Page 7 of Colt

“Okay, well if you need me, you know where to find me,” Brian replied.

Colt sensed that Brian wanted to say something and looked at him. “Was there something else?”

“I was just wondering if you heard anything about the ranch being sold yet,” Brian said with a worried expression.

Colt let out a sigh. “It’s possible that it has been sold.”

“Will we still have jobs then?” Brian asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” Colt admitted. “But I do know that if it is sold, the new owner plans on keeping it as a boarding stable. As for keeping the staff, I have no idea.”

Brian nodded and walked off. Colt leaned his rake against the wall and took off his gloves, placing them in his back pocket as he hung his head. What was he going to do now? At forty-three years old, he would have to find another job because of this sale. He couldn’t believe that she hated him so much that she would fire him like this. What did he ever do to her? Son of a bitch.

He thought back to when she first came to work here. She was fourteen and he was twenty-one; she may have had a crush on him, but he never saw her as anything more than a kid back then. But now, seeing her as a woman with stunning blue eyes full of anger and determination made him want to kiss her. He thought about pulling the band from her dark hair and watching it fall around her shoulders.

“Like that would ever happen,” he muttered to himself.

After finishing up the stalls, Colt headed to his office to work on payroll. He took over this task seven years ago when Walt said he didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Colt didn’t mind though, especially since he used Cas-Port software which made the process almost automatic. A program created by a friend of his, Cash Porter.

“Colt?”

He looked up to see Walt standing in the doorway. Colt pushed his chair back and stood.

“Is everything okay, Walt?”

“Yes, yes, sit down, son,” the older man said as he walked over to the chair in front of Colt’s desk. Colt sat back down, wondering why Walt was in his office as he never came in here.

“Walt—”

“No need to worry, Colt. I just wanted to know if you will be able to continue working with Chelsea.”

“She fired me,” Colt replied solemnly.

“What? Are you sure?” Walt’s face showed concern.

Colt couldn’t help but smirk at his boss’s shock.

“Well, after she told me that once she buys the property, I’ll have two weeks to pack up and leave if I haven’t already, sounds to me like she fired me.”

“She’s planning to keep this as a boarding stable, and she needs someone who knows what they’re doing to manage it. Someone like you, son,” Walt said.

“I’m not sure why she has an issue with me. We had some disagreements when she worked here years ago, but I was her boss,” Colt replied with a shrug.

“Well, son, I’ve lived for eighty years, and I still haven’t figured out how a woman’s mind works.”

“That’s not very reassuring.” Colt chuckled.

“The only thing I’ve learned is that Tricia is always right, even when she’s wrong.”

“I can see that.”

“So, do you want to stay here?”

Colt let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t want to start over somewhere else. I know forty-three isn’t old, but starting a new career is tough. I’d have to work my way up from the bottom again, unless there’s a job opening for a manager, but most ranchers already have someone in that role.”

“I understand. Not many ranch hands are in their forties when they begin.”

Colt mentally groaned. He was well aware of how hard ranch work was. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy it; he had worked his way up from the bottom to become manager of a successful business.

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