Page 34 of Road to a Cowboy

He might feel bad about it later, but in this moment? He couldn’t help but wonder why he’d ever given a fuck about a woman who didn’t give a fuck about him.

* * *

He ended up at Windsor Ranch. He’d meant to go home to think some more thoughts; instead he’d driven on autopilot, and it didn’t escape his notice that he went to the one spot where people appreciated the time and care he put into the place.

The stab in his heart dulled as he inhaled a lungful of dirt, hay, and a potent combination of horse and cow dung. The average person would wrinkle their nose at what Cal had become accustomed to years ago. For him?

It was life.

Not just his. The ranch waslife. For the cows and the horses, sure, but also for the insects, birds, plants, and other wildlife found in the area. In fact, Las had spotted a black-footed ferret on the ranch once. A rare thing, according to Las—the species was so endangered that sightings of it in its natural habitat were uncommon, and this part of the state wasn’t its normal home range.

That Windsor Ranch was providing habitat for a species so rare was honestly pretty damn cool.

The Windsor-March siblings were sitting on the top rung of the corral, so Cal headed in that direction, conscious that the sweaty patches on his T-shirt had dried but left darkened rings behind and that he no doubt smelled like he hadn’t showered—which he hadn’t.

Las and Alice wouldn’t notice. Well, Las wouldn’t. Cal’s current stank was nothing compared to his stank after a twelve-hour day of ranch work.

In the corral, a dapple-gray horse was lazily nosing at the grass.

“Who’s this?” Cal asked, resting his forearms next to Las’s hip.

“This is Starshine.” Alice leaned forward to grin at him from Las’s other side, her dark hair falling forward to curtain her face. “She just arrived. She’s sweet and gentle and well-mannered. We’re adding her to our retinue of horses for the kids with no horseback riding experience.”

They got a lot of those at the guest house on the other side of the highway. Families from the big city wanting the cowboy experience, regardless of whether or not they’d ever been near a horse.

“She’s a beauty,” Cal said. The tightness in his chest eased at the sight of the horse exploring the corral as though she were judging her new digs and finding them up to snuff. “How are reservations this week?”

“Picking up,” Alice said. “Kids are out of school now, for the most part, so we’re starting to see more families and fewer corporate retreats. We even have a four-day-long bachelorette party in July.”

Cal shuddered. “Sounds... fun?”

Las grunted. “Remind me to stay away from the guest house during those four days.”

Cal snorted a laugh.

Alice made a sound of disgust. “Say the guys who prefer horses to people.”

“Horses make sense,” Cal argued. “People don’t.”

Las held out a hand for a fist bump. “Hear hear.”

Alice swiveled on the railing and hopped down. “People make sense if you know how to read them. And on that note, I’ve got to go.” She waggled her eyebrows at Cal. “Tomorrow I want to know all about the connections you’ve made on the dating app.”

“I deleted that app,” Cal told her.

“What?” Her shoulders slumped. “Ugh. Why?”

“I don’t want to date.”

“Speaking of dates.” Pushing up the brim of his cowboy hat, Las eyed her up and down. “Where are you off to?”

She wore a forest-green flowy knee-length sundress belted at the waist, a cropped jean jacket, and brown ankle boots. “I have a lunch date with Ewan and Orson.”

Cal was about to tell her to have fun when the names registered. “Wait... my ranch hands?”

Alice made a little humming sound.

“But... they don’t even like each other.”

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