Page 4 of One Heated Summer

Elijah shrugged. “Who knows what Bill was thinking. Anyway, like I said, the men and I talked. We need help butI know we can’t afford to hire anyone. So, how would you feel about cutting the size of the herd?”

“Numbers?”

“From 3,000 head to 2,000. I know it’s stating the obvious but we’d need less feed and three of us would be able to manage the herd if you helped one take care of other chores.”

“It would probably help with the water situation too,” I mused.

“We’re having it trucked in once a week at the moment which is taking a huge chunk of cash.”

“Okay. My background is…”

“You’re a biologist/ecologist who has been studying the effects of climate on coral reefs off the coast of California.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How the hell did you know that?”

“Bill used to brag about how beautiful you were and how you were making a name foryourself as a leading ecologist.”

“I wonder how he knew?”

“Bill was stuck in the last century in many of his ways but he was a whizz on the computer and he confided there was a lot of information about you online. He was always telling us one thing or another about what you were doing.”

So grandfather had actually cared enough to search me online. Of course he must have cared, why else would he have left me everything? Tears burned my eyes and I swallowed around the lump in my throat. Elijah reached across the table and placed his hand on my forearm.

“Bill wasn’t heartless, honey, he was just a gruff old bastard who struggled to show anyone how much he cared.”

I nodded and sipped my coffee before asking, “Is it really a good idea to sell off a third of the herd at this time? Shouldn’tyou be getting them nice and fat before the sales?” I didn’t know the first thing about cattle in real life, but in the books I loved to read they were always taken to the railhead and shipped off to the sales yard once they’d had time to fatten up.

“Bill always sold his cattle at 18 months old but we have around 1000 at the moment who are between 12and 14 months old that will fetch a good price. The younger they are the more tender for eating.”

I cringed, hating the thought of Daisy, Angus, Bessie, or Buttercup being on someone’s dinner plate. Until I’d been around the cattle at my ranch, I’d never given a second thought to where the steak on my plate had come from like so many other city people.

“Very well, I’ll trust you to do what’s best. What can I do to help? I’m not afraid to shuck stables or feed horses or whatever.”

Elijah laughed. “It’s ‘muck stalls’ and that would be a big help if you don’t mind.”

“I’ve never been afraid of hard work. It will slow down the restorations on the ranch house and take time from research I wanted to do on water availability, but I think helping you men should be a priority.”

“I thought you’d be hell bent on getting back to Farrer?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I think a long break from my past will do me good.”

“Then, your help is much appreciated. We’ll start tomorrow?”

“Time?”

“0530…We start at first light with the heavy chores before it gets too hot and keep the lighter ones to when the place is baking like a pie in an oven.

I groaned. “Do you know how much I hate early starts?” I sighed. “I guess the cows don’t care about my beauty sleep. Where will I meet you?”

“At the stables. I’ll stay back and show you how to muck out while the others feed and start on fences.”

“Every romance book I’ve read has men out fixing fences, I always thought it was just a story filler. You actually do fix fences?”

“Every fucking day. The cattle are always pushing through them.”

“Hmm…I won’t be such a sceptic when I read about that in a story from now.”

Elijah gulped down the last of his coffee, stood, and placed his mug in the sink. I rose to walk him out.

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