Page 113 of The Cowboy and the Stray

“Cows are simpler,” I said.

She smiled. “You seem like a cow guy.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“More than you think.”

We hit a patch of shade, and I leaned a little, shifting Ghost’s gait. Jennie caught herself on my arm and stayed there, holding tight. “Sorry,” she said. “Horseback’s newish to me.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

She waited, then laughed. “You’re not big on words, are you?”

I shrugged. “Most words don’t do much.”

She lapsed back into silence, which was fine by me. Halfway to the Coleman gate, she spoke again. “That wolf. You see a lot of them out here?”

“Sometimes. Not as many as there used to be.” That was the damn truth.

“They’re endangered, right?”

“Technically.” Just not the one she saw. There being only one of me made me endangered, right?

She squinted at the horizon. “My grandpa told me stories about wolves in the Hill Country. Said they were monsters.”

“Most monsters are just hungry.”

She nodded. “Makes sense.”

We topped the last hill and I saw the Coleman house. Big, ugly, all stucco and fake pillars, with a flagpole taller than the barn. Someone was waiting by the gate, arms crossed.

“Looks like you’re expected,” I said.

She gave a half-smile. “That’s Bill, the ranch manager. Hates me.”

“Can’t blame him. You’re a disruptor.”

She didn’t argue. When I swung down to open the gate, she let out a long breath and watched me like she was memorizing the whole procedure.

I handed her down slowly, careful of the ankle. She braced on Ghost’s shoulder and didn’t let go for a good ten seconds.

“Thanks, Reid,” she said, steadying herself.

“Anytime, Jennie.”

She smiled, then limped to the house without looking back.

I watched her go, an odd, unsettled feeling in my gut at her leaving, then mounted up and headed for the creek. There were still pigs to kill, and the sun wasn’t getting any cooler.