“He can go if he wants to. I can hire another foreman and the summer help will be here next week, but he’s damn sure not takin’ the dogs,” she declared as she put the tractor in gear and started raking the hay into windrows. She wiped tears from her cheeks. She didn’t want him to leave, and it had a helluva lot more to do with her feelings for him than it did with finding another foreman. There she’d admitted it—she wanted more out of the cowboy than just having him as a foreman or even as a friend.
* * *
When Bonnie stormed across the distance between her truck and the tractor, Rusty could tell by her body language that the woman was still angry. Women were such strange critters. He thought she’d be happy that he was leaving the ranch.
All of the sisters had been fast learners, but Bonnie had been the one who’d caught on to everything the fastest. Maybe it was because she’d had a hardscrabble life, and hadn’t ever been handed everything. Abby Joy had showed up with her stuff in duffel bags, and Shiloh with monogrammed luggage. Bonnie had arrived with her things packed in plastic Walmart bags, and not once had she let her older half-sisters intimidate her.
She could run the ranch standing on her head in ashes, Rusty thought, and do a fine job of it. She don’t need me anymore. In the last six months she’s learned plenty enough to do the job until she can get a foreman.
His phone rang, and he grabbed it without even looking at the name on the screen. “Hello, you ready to talk this through?” he asked.
“No, but maybe we should,” Waylon chuckled.
“Sorry, I thought you were Bonnie. We had an argument this morning,” Rusty told him.
“Over what, if you don’t mind me asking?” Waylon asked.
“Me leaving the ranch in the next few weeks,” Rusty replied.
“I’ll gladly give you a job and pay you more than you’re making over there. I could use an extra foreman with all the new property,” Waylon said.
“Thanks for the offer. The idea just came to me this morning that I should probably leave the place, and I want to think on it a couple of weeks,” Rusty said.
“Don’t jump into anything without sleeping on it would be my advice, but I’d hire you in a minute if you make that decision,” Waylon said. “But the reason I called is that Shiloh and I are having a little barbecue for our hired hands tomorrow evening. We wanted to invite you and Bonnie. Cooper and Abby Joy are coming for sure. She’s been craving barbecued ribs.”
“I never turn down ribs,” Rusty said. “What time and what can I bring?”
“You can bring a six-pack of beer. Shiloh says she’s asking Bonnie to bring baked beans.” Waylon chuckled again.
“What’s so funny?” Rusty snapped.
“Just thinking about the arguments Shiloh and I had before we admitted we were in love. It was a tough time, but seems like we all have to go through it until we admit to our feelings. That’s what Shiloh told me later when we talked about those days. I’m thinkin’ maybe you and Bonnie might be fighting over more than that ranch,” Waylon answered.
“Me and Bonnie in love,” Rusty sputtered. “That’s not damn likely.”
“Just tellin’ you about me and Shiloh. I’m putting you down for a six-pack of beer, but if y’all are still fightin’, then maybe you should bring a pint of something harder.” This time Waylon laughed out loud.
“I’ll bring a damned twelve-pack,” Rusty growled. “And you better make extra ribs because I eat a lot when I’m aggravated.”
“I’ll get another rack, then. See you tomorrow night.” Waylon ended the call.
Rusty tossed the phone over on the passenger’s seat. He had the offer of a really good job, and he would still be in the area with all his friends. Maybe whoever bought Malloy Ranch would hate the place, and he’d have the opportunity to buy it again sometime on down the road. All he had to do was load up his truck, move across the road, and settle into Waylon’s new bunkhouse. He wouldn’t have a room all to himself, but he’d have a place to lay his head at night.
At noon, he parked the tractor and noticed that Bonnie had done the same. They each got into their vehicles without even a simple wave, like they always did when they were heading back to the house for dinner.
If that was the way she wanted to be, then Rusty would give her enough space to cool off. He didn’t even slow down when he passed the house but drove straight to the bunkhouse. All three dogs waited on the porch, and he bent down to pet each one of them. When he straightened up and went inside, they followed him.
He headed straight to the refrigerator, took out a gallon of sweet tea, and drank at least a pint straight from the container. He could almost hear Ezra laughing and telling him that a woman wasn’t worth forgetting to take water or tea to the field with him. He put the voice out of his head while he made himself a ham and cheese sandwich. When he’d gotten out potato chips and pickles, he sat down at the table and bowed his head, but he was too agitated to pray.
Finally, he looked up at the ceiling and said, “God, why did you make women so damned stubborn? Pardon the cuss word. And by the way, thanks for the food.”
No booming voice came down to answer his question, but one of the dogs cold-nosed his hand and made him almost jump out of his chair. “Are you trying to tell me something, Vivien?” he asked the mutt.
She whimpered and wagged her tail on the floor.
“Is the woman you’re named after as bullheaded as her daughter?” He took another long drink of tea and then picked up his sandwich. “I’d rather be eating with her, you know. I’ve always looked forward to an hour in the middle of the day when we could talk about anything and everything. She’s always been the easiest one for me to visit with.”
Vivien laid a paw on his foot and yipped.
“Why is she bein’ so damned hard to get along with? Is it because she misses her sisters? Or maybe because she’s been havin’ to work so hard? Well, that’s ranchin’ in a nutshell, and if she don’t like it, maybe she should sell out,” he said between bites.
He finished his meal and headed back to the field, driving slowly because all three dogs were running along beside the truck. Dust floated across and through the barbed wire fence from where Bonnie was already back at work. When he got out of his vehicle, he sneezed twice on the way to the tractor, but the dogs stayed right with him. He opened the cab door, and they all three got inside. Two shared the passenger’s seat, and Vivien curled up in the floorboard.
“Hmmmph!” Rusty said as he started the engine. “She’s got rocks for brains if she thinks I’m leaving a single one of you behind. We’ll go to court if we have to.”
Chapter Six
Any other time, Bonnie would have suggested that she and Rusty ride over to the Wildflower Ranch together, but not that Tuesday evening. They hadn’t even spoken to each other since the day before, and she wasn’t going to take the first step toward reconciliation. Not when he threatened her with the dogs.
She had spent a restless night, and that morning when she awoke, she had trouble separating reality from the visions she’d had in her sleep. Tears ran down her cheeks as she sat up in bed and wondered if she’d gotten the sign she’d asked for in the form of dreams. In the first one she’d crammed all her clothing into one big black garbage bag and the other small things she’d accumulated since she’d been on the Malloy Ranch into a box. She’d put them in the back of her truck and was driving past the cemetery when she saw Ezra sitting on the top of his tombstone. With a big grin on his face, a wicked mean look in his eyes, he waved goodbye to her.