Page 7 of My Cowboy Freedom
He had a cowboy’s lanky stride, though. Maybe he was wanting to try it out. Lotta guys think it’s glamorous. Of course it ain’t. But you can’t tell the tenderfoots that.
Since Sky was here to do a cowboy’s job, I put him in the bunkhouse with the rest of them, even though it made me sad. He’d be one of the gang in a day or two, which was a shame.
Generally, the cowboys kept their distance from me. I didn’t know whether it was because of my spells, or if I just wasn’t their kind, but they mostly treated me like a slow kid brother they had to put up with.
So right about then I was wondering how long it would take Sky to decide he’d rather spend his time with the grown-ups too.
We got to the bunkhouse and I showed him around: common room, bath, and laundry. And then I took him to his room, which had been Lucho’s before. It was on the end and had two windows, but it was small and pretty and spare. All the bunkhouse rooms were like little hotel rooms, with a double bed, a dresser, and a nightstand. Some of the guys dressed them up a little with rugs and pictures that made them feel more at home, and some used them only as a place to lay their heads at night.
It looked like Elena had cleaned recently. There were linens and towels on the bed, and someone had opened the windows a crack to circulate fresh air.
“Um... this is it.”
Sky stood with his back to me for a long time, just frozen, and I worried for a second he was going to tell me the room wasn’t okay.
But then I heard a muffled sound, halfway between an indrawn breath and a sob. I thought it came from Sky, but when he turned, his face held no expression.
He said, “This is nice. Thank you.”
I watched him for any sign he wasn’t okay, but... no. His face held no expression at all.
“You’re responsible for cleaning this room from now on. Also, there’s a chore wheel for the bathrooms and kitchen. Mostly everyone does their chores, but I’ve heard Tad will try to get away without doing his. Watch out for him.”
“Got it.” Sky put his bag down on the bed. He had hardly anything with him, and he wasted no time emptying his clothes into drawers. He made the bed quick as anything. Here was a man used to doing things for himself. After that, he set a picture of a middle-aged woman and a girl on the nightstand. While I watched, he spent some time angling the frame just so.
“That your family?”
He nodded. “My mother and Luna, my little sister.”
“Pretty.” The women were obviously related to him—they had the same wavy brown hair and dark eyes. Sky had a few days’ worth of stubble growing, but otherwise, they were peas in a pod.
Sky gave the frame a pat and dusted his hands off on his jeans. “Okay—”
“They live around here?”
“My mother’s in West Virginia now. Luna’s in her first year at Brown.”
“Where’s that?”
His smile was a little sad. “Providence, Rhode Island. She got a full ride to an Ivy League school. Can you imagine? She’s awesome.”
“She must be pretty smart.”
He glanced away. “Smart as anything.”
“Hey, girl,” he called to Maisy. “Something under there?”
She was nosing around under the bed. She didn’t find anything good to sniff at, I guess. No boots, no crumbs. She looked at me, disappointed. Sky dropped his hand to give her ear a rub, and I stopped him. “Please don’t bother Maisy. She’s working.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry. I didn’t know.” He took his hand back.
“No reason you should,” I teased. “Except it’s printed on her vest.”
“Sorry.” He shrugged. “Like I said, my baby sister is the smart one. She’s going to be a lawyer someday. When I see a dog, I automatically thinkpet him.”
“Maisy’s a girl.” I corrected him again. “I wish I had a sister. I only got brothers.”And none of them talk to you much anymore, so even if you had a sister it wouldn’t matter.
“How many?”
