Page 5 of Cowboy Don't Go

Wisely, her son held up his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t gonna say anything.” But under his breath, he mumbled, “But he seemed like a nice guy to me.”

Shay stepped on the gas and headed home.

*

“I hear you ran into my sister at the auction,” Liam said by way of hello after Cooper had off-loaded all the horses and sequestered them in the quarantine paddock, away from the other stock.

Liam was smiling, so he relaxed a fraction.

“She called you I assume?” Cooper asked, hooking the gate closed behind the last auction horse.

“You know she did. And eight hundred and fifty for Ryan’s filly? She worth that?”

“I’d say so. But it was either pay that or lose her. Shay bid up to six. You can take the difference out of my pay.”

Liam snorted. “Nope. I won’t be doing that.” And under his breath added, “’Cause that’s what I would’ve done.” He perused the horses Cooper had brought back with him from Bozeman, in particular the one he’d purchased for Ryan. “Shay was dead set on buying that filly out of her own pocket for Ryan so he could enter the Youth Horse Encounter this year, not for lack of me trying to convince her that we—the ranch—could afford to get a horse for him to train, but because my older sister is stubborn as hell. Probably why she’s still single.”

It surprised Cooper to hear she wasn’t married up.

Liam lifted off his hat and wiped his forehead with a bandana he pulled from his pocket. “I thought she was going next week to the Flathead auction. I didn’t realize you two would run into each other or I would’ve warned you. Don’t get me wrong, I love her to death. But she can be prickly. You and Shay were in the same graduating class, weren’t you, at Marietta High School? And my brother, Will, too?”

“That’s right.” Cooper remembered Shay’s twin brother, Will Hardesty, the star of the football team.

The local kid who’d made it big in college ball and the NFL. According to Liam, Will was living in Marietta again with his girlfriend, but was off on some buying trip for the ranch this week. Cooper looked forward to seeing him again. With his sister, it hadn’t gone so well.

“I wasn’t sure she’d remember me.”

“A lot’s happened since you two saw each other last. For us all, I guess.”

That much was true. He knew he’d be running into her here on the ranch, but he’d been surprised to see her at the auction. Seeing her brought back memories of a time when everything lay ahead of him instead of behind.

He’d known her and crushed on her throughout their school years, as the school in Marietta was pretty small. Everyone knew everyone. Maybe that was the worst part of becoming a personal cautionary tale in a small town.

But Shay raising her son alone? Still? And living here at her mother’s home, instead of on her own? Not that he was judging. Because his life was about to look eerily similar.

“You happy with the horses?” he asked Liam.

Liam touched the quivery flank of a Palomino gelding. “You probably know more about them than I do. I’m a cow man, mostly. Although, the wild horses here on the ranch via the BLM are the pet project of myself and Shay. Shay mostly. She’s the horse whisperer here. She gentles them, but she’s not really a trainer.” He turned to Cooper. “By the way, so you know, I called your previous employer, down at the Four Sixes in Texas. Due diligence, you know. And they had nothing but great things to say about you. They were real sorry to lose you, in fact, and said you’d be welcome back anytime.”

“Good to hear.”

“I hired you for your construction experience,” he said, gesturing at the nearby land that had been readied for building. “It’s been a little bit of a road since we made the decision a year ago this summer to expand the Hard Eight to a guest ranch, what with architectural plans, getting infrastructure readied and getting set for construction. Now, all that’s in place, I guess we’re ready to build. But the Four Sixes said you’re a wizard with horses. With training, breeding, and selection. Which is why I sent you up to Bozeman. Seems you undersold yourself. Wizard isn’t a word people throw around very often. So, while I do need help with construction, we also need someone who can train this bunch. Maybe even some of the mustangs we’ve got pasturing here, young enough to be trained. Adopted out.”

“Today was a test, then?”

“Call it what you want.”

“I’m good with horses,” he admitted. “I like working with them. But I need the work. Any work. Whatever you need.”

Liam nodded. “Obviously, none of these auction horses are fully ready for that kind of training. We need them to put on some weight, get healthy. But we’ve got time for that. You did good. Thanks for going today.”

Cooper nodded. “Yeah, boss.”

Liam frowned. “No. It’s just Liam, okay?”

Personally, he preferred to keep business and familiarity separate, but he said, “Sure. Okay.”

“Good.” He shook Cooper’s hand. “I know you said up front that you’ve got something personal to do tomorrow. So, since it’s Friday tomorrow, you’ll officially start for us on Monday. That work for you?”

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