“Yes, ma’am. I’ll do that.” He walked into the barn, and she stepped inside to get out of the cool air. It was only eight in the morning, but it was downright chilly. She turned to look out the doors and saw two other cowboys staring at her. She smiled and put her hand out to one of them.
“Hi, I’m Ryan Carroll.”
They both quickly removed their hats. They were much younger than Cull, probably in their early twenties, but knew their manners.
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Ringo and this here is Micky,” he said as he shook her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you both.” She shook Micky’s hand next. She had to bite back a grin when Micky’s cheeks turned red. “Are you two the only ranch hands?”
“Oh, no ma’am. There are six of us. There are a hundred and fifty acres where feed is grown. The other twenty-five is for our hay and the other twenty-five surrounds Seth’s home and barns. Seth is usually training. Three of the men break the horses, then Seth takes over. We all do maintenance on the ranch.”
“So, what is it you two do the most?”
“I work in the fields; planting the seeds, make sure it’s growing, and then cut it down to send to Beckett’s processing plants and cut hay for the ranch.” Ringo smiled at her. “Micky, Red, and Spurs, break horses for Seth.”
“Ringo, Red, and Spurs? Don’t you have a nickname, Micky?”
“Just Micky.” He grinned.
Ryan smiled. “I’d like to take photos of you guys, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” Both men stood next to the barn, arms folded across their chests and huge grins on their faces. She could tell they loved their job.
When she saw Cull returning in the UTV, she smiled at Micky and Ringo, climbed into the vehicle, and after putting her seatbelt on, she quickly grabbed a hold of the bar above the door as Cull tore out of the yard, heading toward a gate.
Chapter Two
Seth sat in the booth at the diner, talking with a regular client. He always liked talking with Kevin but this morning, he was supposed to show Ryan Carroll the operation of the farm for the feed. He hoped Cull didn’t mind showing her around.
“I’m sorry to have called you at the last minute, Seth,” Kevin said.
“It’s no problem,” Seth said with a grin.
“I’m glad to hear that. I don’t usually just drop by, but I just bought two horses, and I’d like to have you train them for me.”
“I hope you’re not in a hurry. I have one ahead of you.”
“No, I’m not, but you’re the best.”
“Trick Dillon and Wyatt Stone are the best, but since they stopped training cutting horses, my business has picked up.”
“Trick is only training tiedown now, and he’s even cut back on that. Wyatt quit altogether.”
“Trick told me he wants to spend more time with his family,” Seth said.
“I think after losing Kaylee, he realized how short life was. I’m glad he’s happy though.”
“Me too. He loves Rayna and his little girl. Spoils them both.” Seth grinned.
“Yes, he does. I’ll get the horses to you in a day or two. I was heading for Helena and thought I’d stop in and ask you. I’m sorry it was last minute.”
“I get it. Don’t worry about it. I’ll have the guys clean two stalls for them so that when you get them here, I’ll have a place ready for them.”
“Alright. I’ll head back to my place, then have one of the ranch hands deliver the horses to you.”
“Okay. I need to get back to the ranch anyway.”
Kevin nodded, then the men slid from the booth, walked toward the door, but Kevin stopped to pay the tab, and Seth nodded at Connie, who owned the diner, as he went out the door. After shaking Kevin’s hand, he strode toward his truck, opened the door and climbed inside. Damn, it was chilly this morning and he wondered how it was going with Cull, and Ryan Carroll.
