Page 35 of Cowboy Triplets Next Door

I waved him off as I patted the next cow’s butt to get her to go into the crush. I was so used to ignoring JR that it didn’t cross my mind to say anything. That was probably why when a deep voice spoke up from behind me, I was extra startled and more than a little embarrassed. I instantly felt guilty for never having corrected JR.

“If you focused more on the cows and less on Billie, you’d be able to get to twice as many cows done today, I bet.” Gray stood behind me with a scowl on his face that ran darker than anything I’d ever received. “She’s learning from you, JR. She doesn’t need you hitting on her nonstop.”

I looked up at him and for a moment, I felt just as safe and protected as I had when Dad was still alive. It was a dangerous thing, feeling safe and loved when you really weren’t, though, so I did my best to block it out.

“Hell, boy, I’m just teasing her. She’s a grown woman. If she doesn’t like it, she’ll say something.” JR looked at me, putting me on the spot. “Well?”

I looked down at my feet and cleared my throat. “I’d rather we just focused on the work, JR.”

“Bullshit.” JR’s loud exclamation shocked me into taking a step back, straight into Gray’s chest. “I’ve been coming here since your daddy ran this place. If you can’t take a little harmless talking, you might as well hole up in that house of yours and never come out. What are you even trying to say?”

Gray gripped the back of my neck and I could feel him start to argue but I spoke up to cut him off. “JR, it’s no reason to get upset. I’m not saying anything. I love watching you work and learning from you.”

“You’re saying I’m some kind of pervert or something. I can read between the lines.” He chucked his sander down and glared at me. “This is bullshit. Your daddy wouldn’t let anyone disrespect me like this.”

I stood up to my full height, which didn’t amount to much between the two larger men, and fixed a hard glare on the older man. “You mention my Dad so much, JR, but I don’t recall you ever teasing me like that when he was around. I remember you being very respectful in front of him. If he’d have heard the way you speak about my body now, you wouldn’t have had to worry about being disrespected. He would’ve kicked your ass out of here and come back making plans to do it again.”

JR’s face went a deep red shade and he jerked around to David. “Pack it all up. We’re out of here.”

Panic struck me instantly. “JR, wait. You—”

“Can take your hurt feelings and hit the road. We won’t be using your services anymore.” Gray squeezed my neck when I looked up at him. “We don’t need him, B.”

“There’s no one around for a hundred miles to do what I do. Not a lot of cow farriers wandering around, boy. You just shot yourself in the foot.”

Gray shrugged. “I disagree. We already have someone.”

We did? I felt his grip on my neck tighten again and decided to ask all my questions after JR left. I didn’t want to watch JR pack up and leave so I started working on getting the cows back to their pasture. I was a sweaty, anxious mess when JR finally pulled away. I watched him flip us the bird and toss some trash out of his window as he went and scowled.

Owen and Keaton had joined Gray when I came back from dealing with the cows. I stopped a few feet in front of Gray and put my hands on my hips. “You were right in saying something. I should’ve, but sometimes it’s easier not to rock the boat, as you saw. As much as I appreciate you looking out for me, Gray, we don’t have another cow farrier lined up. He only got through about half of the cows today. To get someone in here is going to cost way more than what you’ve been paying JR. I’ll do what I can to get him back. Like it or not, we need him.”

“He’s not coming back here, Bumble B. Anyone else who treats you like that can get fucked, too.” Gray sighed when I gave him a pointed look. “Yeah, we probably shouldn’t talk to you like that, either.”

I rolled my eyes. “It doesn’t count with you guys. I came onto you first. Anyway, HR is too busy handling JR’s exit paperwork to sort out our sexual harassment bullshit.”

Owen smirked. “Noted.”

“I’m going to figure out what all we need and order the equipment this week. You’ll be set up and ready to work in a week or two.” Gray pulled off the baseball hat he was wearing and wiped his forehead. “You can train a couple of the guys to help you. We’ll help out until they’re ready and you trust them.”

I held up my hands and laughed. “I think I missed something. What are you talking about?”

“You’re our new farrier, B. You’ve had how many years of on-the-job training? You can’t deny that you love doing it since you’ve been putting up with JR all this time. You’re the right person for the job.” Gray looked at his brothers. “We all agreed.”

My heart hammered away in my chest. “What? No. Gray. I’m not— I’ve been watching JR, sure, but I’m not trained enough to do this. I’m not qualified. I can’t—”

“Do you want the job, Billie?” Keaton raised his brows at me.

I stammered. “I-I… I mean, yes, I do. I always thought I would go to school and learn someday. I just…life happened and school never happened, so…you don’t want me doing this. Not really. You need someone experienced.”

“I’m not hiring anyone else when I have you here. We’ll pay for a course, if you want, but I’ve watched you work enough to know you don’t need it. We can negotiate pricing, too. You’ll be paid for every cow you trim, on top of what you usually get.” Gray put his hat back on and shoved his hands into his pockets. “B, the job is yours. We believe in you.”

A tidal wave of emotion hit me all at once and I had to turn away so they didn’t see me cry. I’d never heard anyone talk to me like that, like they had the utmost confidence in me. Even Dad had deferred jobs to the guys, thinking I was too gentle to handle it. It hurt they believed in me more than Dad had and I hated that the thought even wormed its way through my brain. They were the bad guys. They’d stolen the ranch.

I wiped my eyes and kept my face down. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

CHAPTER 29

Billie

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