Saddled and Spurred Page 4

  “Looks like you’re almost there.” Bran ran a gloved hand down her heaving side. “Lemme check and see where we’re at.” He motioned for Harper to kneel next to him. “See the hooves coming out pointing down? That means it’s coming out the right way. The rest of the body slides out.”

  “Is it always like this? Calves just plop out?”

  “I wish. Sometimes the calf is breach and I gotta either stick my arms up there and turn it around or put the chains on it and pull it out.”

  Her eyes went comically wide.

  “There it comes.” The upper half of the calf’s body was showing, the membrane protecting it still intact.

  Harper leaned over to take a closer look.

  The mama made a huffing noise. Her belly muscles rippled and disgorged the calf. It slipped out in a wet gush as the sac broke. Immediately the mother stood, mooed, and sniffed the calf’s face. The baby twitched and the mother kept sniffing, right through the afterbirth.

  Bran glanced at Harper, half expecting to see disgust, but her face wore an expression of awe. Her eyes were shining. High color dotted her cheeks. And her mouth had curved into a soft smile. “Harper? You all right?”

  She met his gaze. “That was amazing. Now what happens?”

  “She’ll clean the baby up and then it’ll nurse. But it’ll have to get up on its feet awful damn fast because she’ll need to eat. Nursing mothers require a lot of feed. Calves gain up to ten pounds a day.”

  “And they say milk won’t make you fat,” she said dryly.

  He grinned. “I ain’t touching that one. Tomorrow we’ll come out here and ear-tag the little bugger. I’m guessing we’ll have quite a few others to do too.”

  “If you’re talking about tomorrow with me, does that mean I’m hired?”

  “You sure this is what you want? I’ve only shown you one thing—there’s lots more.”

  Harper studied him. “Will you just cut me loose right away and have me checking the herd? Because I’m nowhere near ready for that.”

  “No. It’ll be both of us doin’ this stuff. It’s too much work for one person with a herd this size.”

  “How big is your herd?”

  “Around seven hundred cows, which means I’ll end up with roughly seven hundred calves. About fifty bulls. We keep them in separate pastures until it’s time to breed.”

  “So in addition to watching for calves, you’ve gotta feed the cows and the bulls every day?”

  “And a half dozen horses. Plus I’ve got goats.”

  “Goats? I must’ve missed those when I drove in.”

  “They’re caged because they eat damn near anything you set in front of them, and even stuff you don’t want them to eat. You should also know—”

  His cell phone rang. He said, “Just a sec.”

  Harper turned toward the window.

  After Bran listened to Les ramble on about nothing for a good two minutes, he ended the call. He stopped at the next gate, and Harper hopped right out without prompting.

  She didn’t say much as they made the trek back to the house.

  “Any questions?”

  “I’m sure I’ll have fifty million the second I start down the drive.”

  He pointed at her car. “Is that the only vehicle you own?”

  Color bloomed on her cheeks. “Yes. Why?”

  “Because, no offense, but that ain’t gonna cut it. The wind blows really hard out here and the entrance to the road can drift shut in a matter of hours. Since Les won’t be needing the ranch truck, you should drive it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. I’ll need you out here every day, no matter what the weather does in town. The only exception is if the highway patrol closes the road. That truck might look rough, but it runs great and gets around in the snow like a champ.”

  “Okay. But I can’t leave my car here. Bailey uses it after school most days.”

  “What do you do when she’s got your car?”

  “Walk.”

  The life he’d attributed to Harper the beauty queen seemed a far cry from her reality. “Tell you what. I’ll follow you into town. You can park your car and drive me back out here. That way I’ll be with you to see if you’ve got any problems driving it.”

  “Thanks.” Her sweet, unsure smile loosened something inside him and he found himself smiling back.

  He switched vehicles and followed her Dodge Neon into Muddy Gap. Harper parked in front of a small house set back from the street. He left the keys in the ignition and got out so she could drive.

  Once they were back on the highway, Harper said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve driven a truck. I forgot how much higher up you sit.”

  “I can’t remember the last time I drove a car.”

  Silence stretched between them.

  Bran wasn’t one to run off at the mouth, but in his experience most women were. They’d fill dead air with mindless chatter. Maybe it surprised him that Harper wasn’t like that. She hadn’t turned on the radio either.

  So it was really strange, his desire to linger after she pulled up to his trailer. To find out everything about her. To discover what else he’d gotten wrong.

  Jesus, you’re pathetic. She’s working for you. Would you have these same thoughts if you’d hired a male hand?

  No. Goddammit. He started to bail out of the truck, but she placed her hand on his arm, stopping him.

  “Thank you for giving me a chance. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know, Bran. You won’t regret hiring me.”

  As Bran looked at her beautiful, earnest face, he couldn’t tell her he already had regrets. Because chances were very high that he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off his sexy new ranch hand.

  The front door slammed.

  “Whose truck is parked out front?”

  Harper stopped sorting through the pile of bills and glanced up at her younger sister.

  With her square glasses, glossy brown ponytail, checkered school uniform, and enormous backpack, Bailey looked like the brainiac she was.

  “It’s mine. For a while anyway.” Harper pointed to the plate of Rice Krispie treats on the coffee table. “There’s your snack.”

  “God. Let me get out of this stupid uniform. I hate uniforms.” She stripped as she headed to her room and returned thirty seconds later wearing baggy gray sweatpants and a Death Cab for Cutie T-shirt. Bailey threw herself on the couch and grabbed a treat. “So tell me about the redneck wheels.” She shoved the entire square bar in her mouth.

  “Alice fired me yesterday.”

  Bailey choked.

  Harper was right there, helping her sit up and handing her a glass of water. Bailey sputtered and swallowed.

  When she got control, she said, “Warn me next time. God, Harper. You got fired? Are you okay?”

  “It’s been bizarre. But hours after I lost the job, Celia told me that Bran Turner needed a temporary hired hand. Today he gave me the ranching lowdown, and I watched a calf being born—coolest thing ever, by the way—and he hired me. The truck comes with the job.”

  Bailey’s green eyes widened. “You’re working for Bran Turner?”

  “How do you know Bran?”

  “Jeez, Harper. Everyone knows Bran. He’s a real cowboy, not a wannabe like some of the losers around here who put on shitkickers, a cheap cowboy hat, and a fake rodeo buckle. Dude. He’s got that mean, squinty Clint Eastwood stare that’s scary as shit.”

  Bailey had hit it dead-on. Bran was the real deal. That was partially why he made her so nervous. She felt like an absolute idiot around him—even more stupid than she usually did.

  “I wish you’d stop saying shit like that, Harper. You’re not stupid,” Bailey said.

  She was unaware that she’d spoken out loud. “I’ll be working for him during the day. But he mentioned there’d be some late nights too.”

  Bailey waggled her eyebrows. “Can I just say how jealous I am of those late nights? You and studly cattleman Bran. All alone. Col
d. Sweaty. Dirty. Tired. Who knows what might happen.”

  “I’m sure Bran will be a perfect gentleman while I’m his employee.”

  “For your sake, I sure as hell hope not.”

  Before Harper could rebuke her sister, Bailey’s cell phone buzzed. Immediately after digging it out of her backpack, Bailey glued the phone to her ear, walked to her bedroom, and closed the door.

  Although Harper was used to Bailey’s tendency to drop everything when her cell rang, she wished for more time to talk. Yawning, Harper stretched out on the couch. Maybe she’d just close her eyes for a bit and relax before starting supper.

  Harper arrived at the Turner ranch at six the next morning and parked the truck where she’d seen it the day before. But there was no sign of Bran’s vehicle. Huh. Where could he be? Out in the field?

  Maybe he’s not home yet from his late-night sexcapades.

  With his rugged features and the sexy, laid-back way Bran carried himself, no doubt the cowboy had his pick of women to share his bed. Would she face that situation in the coming months—a woman rolling out of Bran’s bed before they started morning chores?

  That thought didn’t sit well with her. Neither did sitting around in the truck in the cold and waiting for him.

  Maybe she should explore, get the lay of the land, so to speak. She’d dressed warmly enough to be outside. No reason she had to stay in the pickup with her hands primly folded.

  Harper checked out the farthest barn first, wondering if Bran had parked to load up supplies for the still mysterious “ranch work.” No sign of him. The next metal building, filled with unrecognizable machine parts, had that same eerie emptiness. She wandered back via the driveway, deciding to check the old-fashioned wooden barn. As soon as she cleared the far side, something moved.

  What the heck?

  She waited. Sure enough, she saw that blur of white again and chanced a peek at an enclosed pen. Looked like she’d found the goats. Amused by their antics, she watched them, staying out of sight. A big one climbed on the highest point of the metal shed, which was enclosed inside the pen. Another one, smaller than the first, scrambled up on top too, as they played a game of king of the mountain.

  Goats perched on the edge of the shed, peering over the side? Priceless. What a killer photo op. Harper slid her cell phone from her pocket and clicked the camera option. Keeping the lens trained on the curious animals, she stepped into their line of sight and said, “Say goat cheese.”

  Almost in slow motion, the goats tumbled off the edge of the shed. They hit the ground with a muffled thud and then stayed still.

  Horrified, Harper opened the gate and raced into the pen. She froze in front of the motionless white forms. Had they broken their necks? No blood spilled on the ground, but it looked like total carnage.

  Carnage she’d caused by taking a Kodak moment.

  Omigod. She’d killed Bran’s goats. On her second day on the job. Not only would he fire her for sure, but how could she live with the ugly truth that she’d accidentally led two innocent animals to their deaths?

  Maybe if she gave them CPR … She leaned over the closest one and poked it in the ribs. No movement.

  That’s because they’re dead. Don’t bother putting your mouth on goat lips. Nothing’s gonna happen but getting a firsthand taste of dead goat breath.

  So what should she do?

  Hide the evidence. Throw the bodies in the shed and shut the door.

  No! That would be wrong.

  You need this job. Maybe Bran will think the goats died of natural causes.

  Huh-uh. Bran knew everything about his livestock.

  Shove them in the shed for now. Take them out later, pitch them in the back of the truck, and cover them with a tarp. Before you take off for the day, leave the pen gate open. Then tomorrow morning Bran will think his goats ran away.

  Due to her total panic, that was the option Harper chose, even when she was aware it was the worst option.

  She dragged the goats by the back legs and laid them in the metal shed. She shut the shed door and latched it. When she heard the rumble of Bran’s rig in the drive, she sprinted out of the pen and headed straight for the truck.

  Inside the cab, she rested her forehead on the steering wheel, attempting to level her breathing, trying to act normal. Trying not to act like she’d just entombed Bran’s goat family.

  When Bran rapped on the window, she screamed.

  Naturally Bran jumped back. His eyes narrowed on her and he opened the truck door in a panic. “Harper? What happened? You all right?”

  No! I’m a goat-murdering cover-up artist!

  She blinked at him. Opened her mouth, but she could not force the confession out. Could not.

  Chicken.

  Good thing Bran didn’t have chickens or else she might’ve killed them too.

  He aimed that squinty-eyed Eastwood gaze at her and she almost cracked.

  Almost.

  “You been sitting in the truck long enough that the exhaust fumes have turned you loopy?”

  She laughed, a bit hysterically. “Where were you? I thought maybe I was late and you’d started chores without me.”

  “Nope. I was out of coffee and made a store run. Lemme take this in the house, and then there’s a couple of things we need to talk about before we get started.”

  Harper’s heart dropped to her toes as Bran momentarily disappeared inside the trailer. What if he’d seen the whole goat episode and was waiting for her to confess to gauge her honesty?

  Mired in guilt, she didn’t hear him come up behind her. She must’ve jumped a foot in the air when he said, “We’ll do a livestock check first.”

  She froze. Livestock. Did that mean the horses and goats? Her stomach lurched. She wrestled with the right way to break it to him.

  His boots crunched across the driveway.

  No time to waste. She had to tell him. Now. She chased him down, because the man was scarily fast. “Look, Bran. There’s something I need—”

  He whirled around, putting his gloved finger to his lips. “Hear that?”

  Harper lifted the band of her wool cap off her ears and listened. Sure enough, she heard something solid hitting metal. Over and over.

  “What the hell?” Bran put his hands on his hips, cocking his head in the direction of the sound. After he heard it again, he hustled toward the old barn, which housed the great goat catastrophe.

  “Bran. Wait.”

  He ignored her and kept walking. Running, actually.

  Harper shuffled along behind him, dread dogging her every footstep as the noise got louder. Hey, maybe the sound was her guilty heartbeat, like in that Edgar Allan Poe tale. She rounded the corner of the barn beside the pen just as Bran unlatched the door to the metal shed.

  I can explain. Really. I didn’t mean to kill them.

  But as soon as the shed door opened, two shaggy white forms bounded out. Bounded out, doing a little happy goat jig.

  Harper gasped.

  Bran spun toward her. “Do you know why my goats were locked up in this shed? Jesus. They kicked the living shit out of it.” His gloved hand traced the bumps in the metal, dents that’d been made from the inside out. From something trying to get out.

  She gaped at the goats, flashing back to The X-Files Chupacabra episode that dealt with a Mexican bloodsucking goat. Were these goats somehow … possessed? Able to come back to life?

  “Harper?”

  “Omigod! I thought they were dead!”

  “Run that by me one more time?”

  She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the two frisky goats that were jumping—jumping!—on top of the metal shed, once again playing follow the leader.

  Hey. Was one of them smirking at her?

  Bran grabbed her sleeve, forcing her to look at him. “What in the hell is goin’ on with you?”

  “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with your goats? They’re evil! And they’re laughing at me! Look at their smug little goat faces! Go on
. Look at them!”

  “Harper. Take a deep breath. You’re babbling.”

  “You’d be babbling too if you’d killed two goats this morning and they miraculously came back to life!”

  Those steely gray eyes narrowed. “What do you mean you killed them?”

  Harper briefly closed her eyes. “When I arrived here you weren’t around, so I went looking for you. I ended up by the goat pen and I saw them standing on the shed. I thought it’d make a cute picture. Before I could snap off a single shot, they fell off the roof onto the ground! I ran in, hoping I could save them, but they weren’t moving, so I dragged them into the shed and shut the door, thinking I’d come up with a way to explain to you how I killed your goats on my second day as a ranch hand.”

  Something unreadable flitted through his eyes.

  Oh, God. Did Bran think she was totally bonkers? “I swear—”

  “Lemme ask you something. Did the goats see you before you took their picture?”

  Harper frowned. “I don’t think so. I was watching them from the side of the barn.”

  “So you could’ve startled them?”

  “Well, I did jump out and yell, ‘Say goat cheese!’ So I suppose that might’ve startled them.”

  Bran started to laugh. He laughed so hard he had to bend over to catch his breath. Just when she thought he’d stop, he’d look up at her, tears swimming in his silvery eyes, and then look over at the goats and start laughing all over again.

  Although he was busting a serious gut, she didn’t find any humor in this situation at all.

  Finally, he said, “Goddamn. I’m sorry, Harper. It’s just …”

  “What? I’m not crazy. Those goats were dead to the world.”

  “I believe you.” He grinned like he had a huge secret. “But it’ll be easiest to show you.” He faced the pen and yelled, “Boo!” while leaping against the chicken wire covering the cage.

  Just like before, both the goats fell off the metal shed and lay on the ground, completely still.

  Harper moved beside Bran, hooking her gloved fingers through the holes in the chicken wire. “What are they, possessed?”

  “No. This kind of goat is called a Kentucky stiff leg. The odd thing is, they faint whenever they’re startled. And it starts a chain reaction among the other goats around them. They just faint dead away—pardon the pun.”