Page 47 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

“See you tomorrow.” Christopher nodded, and the two of them moved off toward their own trucks.

I made a mental note to ask them for a list of the tasks they did at the ranch and the equipment they maintained. The more information I got now, the less surprises there would be later.

As soon as Patrick skidded to a stop, barking came from inside the house. Patrick jumped out with Frank on a lead. Frank’s attention immediately turned to the barking, and he wiggled his nose as if he might be able to smell what was going on behind the closed door.

I moved to Patrick, and when he saw the torn shirt, dirt, and grease on me, he raised his eyebrows.

“What?” I asked.

He dropped Frank’s lead into my palm. “I’ve never seen you dirty.”

“Believe me, it could have been worse.” I wrinkled my nose and flexed my foot.

“Blister?” Patrick asked.

“Maybe.”

“Mole skin.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I have some in my bag.”

Now I raised my eyebrows.

“What?” Patrick shrugged. “I’ve roughed it before.”

He was ex-military, so I had to give him that.

A crack sounded, and the barking suddenly got louder.

Robert’s voice cut through the air before I had my head turned to see him emerging from the house. “Bonnie! Clyde! Sit!”

The two shepherds, who had been on a collision course with Frank and me, skidded to a halt. One of them looked over their shoulder at Robert and whined.

“Sit,” he said again.

Personally, I wouldn’t disobey the man.

Both dogs lowered their haunches to the ground, but I could tell they were ready to jump up again just as soon as they got the okay.

I found Frank looking between me and his new potential friends.

Robert, who had a plastic bottle in one hand, walked down the stairs and to the dogs. When he got there, he gave them a stern look, then said to me, “Bring Frank over here.”

Frank’s ears perked up at his name, and he stayed by my side as we walked forward.

“Bonnie, Clyde, this is Frank.” Robert glanced between the animals. “Be nice.”

Three canine noses continued to twitch, and Frank took a step toward his new friends.

I held my breath, waiting for a growl or a snarl.

Instead, all three tails started to wag. Frank stopped just short of Robert, and Robert let the other dogs sniff him. Clyde inched forward until he and Frank were nose to nose.

After a moment, they moved toward one another again.

Sniff. Move. Repeat.

“There you go.” Robert patted each of his dogs on the head. “You can let Frank go.”

I reached down and unclasped his harness, and the three of them immediately started a more in-depth inspection.

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