to need to be filled. I’d offer it to Wyatt first, but I already knew he was going to turn me down. Hell, he was mostly part-time even before the babies were born.

I took a good look at Ridge and knew I’d have to consider him for the position. Likewise Cruz and Brady were already juggling some form of leadership. As the ranch continued to grow, having more men that I trusted by my side wasn’t going to be a bad thing.

“Is it anything that needs to be discussed openly?”

“No, sir.”

“Are the rest of you okay if I deal with Ridge directly on your grievances then?”

They all looked around at one another and shrugged or nodded.

“It’s fine,” Cruz finally spoke up.

“Great, then get back to work. I promise you all I will try to do better than our former asshole, and I will listen and address each of the claims, but right now, there’s a lot of work to be done. You’re dismissed.”

I was a little shocked that any of them listened to me, but they left with smiles on their faces and a strong sense of hope in the air.

Clay, Austin, and Wyatt walked over to confront me while Ridge talked to a few of the guys.

“So, when the hell did this happen?” Austin asked.

“About five minutes before I sent that text. Sorry I didn’t give you guys a heads up. When Thomas said there was a protest brewing, I knew I had to nip it in the bud quickly.”

“You did the right thing, and Thomas picked the right man for the job,” Wyatt assured me.

“Yeah. That was great. I’ve been warning him this was going to come to a head if he didn’t do something about it,” Clay said.

“You could have warned me. Why the hell was I kept in the dark?”

“I think it was unclear if you were with them or against them.”

“I’m one of them. Why would I be against them?”

Clay shrugged. “Being in charge sucks sometimes. People act differently around you. You’ve been experiencing that already and didn’t even realize it.”

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