Page 37 of His Fresh Start Cowboy
But Hugo was paid a fair wage, he wasn’t starving, and it really wasn’t Brand’s job to critique the kid’s food choices. He just...cared. Way more than he should.
Their trio didn’t talk much as they ate, and Brand fed Dog a few bits of roasted chicken from his sandwich. Brutus was getting around the land a bit more easily now, but he tended to still prefer his bed on the big porch. A nice, soft spot for a healing—and aging—dog.
Dog came sniffing around Hugo for a snack, and Hugo gave her a bit of bread crust. “Hey, Jackson, how come you never gave her a name?” Hugo asked.
“I did,” Jackson replied with a shrug. “Named her Dog.”
Hearing her name, Dog looked over her shoulder at Jackson, clear blue eyes expecting something. Jackson tossed her a potato chip.
“Jackson’s one of those minimalist-type people,” Brand said. “Doesn’t surprise me he’d name his dog Dog. He probably sleeps in a tent pitched on the side of the road.” He honestly had no idea where Jackson lived, because the guy was intensely private—when he hadn’t been busy fucking Brand senseless in the hayloft. Sometimes in the afterglow, Jackson talked a little bit about himself but never enough for Brand to get a clear picture of the man, despite his having worked at the ranch for several years now.
Jackson merely winked at Brand and continued eating. He was also the first to excuse himself from the break room for a pit stop. The original outhouse still stood, built way back in the nineteenth century along with the farmhouse, but it was obviously no longer used. And while the old bunkhouse had a working bathroom, now that they were operating with a skeleton staff and the bunkhouse was storage, Mom was fine with their few hands using the downstairs bathroom when nature called.
Brand had already contracted for a Port-o-Potty to be delivered to the ranch when calving season began, so Mom didn’t have a bunch of strangers running in and out of her house. That would probably start in the next two weeks or so. Bring a couple of brand-new calves into the world right in time for the county fair. Last year, one of their heifers had given birth at the fair, and it had been delightful to see so many kids watch that particular miracle live for the first time.
Hugo folded up his brown bag to reuse tomorrow, and when he tried to leave, Brand got right in his path. “How do your hands feel?” he asked.
“Fine,” Hugo said, a bit of snap in his voice. “Taking yesterday off was a good call, so thank you. But I’ve got work to do.”
He took a step to the side but Brand countered him. “We aren’t done talking.”
Hugo crossed his arms and grunted. “What, then? I’ve been doing my job fine all day, just ask Jackson.”
“I’m not gonna do that, because I believe you. I just have one question.”
“Fine.”
“You still think you should have stayed in California?”
Hugo’s jaw twitched. “Not as much as I did two days ago. Sometimes distance from an event gives us better perspective on our own actions. Makes it easier to realize the mistake it was.”
While he was probably referring to the visit with his mother, Brand couldn’t help wondering if he also meant their one shared kiss. So much had changed between them after that, and now, after one day’s worth of interactions, Brand and Hugo were right back where they’d been after that kiss. Distant, tense, awkward.
“Right,” Brand said. “We best get back at it, then.”
“Yeah.”
The next few weeks passed in a similar way, with that same tension between himself and Hugo. So different from the first few weeks of Hugo’s employment. Brand didn’t push, though. As much as he wanted to be Hugo’s friend and crack through the walls he’d built around himself for so many years, Brand didn’t know how. And Rem was no help at all, the big jerk. Then again, he couldn’t fault Rem’s loyalty to Hugo. Much.
So he threw himself into planning for the county fair, held at a big park outside Daisy this year. The usual fairgrounds had been hit by a tornado last year, and the buildings weren’t fully repaired yet because of money issues. So Rock Point State Park was the new location. Smaller and less equipped for livestock, but the organizers would have tents for the animals being shown, and the main clubhouse was being converted into showrooms for the fruit, vegetable, baked goods, and handmade goods being shown for ribbons.
Brand had hoped one of their heifers would be ready to give birth by the weekend of the fair, so the attendees could see the live birth like last year, but so far no luck. No one was late or in trouble, though, so he was also making plans to manage those births once the fair was over. He had so much to do he was nearly able to forget about his Hugo problem. Nearly.
He sent information to a printing company in Amarillo so their beef booth would have not only a gorgeous sign advertising their organic, grass-fed cattle, but also pamphlets that folks could take with them. He wanted to get the Woods name out there as one of the best organic beef providers in the state. Or at least in north Texas.
For now.
Mom was baking up a storm, and every other night one of his sisters stopped by to pick up a pie or loaf of bread she’d made as a test. She sent Jackson and Hugo home with treats most days, because she really wanted those blue ribbons, and Dad indulged her every wish when it came to perfecting her peach pie.
The fair was set to begin Friday afternoon, and that Thursday it was all hands on deck with the Woods family. Colt and Avery had flown in from California the night before, and while Avery seemed way out of his element during the hustle of prep day, Colt eased right into helping. Leanna and Sage were there with the oldest of their kids. Sage’s stepson, Stephen, was eleven, and he got to help out with wrangling the organic cattle they planned on showing, and herding them into the trailer. Dog helped, while Brutus seemed to supervise from the other side of the pasture fencing. The poor old dog’s herding days might be behind him, but Brand would make sure Brutus lived a comfortable life from now on.
Hugo and Jackson were staying behind for the weekend to tend to the horses and remaining cattle, so the family could enjoy the fair together. Rose, Wayne, Colt, and Avery would come home every night, but Brand was staying over with the cattle at the fairgrounds. He’d done it for a lot of years and he wasn’t about to give up the tradition just yet. Sleeping on a cot six feet from a couple of steer and their dung wasn’t the most pleasant thing ever, but it was part of the lifestyle.
Other ranchers were settling in for the evening with their prize animals, and Brand chatted with a few familiar faces. While he’d miss his own bed for the next three nights—and he’d also miss seeing Hugo—this was for the future of the ranch. He’d do his damnedest to make sure Woods Cattle Ranch took home that blue ribbon.
Rose got up before dawn on Friday to make a final peach pie, apple pie, and her jalapeño corn bread. The chili cook-off wasn’t until Saturday, and it had to be made on the spot, so that was one less thing to worry about. Hugo went about his daily routine with a bit of sadness in his heart, remembering his earliest childhood when his parents were prepping for the same things. Mom always made amazing cakes, and their cattle had won a ribbon or two when Hugo was very young.
Not so much when he was ten and their herd fell apart from mistreatment. For all Hugo had loved his dad, the man wasn’t very good at business or tending to animals.
