Page 51 of Redemption

We were on the small side for a ranch. Only three hundred cattle right now. We used to have more but Daddy had started selling them off. I pulled to a stop and Jack shot straight past me before he realized and turned Chester around. The cattle had grazed the north pasture for long enough and it was time to treat them to something new and freshly grown. The only problem was they were scattered all over.

“They’re real spread out,” Jack commented as he looked around.

“Yep, this’ll be fun,” I replied, already knowing it would be painful to do with Jack. I’d only done it a handful of times myself, helping Daddy years ago. I’d been the one leading the herd and he hadbeen at the back, corralling them. I pictured us doing it together and a lump formed in my throat.

“Where do you want me?” Jack asked, snapping me out of my memories. Unfortunately, they must have been written all over my face. “Hey, you okay, sweetheart?” his voice gentled, and the way he uttered that endearment had me fighting a shiver.

“You lead the front, I’ll handle the back. Let’s round ‘em up.” Urging Sunshine forward, I shouted over the wind, “You start off that way!” and pointed towards the east of the pasture.

Something about herding cattle calmed me. I liked the idea of getting all the cows together and pushing them into one group away from the cliques they’d formed. It was like a puzzle that needed solving and was immensely satisfying when it worked.

I rode around the edge of the pasture, herding the strays towards the middle, zig-zagging and redirecting them when they stepped out of line. I gestured every now and then to Jack, but what amazed me was that he knew exactly what to do. We did it all in sync. He led from the front, watching every move I made and anticipating the way the herd shifted. I got ready to shout out what to do when the front began to veer away, but snapped my mouth shut when Jack immediately began to apply pressure at the side to get them back in.

Eventually they all headed into the south pasture and Jack was waiting for me at the gate when the last of the cattle trotted inside. Once they all began to spread out, taking in the luscious new grass they could graze, burying their snouts in it, I breathed a sigh of relief. The puzzle was solved, everything was done.

I wiped a hand across my forehead, brushing away the sweat that had formed in the warm sun.

“Can I ask a question I don’t know the answer to?” Jack asked, leaning forward in the saddle and resting his forearms on his thick thighs.

I swallowed, my throat parched. Not just from his mouthwatering thighs. “Sure.”

“Why do you do it on horseback? I read about doing it with vehicles, ATVs, even dirt bikes?”

I shrugged. “All those things are too loud. On horseback it’s lower stress for the animals and quieter. The cows kinda think the horse is another cow and just go along with it. It’s more efficient and safer, not to mention better for the environment.”

He squinted at me in the sun, his nose wrinkling. “You love it, don’t you?”

My cheeks heated at his teasing tone, and I fought a smile. “Me and Daddy used to do it together and it was such a rush, watching him work.”

“I know how you feel,” he said meaningfully, that gleam back in his eye.

“We should get back,” I sighed, feeling far too comfortable in his warm stare. We trotted the horses out of the pasture and I jumped down to pull the gate closed, keeping the cows in.

We headed back but neither of us spoke as we trotted next to each other. I wasn’t really in a hurry to get back but I hated that I enjoyed spending time with him. That I actually felt a tiny bit at peace, maybe because he knew things I hadn’t told the girls. That I didn’t have to be strong for him or hide the truth of things.

I could just be me.

“Huh.”

He glanced over. “What?”

I shook my head. “Nothing just…thinking.”

“I’ve heard that’s dangerous, you know?” he teased. WhenI didn’t say more he added, “Thinking about how to save this place?”

Guilt churned in my gut. Because I hadn’t been. I’d been thinking about him instead when I should have been focusing on what to do about the girls’ livelihood. Coming up with ways to save the ranch, and how to pay off the debts I’d discovered. Instead, I brooded in the office and watched Jack in the dark.

“Yeah,” was all I said. I’d been too busy working the ranch with Jack and Gus too in his final few days before retirement. I’d not been focused on the business side of things, too scared to acknowledge that I was floundering, just like I had at college.

“I’m always up for a brainstorming session, if you need one?”

I glanced over at him, the late afternoon sun caressing his features. His skin had taken on a healthy sun-kissed glow from all his time outside and he’d lost that haunted look from his eyes. He seemed happy. And it made me happy to think that Daddy would be pleased Jack was doing well.

“You know how to save the ranch?”

He laughed at my clear skepticism. “Well, no. But I’m available to bounce some ideas off. I’m free in the evenings.”

“Aren’t you working at the bar?”

---