Page 51 of Taming the Wild Cowboy

Mac gave herself a mental shake and continued into the cozy office. She’d thought about Brooke so often since going to work for Trev that now she was seeing her.

Mike sat at the desk, waving her to the chair on the opposite side.

“Do you have any questions about operations?”

Maclyn was about to ask about the potential for teaching classes, when a photograph on the bookshelf next to his desk caught her eye.

Holy shit. Really?

She felt like she’d been sucker-punched. Mike frowned then half turned in his chair to follow her gaze. He turned back and smiled self-consciously. “Engagement portrait.”

“Nice one,” Mac said politely, even as she was dying inside. “When’s the wedding?”

Mike’s smile broadened. “June.”

*

Trev crouched in the straw as the tiny heifer sniffed at his knee. Her twin sister came up behind her, approaching the human cautiously before skittered away when his phone rang. The mother cow, one of the mellow ladies, raised her head from the feed, then went back to eating as Trev let himself out of the pen and brought the phone to his ear.

“Yeah, Paul.”

“Trev. You probably know why I’m calling.”

“You need me to come back.”

“They’re letting Dean go early.”

“What?” Dean was the lowest guy in the hierarchy, but he was also the guy handling Trev’s job while he was on leave.

“Part of the restructure,” Paul said. “I can’t make you come back early … but I can ask.”

Indeed, Paul could not make him return before the end of his approved time off, but Trev would pay in subtle ways if he didn’t.

“I can’t come back until I have someone to take my place on the ranch. This is too much for my uncle to handle alone.”

“Family emergency leave does not include birthing calves.”

“Which is why I’m on unpaid leave.”

Paul cut to the chase. “Are you in a situation where you can walk away from this job?”

“Would it come to that?”

Paul’s silence answered his question. Truthfully, Trev was not in a position to walk away at the very moment. School loans, truck payment, rent on a house he wasn’t currently using required payment whether he was working or not. Six weeks of unpaid leave hadn’t helped matters, even with free room and board on the ranch. He hadn’t asked Wade to pay him, had never hinted that weeks of his leave from the job were unpaid, because Wade would have had kittens. His uncle could walk through fire for his boys, but he had a hard time accepting them doing the same for him.

“This is not the time to draw lines in the sand, Trev.”

“When would you need me?”

“Middle of next week at the latest.”

Trev dropped his chin to his chest. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’m sure things will be close to normal in six or seven months.”

A buzzer sounded at the far end of the barn, bringing Trev’s head up. What now?

“Paul, I got to go.”