Page 82 of Roping Her In

He moved down to talk to some other people in their group, tapped into his phone what they wanted, and went around the whole paddock before moving toward the gate that led back into the pasture where the main activities were happening.

“You seem to know everyone,” Clancy said.

“I grew up here,” Jake said. “My daddy was the foreman at Three Rivers before me. So while I left for school and I had another job down in Hill Country for a little bit, I’ve been back for about three years now.”

“Do you like it here?” Another cow came their way, and Clancy held it while Jake checked the teeth, eyes, and ears, and ran his hands down the neck and along the flank.

“Yeah,” Jake said. “I do really like it here. It used to be much smaller, and we had a little boom there for a little bit, but it’s settled out now. It’s real nice in town, with lots of shopping and nice restaurants.”

“Do you live on the ranch?”

“I do,” Jake said. “We’re pretty far out—about forty-five minutes north of town.”

“Oh, that’s quite the drive down here then.”

“Yeah,” he said. “How far away are you guys?”

“Oh, it took us—shoot. I don’t know—thirty minutes to get here?” Clancy dusted his hands together as Jake inspected the hooves. “We had to come down the highway a little bit and then came right along the southern border of Seven Sons.”

“Sure,” Jake said. “So you must be out by Mitch Glover’s place too. Signs for Success?”

“Yeah,” Clancy said. “The land we bought is actually pretty vast. It goes west for a long time, and only the homestead is in city limits.”

“Oh, wow,” Jake said. “I didn’t know that.” He cleared the cow, and Clancy raised the flag that indicated they were ready for another one.

“This one’s walking weird,” Robbie said, as part of their job in the pre-check area was to watch for stride-length and limping.

“Pull him,” Jake said, and Robbie moved to do that. “How’d you meet the Glovers?” He met Clancy’s eye again, and there was something secretive and mysterious about the man.

“Thane and I had just gotten here,” he said. “Oh, what? A couple of weeks ago now—maybe only a week and a half—and we were at the grocery store over here on this side of town. Wilde and Organic?”

“Yeah, I know it,” Jake said. “I don’t shop there, because there’s a grocery store way closer to my place.” He grinned. “The Walkers own it.”

“I’m shocked,” Clancy said dryly, and he and Jake both laughed.

“I think we were talking to one of the Walkers,” Clancy said. “But she’s married to a Glover.”

“That would be Conrad,” he said. “That guy we just talked to—was that him? He’s married to Glory Rose Glover.”

“No, it wasn’t him. It was a woman.”

“Oh, you mean Camila then,” Jake said. “She’s married to Gun.”

“Yeah, that sounds right,” he said. “She was talking to someone about the branding, and I don’t know how it came around to us. Thane probably said something. That man’s always opening his mouth.”

Jake grinned, because Clancy’s remarks seemed good-natured.

“Anyway, they found out we’d bought the Clyde land and were living in that house. Next thing I know, I’ve got Sammy and Bear Glover on my doorstep with a hot meal, welcoming me to town.”

Jake laughed right out loud. “That sounds so much like Bear Glover.”

Clancy grinned too. “I told him he should run for mayor, and he said he’s actually thinking about it.”

“Is that right?” Jake said. “I’m dating a Glover; I’ll have to ask her if that’s really true.”

“Oh, yeah. Who you seein’?”

“Hailey Winters. Her daddy married Etta Glover a long time ago. She grew up right here on this ranch.”