The Cowboy Meets His Match (Fatherhood) Page 5

  “What’s he doing?”

  “He moved to the city. He’s a doctor. My mother is thrilled.”

  Erin laughed, and Jake wished she would laugh at something he said. She’d spent the morning staying out of his range, and he’d played it smart by keeping his distance, as much as possible.

  “Eat up, boys,” he said, purposely not mentioning Erin’s name. After all, she wanted to be treated like them. “We need to be getting back soon.”

  “Well, I’ll be danged!”

  Jake looked down the table at Bobby Ray, sitting across the table from Erin and staring at her.

  “I knew there was something about you,” Bobby Ray continued, “but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It just came to me like a lightning bolt. You’re Erin Walker.”

  Putting her glass aside, she leaned back and crossed her arms, her face calm and straight. “That’s my name.”

  Bobby Ray glanced at Jake, who smiled. He had an idea where this was going and knew it would be interesting.

  Shaking his head, Bobby Ray leaned forward. “No. I mean yes, you are, but I mean the Erin Walker, the barrel racer. I’ve seen you compete.”

  She didn’t say anything at first, then spoke directly to him. “Did you rodeo, Bobby Ray?”

  His nod was short and quick. “I did, back in the day. Team roping. By the time I really got the hang of it, the younger cowboys were catching up. I decided it must not be for me.”

  “He’s not being honest,” Jake said, from his end of the table. “He and his partner won several competitions.”

  Bobby Ray shook his head. “Not enough to keep me in it. It’s a tough life. And an expensive one, if you aren’t on the winning side more than the losing.”

  Erin didn’t respond at first, leaving Jake to wonder what was going through her head.

  “It takes more than talent,” she finally said, giving Bobby Ray a smile Jake wished she’d bestowed on him.

  “Well, you’ve got that, for sure,” the wrangler answered.

  “What’s it like, Erin?” Kelly asked. “Traveling around the country.”

  She gave a little one-shouldered shrug. “It’s like living life as a gypsy. Sometimes exciting. Sometimes just a lot of driving. This is such a beautiful country, and I’ve been lucky to see so much of it. But the rodeo circuit, like everything else, has its ups and downs, pros and cons.”

  Jake had never thought her life had been easy, but this was the first time, except for when she’d talked about Firewind, that he’d caught a note of loneliness in her voice. Most of the time it was spit and fire. The years had changed her, at least a little.

  Standing, he announced, “We’d better be getting back.”

  The others started moving, and while he walked on to the cash register, they left the café. When he finished paying the bill, he found them waiting on the sidewalk in front of his truck and joined them.

  “Maybe Erin should sit in front, this time,” Gary said, opening the front passenger door.

  “I’m fine in the back,” she answered quickly. “You and Jake need the extra leg room.”

  “Less crowded with you in the front,” Jake pointed out.

  “Maybe another time,” she said, without looking at him.

  His gaze lingered on her for a moment, and then he walked around the front of the truck and climbed in. “Let’s get a move on, boys.”

  They’d reached the outskirts of town when Bobby Ray leaned forward. “Were you going to look into that cattle sale down in Wichita Falls?”

  “I plan to,” Jake answered.

  “I hear they’ll have some nice horses, too.”

  “It’s two weeks away, so I’ll check into that more closely before I go. Can’t have too many horses,” Jake said, and glanced in the rearview mirror. Erin didn’t seem to hear him as she stared out the window. If only he knew what she was thinking. Or maybe it was best that he didn’t.

  The rest of the ride back to the ranch remained quiet. As he turned the truck into the ranch yard, he tried to think of something he could have Erin do that would keep her nearby.

  He’d just gotten out of the truck and closed the door, when he saw her catching up with Bobby Ray, heading for the large corral. The nearly windless day helped carry her voice, so he watched and listened.

  “I noticed you were having a little trouble this morning, Bobby Ray,” she said, matching his stride.

  “Slow reaction speed,” he answered.

  “I think we can fix that.”

  He turned his head to look at her. “You think so?”

  “Yeah, I do. Would you mind if I gave you a few tips? I learned a lot doing ranch work during breaks.”

  He stopped, still looking at her, and Jake waited. Bobby Ray was a good ol’ boy, and Jake wasn’t sure how the cowboy might take her offer.

  “You’d do that?” Bobby Ray asked.

  “Only if you want me to,” she answered.

  He pulled off his battered cowboy hat and scratched his head. “Well, now, ma’am, I can’t say it would hurt me, if you know what I mean.”

  “We all started at the beginning and had to learn,” Erin said. “Sometimes more than once.”

  “That’s the truth.” He replaced his hat and then offered her his arm. “I’d be honored if you’d give me some tips on what will make my ropin’ better, Miz Walker.”

  Her smile was bright, and she looped her arm through his. “Then let’s get to it. And it’s Erin.”

  Jake watched them enter the corral and thought again about what she’d said at the café. He’d followed her career for many years and knew she’d had several good wins, almost making it to the National Finals a few times. But he also knew it took money to get from rodeo to rodeo. Considering the cost of gas, entry fees, food, feed and vet care for her horse, and everything else, it could get expensive. Was that why she’d come home? She’d admitted that her new horse was in need of more training. If she hadn’t been winning and had paid out more than she’d won, it made sense that she’d left. The question now was whether she intended to return to her rodeo life or if she’d left it behind and wanted to move on to something else.

  He didn’t know if he wanted to hear the answer. When he did, maybe he would ask her. Until then, he would wait and see how things worked out—or didn’t work out—between them.

  At quitting time, he stood in the yard, praising his men for a good day as they climbed into their vehicles. When they started their engines and began to drive away, he noticed that Erin had already started for home.

  “Can I give you a ride?” he called to her.

  Facing him, she walked backward and kept going. “I don’t mind the walk, but thank you.”

  When she turned back, he lengthened his stride, catching up with her, before she’d gone too far. “More exercise?” he asked, stepping up to walk beside her.

  “It can’t hurt.”

  “You look fine to me.” As soon as it was out of his mouth, he regretted saying it and was thankful she didn’t have a quick comeback. “It was nice what you did with Bobby Ray today.”

  “He strikes me as a good man,” she said, glancing up at him. “The talent is there. He just needs a little practice on some of the things I showed him.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  She stopped. “Isn’t that why you hired me?”

  “Sure. Some of it.” He wouldn’t tell her that he’d also had personal reasons. Very personal. She would figure that out on her own, soon enough.

  “Then there’s no need to talk about it,” she said, then hesitated. “All you have to do is tell me the job you want me to do, and I’ll do the best I can. That’s how I work.”

  He knew that. She’d been born into ranching—one big reason he’d hired her. But he’d worked
hard at it. Spent years on other people’s ranches, starting at the bottom. Things were different now. He was the boss. He just hadn’t adjusted to it yet.

  “It’s only your first day.”

  She shifted from one foot to the other. “And I can’t keep wandering around, watching others. I need to work with the rest of them. It’s pretty clear you need me, or at least someone. And it wouldn’t hurt to hire another person, especially if you plan to add more livestock.”

  He couldn’t argue with that, but it wasn’t as easy as she might think. He’d worked with Gary, so that had been easy. He’d found Bobby Ray through a friend, and Kelly had answered an ad.

  “I intend to. There’s a flyer in the café, and I put ads in several ranching papers and magazines,” he explained. “It doesn’t happen overnight. Not with experienced men.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything.

  When he heard a bark, he turned to see his dog and welcomed the interruption. “Looks like Sollie’s coming to tell you goodbye.”

  “Tell him I’ll see him tomorrow.” When she walked away, she moved fast.

  “Same time in the morning,” he shouted as she gained ground.

  She waved at him, without looking back.

  Sollie stopped beside him, giving his hand a nudge. “Yeah, she’s gone for the day. But she’ll be back.” Scratching Sollie’s head, he watched her until she disappeared from his sight. He looked down at the dog. “We have to keep her here, Sollie. I know you don’t understand, but we have to.”

  * * *

  JONAH BUTTERFIELD WINCED at the beginnings of a blister on his heel, inside his nearly new boots. He’d done more walking in the past day than he had in half of his almost seventeen years. He hadn’t, really. It only felt as though he had. But it didn’t matter. He was on a mission.

  Kicking up dust from the shoulder of the road, he looked again to see if the ranch he needed to find was close by. No house, yet, but he did spy a large, country mailbox set on a post and hoped his journey might be nearing its end.

  Another dozen steps, and he could make out the name on the mailbox. JAKE CANFIELD, it said, in bright blue letters. He’d finally made it to his destination, and with nothing but the name of a town, some initials and that name.

  He reached the box and stood staring at it for several seconds. No one knew him or knew why he was there. They would learn soon enough.

  Taking a deep breath, he started up the long drive to a large two-story house. Nice. Not some old place like a few he’d seen. Behind it were what looked like a couple of barns and some white fences. Corrals. He’d seen them in pictures.

  As he walked closer, he saw two cowboys, each leading a horse. He needed to find the one who owned the ranch.

  No one seemed to notice him, so he had a chance to run through what he planned to say. He would just tell them he’d been traveling through on the way to visit a friend and stopped at the café in town, where he’d seen a help-wanted flyer. Not exactly the truth, but good enough. He had seen the flyer, but he’d already known to look for a guy named Jake at the Canfield ranch. That much he’d learned while thumbing through a ranching magazine at the library.

  He felt pretty safe. No one would be looking for him yet. In a day or two, maybe, but he had some—

  “Hey, kid.”

  Jonah looked to his right and saw a sandy-haired man walking toward him. “Mr. Canfield?” he asked, hoping he had the right guy.

  “Hang on,” the man said, and turned around. “Hey, Jake! Somebody’s here looking for you.”

  “Send him over,” the man who answered to the name said.

  So that was him, Jonah thought, as he thanked the first guy and walked over to where Jake stood talking to a woman. A cowgirl, he guessed, by the jeans, boots and hat. Jake’s wife?

  “Mr. Canfield?” he asked again.

  The guy looked at him. “Yeah, that’s me.”

  No turning back now. “A man gave me a ride—”

  “Are you here about the job?”

  How lucky could a guy get? He didn’t even have to ask or anything. But he would have to wing the rest of it. He hadn’t thought much beyond this. “Yeah. Could you use another hand?”

  The woman next to him started to move away, but Jake stopped her. “Stay. We’re not through.” Then he turned back to Jonah. “What’s your name?”

  “Jonah. Jonah Butterfield.”

  “How old are you, Jonah?”

  “Eighteen, sir.” Okay, that was a stretch, but did it matter?

  Jake looked him over. “You have identification?”

  Heart plummeting, Jonah reached around to his back pocket, juggling the backpack he wore, while keeping a tight grip on his duffel bag. “Right here.”

  “No, that’s okay,” Jake said, stopping him. “I can get that later. How much do you know about horses?”

  “Not a whole lot,” Jonah answered, truthfully this time. “But I’m willing to learn.” When Jake started to shake his head, Jonah hurried on. “I’m a quick learner.” Even his dad said so, not that he cared what his dad said.

  Jake glanced at the woman, who shrugged, and then he asked another question. “Do you live around here, Jonah?”

  “No, sir. Up north.”

  Jake looked at him, his eyes squinting a little. “Where, exactly, would that be?”

  Jonah hoped he didn’t have to get too specific, or the whole thing might blow up. He wasn’t ready to walk away, not until he found who he’d set out to look for, got a few questions answered and then said what he’d come to say.

  “I’m from Kansas,” he answered.

  The woman took a small step back but didn’t say anything. He pretended he didn’t notice, but then she pinned him in place with a look that would have frozen anyone with half a brain.

  “How was it again that you learned about the job?” She added a smile that made her look less threatening.

  This he could handle. He had it all figured out, and it wasn’t all that far from the truth. He answered her smile with his own, but turned to Jake. He knew who the boss was, and it wasn’t her.

  “I’ve been looking for a job,” he began, “and saw the notice in a ranching magazine and thought since it’s not all that far from home—you know, like thousands of miles,” he added, “it would be a good start.”

  He saw the look Jake gave the woman, like she didn’t really have any business asking. Maybe it wasn’t his wife, after all.

  Jake rubbed his hand along his jaw and squinted as if he was thinking hard on it. “So you really want to be a wrangler?” he asked.

  “It’s all I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and—”

  “Come on, Jake,” the woman said. “It takes time to teach a kid.”

  Jake looked at her. “Maybe you should be the one to do it, then.”

  Her chin went up and she squinted her eyes to look up at him. “I have enough to do.”

  “Is that right?”

  “If you want these horses trained, I do.”

  Jonah had to choke back a laugh. They would have been nose to nose, if she hadn’t been so much shorter than Jake. Whoever she was, she wasn’t afraid of the guy, that was for sure.

  “You’re the best one to teach him,” Jake said, his voice a little lower and softer, as if Jonah had vanished into thin air. “You have a gift.”

  Her mouth dipped down in a frown, and she glanced at Jonah. “I thought that was a gift with horses, not half-grown—”

  “Okay, Jonah,” Jake said, cutting her off and turning to him. “I’ll give you a try, but—”

  “Yeah?” Jonah said, hoping he didn’t sound too eager. “Thanks, Mr. Canfield. I won’t disappoint you.”

  Jake puckered his mouth, but it turned into a smile. “I guess we’ll see about
that. We start early and work a long day.”

  “Okay.”

  “You have a place to stay?”

  Jonah looked around and spied the barn. “The barn, there, would suit me fine, Mr. Canfield.”

  “It’s Jake. Mr. Canfield is my father.” A funny look crossed his face for a second, but it disappeared. “You can stay in the new bunkhouse. It isn’t painted, but it should do.”

  “It sounds fine to me,” Jonah said, glancing at the woman. “Anything with a roof is good, and a bed is even better.” He couldn’t believe his luck, and he would do whatever he had to do. Working on a real ranch had been something he’d always wanted to do but never thought he ever would. And now he would get to. He just hoped he didn’t look too excited about it.

  Jake put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “This is Erin Walker,” he said, as she stood there, staring at him. “She’s great with horses, and I’m sure she’ll be able to answer any questions you might have about them or about cattle.”

  Erin Walker? E.W. were the initials on the letter he’d found. The letter that had started all of this. It couldn’t be that easy, could it?

  “I’ll—” She cleared her throat and looked up at Jake, who removed his hand from her shoulder. “I’ll be happy to help.”

  She didn’t sound all that happy, but Jonah figured there were things going on that he didn’t know about.

  “I’ll bring some sheets and blankets down later,” Jake told them. “If you need some help, I’m sure Erin will lend a hand.”

  The smile he shot her was a killer, and Jonah had to dig his nails into his hands to keep from laughing. Yeah, something was going on, that was for sure. And whatever it was, he would find out who these people were and if they were who he’d come to find.

  “Let’s get you settled in, Jonah,” she said, waving a hand for him to follow.

  Jonah switched his duffel bag to his left hand and stuck out his right. “Thank you, again, Mr.—Jake.”

  “Bunkhouse is over there,” Erin said, pointing beyond the barn.

  After giving Jonah’s hand a firm shake, Jake released it. “Better hurry, Jonah, or she’ll leave you behind.”

  He did. With a smile of satisfaction. If his cell phone worked, he would leave his parents a message in a couple of days and tell them he had a job. He would keep in touch. When he felt like it, if only to keep them from looking for him. After all, they hadn’t been honest with him. Why should he be honest with them?