Page 22 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

“Naw,” Trev said reaching for the tractor door handle. “It’s costing you.”

Trev mounted the steps to the cab, while Jordan headed for his truck. He’d just started the engine when his phone rang. Speak of the devil.

“You left a message to call?” Jess Connery said briskly.

He expected good news.

“I want to meet,” Jordan said.

There were things he preferred not to handle over the phone. He liked to see people’s faces, see if their words matched their body language.

“We can’t just talk now?”

“No.”

A silence followed, and for a moment Jordan thought Connery was going to push, but instead he said, “I can fit you in tomorrow. Noon. That work?”

“It does. See you then.”

*

“Only six more.” Dakota Walker, Lil and Meg’s part-time ranch hand, dropped into the alleyway from the top, landing behind the startled calf, which he then pushed into the squeeze chute.

Meg dropped the rear gate as Dakota gave a final shove, trapping the animal. In his late teens, Dakota was still gangly but strong enough to successfully hold his own against livestock of all sizes. He’d worked for the sisters piecemeal throughout his freshman year at Montana State. Now that summer had come, he could give them three or four days a week, meshing the work with his schedule on his own family ranch. He needed the extra money, and Meg and Lil needed the help, especially now that Meg was working for the school district.

“Tag?” Lil called as Meg gave the calf a shot in the neck.

“B18.”

Lil wrote the heifer’s weight on the clipboard. “Got it.”

She opened the headgate, and the calf bounded out. A moment later, after the rear gate opened, Dakota pushed in another.

The beauty of only having eighty calves, as opposed to the several hundred they had on the family ranch during its heyday when their mother was alive, was that the three of them could vaccinate and weigh in a matter of hours instead needing a full crew and most of a day.

Their operation wasn’t a huge money maker, but they’d made a profit last year. Now that Meg had a job teaching and Lil was taking on more horses, they would do even better as long as cattle prices didn’t bottom out.

If they could stay put, that was. Lil had spent the previous evening researching the lease market. She had no intention of moving, but if they had to … well, they would not be making a profit, at least not in the beginning. Moving was expensive, setting up a ranch took time, if they could find a suitable place to lease at a reasonable cost. She was sorry that Jordan found himself in a situation, but she would only move as a last resort. Maya agreed and then mentioned that they would be able to talk more in a couple of weeks because she had a conference in Seattle.

“I’ll make a stopover on the way. Just make sure I don’t have to get my hands dirty.”

It was a running joke in the family because Maya was not the typical eldest ranch daughter. She was very much like Aubrey in her feelings about cattle, preferring to handle the house chores and focus on academics while Meg and Lil had followed their father around the property, pitching in wherever needed.

Dakota climbed out of the alleyway as Meg and Lil processed the last calf. “I’ll move the wheel lines and then I need to get back to town.”

“Hot date?” Meg cracked.

“Hot dinner. Grandma’s coming. I’ll be back on Monday if that’s all right.”

“That’s fine,” Lil said. “Meg loves to move wheel line.”

“Oh, yeah. Love.” She waved a hand at Dakota. “Get out of here.”

After Dakota had driven away in his father’s truck, Lil leaned on the fence and watched the reunited cows and calves scatter in the grassy field. She didn’t have to leave this place, go through the hell of moving equipment and livestock and losing money in the process. She just wished she didn’t feel twitchy about it.

Speaking of twitchy, she had yet to work Dudley. He’d been improving, finally accepting the fact that Lil wasn’t going to be pushed around. Today, they’d have a long pasture ride while she checked the fence.

They set out to the far end of the fields at a brisk trot and Dudley seemed to appreciate the opportunity to burn energy. He slowed to a walk when they reached the perimeter fence and actually stepped out instead of jigging.