Page 40 of Overdue for a Cowboy

Fifteen minutes later, Dodge turned into the driveway and drove under the arched wooden sign reading “Lassiter Ranch”.

A large rambling two-story farmhouse sat nestled against the mountains behind it. The stone and wood exterior with huge windows looking out over the ranch gave it a cabin-type feel. A long porch ran the length of the front where Gramps and Gran used to sit together in matching rocking chairs. They’d added several chairs with more comfortable cushions over the years, and his grandfather had dispensed hours of wisdom, advice, and the occasional reprimand to all three boys while sitting on that porch.

The huge white barn with the Lassiter brand painted on the front sat across from the house. Corrals extended off either side, and several of their horses stood inside, one of them letting out a whinny as if welcoming them home. White fences ran along both sides of the driveway, enclosing green pastures, and several hundred head of cattle could be seen dotting the grassland leading up into the mountainside beyond the house.

A chicken coop and his grandmother’s vegetable garden sat off to the right of the house. Although she’d been gone for five years now, his grandfather still kept up her patch of zucchini, squash, tomatoes, peas, green beans, and a little corn.

The ranch was well-taken care of, all of them taking pride in and working hard to maintain its upkeep. This place, and hisgrandparents, had taken in three boys that no one had wanted, and raised them to be the kind of men who would hopefully make their grandmother proud.

Maisie had her window down, and her hair blew in curly waves around her head as she leaned out and inhaled the warm country air. “It smells like freshly mown hay, wild sage, and horses. I love it.”

Dodge pulled the truck up in front of the house, his heart full with her words. He loved this place too, and it made him happy to hear that she appreciated being in the country as well.

Moose had spent the drive out smooshed on the floor in front of Maisie’s feet with his head resting lovingly in her lap. His pickup had a King-cab, and Dodge had told her the dog could ride in the backseat, but she’d insisted he was okay on the floor and that she didn’t feel squished at all. Which had to have been her just being nice, because the dog was the size of a small horse.

Dodge got out and went around to her side of the truck, opening the door for Maisie and helping her down from the cab. Moose waited patiently until her feet hit the ground, then he bounded out and ran around the small front yard, sniffing everything and marking his territory before racing up the steps to the house.

Duke met them on the porch, wrapping Maisie in a careful hug, then offering her his arm as he led her into the house.

The large living area was separated by a huge kitchen island with an oak dining room table on one side of the kitchen and a family room on the other. An enormous stone fireplace rose from the floor to the vaulted ceiling, and a large sofa faced it with two overstuffed recliners flanking either side.

Gramps must have been cooking, because the house smelled like a mixture of chocolate chip cookies, roasted Rosemary potatoes, and his trademark barbeque sauce. Dodge realized it was close to suppertime when his stomach growled as he walked into the kitchen. He got a glass of water for Maisie and himself, then snatched a couple of cookies off the cooling rack resting on the counter.

He passed the water and a cookie to Maisie as Duke got her settled in a chair in the living room and fussed over making sure she was comfortable. He all but wrapped her in a blanket and put her feet up on a stool.

“Oh. Thank you,” she told Dodge as she accepted the glass and the cookie, then groaned as she took a bite of the chocolate chip confection. “Oh my gosh. These are amazing. And they’re still warm.”

“I know,” he said. Everyone loved his grandfather,andhis cookies, and with good reason for both.

Duke was the best man Dodge knew. He was always ready with a word of encouragement or an offer of his two cents’ worth of wisdom. He was tall like Dodge and his brothers, but a little rounder in the middle—probably from all the barbeque and homemade cookies. He had thick white hair, a handle-bar mustache, and with his hearty laugh was often described as a cross between Sam Elliott and Santa Claus.

“Where’s the remote-control culprit?” Dodge asked, picking up the device and looking around for Chevy’s dog.

“Somewhere out back, probably chasing a squirrel up a tree. Not that she could catch one,” Duke assured Maisie. “But that dog takes her job of yard duty seriously, patrolling the property forvagrants, loose cattle, and those pesky squirrels who taunt her with their bushy tails and incessant chattering.”

“Are they chattering at her in French?”

Duke chuckled. “No, that’s just what she changed the language to on the television.”

“Maybe the dog secretly wishes she were in Paris,” Dodge suggested.

Maisie laughed. “Don’t we all?”

Dodge spent the next five minutes fussing with and swearing at the remote, but only managed to change the characters from speaking French to speaking Spanish.

Maisie held out her hand for the remote. “Here. Let me try. I’m always having to fiddle with the remotes at the library. People are constantly messing with the televisions in the conference rooms.”

It only took her a few minutes to figure out what the dog had done and to restore the language to English and the television to its former programming.

Duke whooped and slapped the back of Maisie’s chair. “You did it.”

“It was nothin’,” she said, setting the remote on the end table next to her. “I’m sure you would have figured it out too.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but trying to teach me about this newfangled technology is like trying to milk a bull—pointless and bound to end in a mess.” He chuckled at his own joke then put a hand on her shoulder. “And now, I insist you stay for supper as a way to repay you for your kindness.”

“Well, I don’t need to be repaid for anything, but if Dodge is good with it, I’d be happy to stay for supper. I’ve been smelling that barbeque since we walked in the door.”

“I’ve got a brisket in the smoker and my homemade sauce in the slow cooker.”

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