Page 10 of Claimed By the Cowboys
A huff escaped my chest. The fucker had a good point. Even I struggled to say no to Evelyn. She was family. There was no blood relation between us, but she had been in our lives for as long as I could remember and had never steered us wrong.
There was a first time for everything, though, and this omega was certainly a risk.
“Why on earth did she decide thatthisomega was the best fit for our house?” I asked. “Did she explain any of her logic? Or is this another desperate attempt to play matchmaker?”
I loved and respected Evelyn, but over the last year or two, she had made some not-so-subtle attempts to encourage us to date again.
We had been pointedly ignoring her attempts. Sure, having a woman around would be good for Maisie and even for us, but we had enough on our plates without dealing with another person in our pack—especially a high-maintenance city princess.
Dating required time, and we were in short supply of that, between keeping the ranch running and trying to ensure Maisie was raised somewhat right.
I glanced at the omega, who was chatting with Dakota. Her face lit up as she spoke animatedly about something I couldn’t hear, her nose scrunching as she shook her head playfully. What were they talking about? Even though I’d been telling myself I had no interest in the stray, I couldn’t resist wondering about their topic of conversation.
“Come on, we’re drowning and you know it,” Montana reasoned. “We can try it for a few days and see how she does. If she’s terrible, you can kick her out on her ass like the asshole you are.”
“I’m not an asshole,” I grumbled.
“And the sky is purple and my name is Jolene.”
“You’re more of a Bertha.” I smirked.
Montana laughed ruefully. “Well, that I may be. Now, why don’t you go grab yourself some food? It’s late, and we all have an early morning. The farrier is coming.”
“I thought that was next week,” I groaned. That would be another job for my to-do list the next day—I really needed to hire a few more ranch hands.
He shook his head. “He had time tomorrow, and I jumped at the chance. You know those fancy resort ranches have so many horses, they’re inundated with work.”
That stupid vacation ranch was the bane of my existence. Working cattle and living out in the country wasn’t a costume they could put on and play pretend at. It was our way of life—my great-great-great-grandaddy had built the house I lived in, as had all my family before me.
It was a legacy, and one I wanted to protect for my children.
Vacation ranches made a mockery of that. Greasy businessmen who cared far too much about their appearances and had never touched a speck of dirt or lifted anything heavier than a laptop had no place out in the country.
“It’s brought some tourism to the area,” Montana pointed out.
“We were doing just fine before they opened up shop,” I argued.
Sure, having a new hotel in the area and more tourism meant the little shops in town got more business, but it also meant that everything we needed was more expensive.
Groceries? Now there was organic produce and free-range tofu. Kombucha? I was pretty sure that shit was mold juice that people convinced themselves was a tasty treat.
City people were wrong in the head.
“It’s not all about us,” Montana said, crossing his arms.
True, Sweetwater Springs was a community, and if cowboy tourism helped it, then it couldn’t be all bad.
That didn’t mean I had to like the stupid vacation ranch.
“I doubt the facilities are up to her exacting standards,” I argued quietly. I was grasping at straws, even I could tell that, but there was something about her scent that had my guard up. It wastoogood.
Montana shook his head, biting back a grin. “Well, if she doesn’t like it here, she’s free to leave. Can you stop looking for excuses, or do you want to keep working eighteen-hour days on top of looking after Maisie? Because I know you think you’re invincible, but we all have our limits.”
“Fine, but I’ll be watching her. I’m not sure we can trust her around our daughter yet.”
A snort escaped Montana’s chest. “I think we’llallbe watching her.”
My eyes trailed over to where Zeke was staring at the omega with the biggest, dopiest grin on his face.
