Page 30 of Bravo

If it weren’t for Sammy, I’d have fired him already. But she’d been adamant that I don’t fire him because of her, and even though I have valid reasons without that, it’s exactly how it would look.

“Hey, boss.” James taps me on the shoulder, and I turn as Sammy, Elliot, Tucker, Dylan, and Riley all ride toward me on horseback, Rev saddled and running beside Sammy.

Adrenaline surges in my system. “What is it?”

“Some cattle got loose. They’re on the road now. Sheriff Gray called it in. We need to go wrangle them up.”

“Got it.” I head over toward Rev and take the reins when Sammy offers them to me. “Which pasture?” I ask as I climb onto my horse’s back.

“Three,” Elliot says.

I look down at James. “Load up some fencing equipment, take Leon, and go find out what happened.”

“What about Arthur?”

“Leave him to tend to his nose,” I reply.

James nods. “On it, boss.”

We take off riding, guiding the horses down the road and toward the highway so we can cut the cattle off.

As we ride, I go over all possible scenarios. A predator could’ve driven the cattle through the fence; it’s happened before.

A tree could’ve taken the fencing down, or a gate could’ve been left open.

And if it’s the latter, not even Sammy can save Arthur’s job.

“Who would have cut the fence?”Sammy asks as we survey the damage.

“A couple of years ago, we had some teens sneak onto the ranch to see if cow tipping was a real thing. They cut the fence then, but we’d caught them quick and haven’t had any issues since.”

“Could be a new set of teens,” Riley replies.

Thanks to the still-soft dirt from the last storm that came through, I study the tire tracks in the mud. Someone parked near our fence, got out, and cut the wires. Boot prints head into the pasture, though they stop about a quarter mile in. “I don’t think this is teens.”

Following the prints again, I stop where they turn back around. Standing where the intruder stood, I try to put myself into his position and see what it is he was looking for.

“What are you thinking?” Elliot questions.

“I’m not sure. Seems strange that they didn’t go any farther in.” I study the trees in the distance. They just stood here, out in the open. Were they spooked maybe? Or just someone who doesn’t mind trespassing as they’re trying to get close to a cow? We’ve certainly had our fair share of those before.

“We’ll get the fence patched back up,” James offers.

“Good. We’ll drive the cattle back toward the closer pasture. We needed to do it in preps for the storm anyway.” I turn my attention to the sky, noting how dark it’s gone in just a matter of a few hours.

While the storm isn’t quite here yet, it’s looking like we may end up with some rain tonight. Better to have the cattle movedbefore it hits than have to try and drive them the rest of the way through deep mud puddles.

CHAPTER 11

KENNEDY

Freshly showered and completely exhausted, I lie back on the bed and just remain still for a few moments. I really should get up and get something to eat, but doing that requires energy, and I’m fresh out of that.

Between chasing the loose cattle down, herding them toward the pasture closest to the house, the evening milking of the dairy cows, and rubbing down the horses after the ride, I’m not even sure how I managed to find the strength to shower.

Though it felt really, really good.

It’s nights like these I’d love to go sit outside on the porch and breathe in the fresh air, but I’m too afraid Arthur is going to use that as an opportunity to harass me all over again. I’ve managed to avoid him most of the day, but that’ll change if he corners me. And based on how furious Bradyn was last night, I’m not sure a broken nose will be the biggest of Arthur’s problems should he choose to grab me like that again.

---