Page 1 of Open Arms

1

Mason

The sun hadn’t even kissedthe horizon good morning yet, and I was already two coffees deep. Hustling through the daily grind at Red Downs Ranch came naturally to me, but not without caffeine.

The crisp morning air nipped at my exposed neck as I strode across the yard, my boots kicking up dust that had settled overnight.

“Tommy, those horses need to be fed before sunrise, not after,” I called out, my voice firm but not unkind, to a young new ranch hand wrestling with a hay bale twice his size.

“Got it, Mase!” he shot back, grinning despite the early hour. Kid had spirit; I’d give him that.

I made a mental checklist of the chores for the day—repairing the fence line by the west paddock, rotating the cattle, exercising the horses—standard fare for life on the ranch. But it was more than routine; it was keeping the heart of this place beating strong.

Usually I spent the bulk of my days stuck behind my desk dealing with the numbers. But Gray asked me to fill in for hima bit this week and I wasn’t inclined to say no to my best friend—a man who never asked for anything.

He was real cagey about it too. Didn’t say why, and said he’d still be around, but needed some time off. The man never took time off.

“Hey, Mason, the water trough by the stables is leaking again,” Sarah, one of our newer hands, informed me as she jogged over, her ponytail swishing with urgency.

“Alright, let’s patch it up temporary-like. I’ll swing by later to fix it properly,” I said, scratching the stubble on my chin. Temporary fixes were becoming a permanent feature around here.

“Sure thing, boss,” she replied, already heading off to round up the tools.

“Boss.” That title sat a little heavy on my shoulders sometimes, like a winter coat you can’t quite shrug off. But who was I kidding? I loved every minute of it—the land, the animals, the constant whirlwind of activity that kept me moving from dawn until way past dusk.

Of course I wasn’t the real boss. That was Gray, who’d inherited the ranch when his daddy died. But Gray was a cowboy through and through and had no desire to do the financial management side of things. Profit and loss, land deals, horse sales, payroll. I actually loved that shit. So much so, I went to college to get a fancy business degree that’s collecting dust on the wall of my office.

But as much as I loved the financial shit, being out here today, in the thick of it with the other ranch hands and wranglers, felt like comin’ home. I grew up here, I tasted my first dirt, thrown from the back of a stern mare, when I was just three years old.

As I watched Sarah hustle away, determination in her stride, I couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride. These folks, they were myteam, and together we kept the wheels turning, the livestock thriving, and the fields lush. It was hard work, but it was honest, and it was ours.

“Reckon we’re gonna need more feed soon,” I muttered to myself, making a mental note to put in an order. Couldn’t have our stock going hungry, now could we?

“Everything under control, Mase?” Gray ambled over, coffee cup in one hand.

“Like a well-oiled machine,” I replied, clapping him on the back. “What the hell are you doing out here anyway?”

He sighed, taking a sip of the steaming coffee. “Eryn kicked me out of house.”

“Ha!”

“Don’t you even start.”

“Oh, I’ve started.”

I couldn’t help but bust out a laugh because the Gray I knew barely two years ago didn’t take shit from anyone. But once he met Eryn, everything changed.

The man worshipped the ground she walked on. And sometimes, he was a bit too overbearing and protective. It shouldn’t have surprised me that he’d annoy Eryn to the point of banishment, but it did make me grin with glee and that German thing where you delight in another’s misery.

Schadenfreude, that’s it. Seeing grumpy-ass Gray whipped like a puppy made my damn day.

“Well get it out now, ‘cause I need reinforcements in there. Plus, breakfast is ready. Your parents brought Abby by.”

My parents were a godsend when it came to Abs. They often filled in for me doing the school runs, watching her afterwards, even feeding us dinner throughout the week, since by the time I’d get to their house to pick her up, it was almost her bedtime.Lately they’d been coming over in the morning to get her ready while I came in early to work.

If it took a village, my parents were the mayors of mine.

Gray checked his watch and slapped me on the back—a bit too hard, though I knew it was coming.

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