Hats to Boots (BA’s Cozy Cowboys #14)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“ Lord have mercy.” Westin McCoy stared at his phone, which was ringing. No one called him. But it was Mallory Chapman, a small rancher and barrel racer who had been totally off the radar since she’d gotten married about six months ago.

Wedded bliss made people drop off the map.

He almost let it go to voicemail, but that seemed petty as hell. “Hello?”

“West? Is this still you?” Mallory sounded…odd. Off. Less bouncy than normal.

“Yeah. You okay?” He immediately went into help mode. Mallory tended to be solid as a rock.

“Raising horses. Training horses. Worrying about Trey. Being pregnant.”

“You’re pregnant?” That seemed like the first thing he should focus on, even if the third one had caught his attention. “Congratulations?”

“I guess so? It wasn’t expected, but I’m not crying about it.” She hesitated. “Anymore.”

“Wait. Why were you crying to begin with?” He wasn’t following. “You’re married.”

“Yes. But no one wants to leave their honeymoon knocked up, you know?” She chuckled deep in her throat. “I’m solid now, but I was worried Hank would be pissed.”

“And he’s over the moon, isn’t he?”

“Well, he is a cowboy,” she teased.

“Yep.” He snorted. “So why are you worried about Trey?”

Now it was her turn to snort. “I knew you wouldn’t let that one pass by too long.”

“You brought it up.” James Matthew Blanton the Third, aka Trey, was his one that got away. So no, he wasn’t gonna let it go.

“He’s in trouble, and…honestly, you’re the best one on Earth to help him. I didn’t know what else to do but to fill you in, give you the opportunity to help or not.”

Him? He was the only one who could help? What the fuck had Trey gotten into now? “Lay it on me, woman.”

“Well, uh—Jesus. I don’t know where to start. He’s going blind, he’s got two little kids, his last three foremen left, and he’s fixin’ to lose his ranch?”

Wait.

What?

None of those words made sense together. Not even a little bit.

“You’re gonna have to roll that back and go one at a time.” He cleared his throat. “What the hell, Mal? He’s going blind?”

“Yeah, he’s got some thing where he’s seeing big black dots. It’s like strokes or something in his eyes. He had surgery and shots and shit, but it’s just slowing the thing, not stopping it. He has one okay-ish eye right now, so he’s okay, but it’s becoming a thing.”

Jesus. “This came on sudden?”

“Well, he says it came on slow, but now it’s gaining speed.” She sighed. “And then Kait got cancer, and she had those two kids, you know? So she signed them over to Trey.”

“Two kids.” He had the vaguest memory of Mal mentioning Kaitlyn, who was Trey’s housekeeper. She’d been young for the job, and not terribly experienced, but her people had been working for Trey’s for a long time.

When he’d been visiting Trey, it had been in a condo in Seattle, in a downtown high-rise.

“Yeah. Her kids were, um, five and two? A boy and a girl.”

“Holy shit, Mal.” He blinked hard, trying to parse all that shit. He’d never thought Trey would take on kids.

“Yeah, I know, right? And he’s trying so hard, but the foremen keep leaving. He’s raising the salary offer, but he’s close to losing it. That land’s important to him—you know it is—and he needs someone who will do right by him.”

“So, what? You want me to work for him?”

“He needs a foreman, West. I told him I would hunt for one for him.”

The implications of that made him sit back and blink. Hell. He— Well, he could use the work. And if Trey needed his help, he would give it without pause. But there was a whole bunch of baggage that went with it all.

“It’s amazing money. Benefits. And you get to run the Five Diamonds.”

“Yeah.” And be right there. With Trey. Who was a dad. And going blind. Shit, he was freaking out.

“He doesn’t know I called. You don’t have to say yes, but I can send you the offer. It’s stunning. Good enough cowboys are going to be taking advantage.”

“I’ll look. I don’t want him to be under water.”

“I don’t either. He’s a weirdo, but he’s our weirdo, for sure.”

“He is.” He’d always thought of Trey as his. Even when he’d let the fine son of a bitch go.

Their lives had been so different—Trey had been an executive type in Seattle, with fancy suits and dinners at restaurants that cost more than a week’s pay. He’d been what he was—a cowboy.

And when Trey had asked him to give up his wayward life and come live in Seattle, well, he hadn’t been able to. Not even as much as he loved Trey. So he’d walked away. He had. Not Trey.

“I’ll do it.”

Mallory exhaled, long and slow. “I’ll email you the information. When can you start?”

“I’m at large right now. Visiting my aunt in Steamboat. I can be at his ranch tomorrow.”

“I— Thank you. He’s really trying to be okay, to be brave, but it’s hard.”

“I bet it is.” His gut churned, but for Mal he put on his calm voice. There was too much to process here. Too much to think on.

Trey had been his one true guy, and he’d given Trey up. Now Trey needed someone like him, and he intended to be that someone.

“You know where he is.”

“I do. Just make sure no one shoots me coming on the property.”

“Not a problem. I’ll get you installed in the house. It’ll all be too late for him to say anything by the time he knows.”

He chuckled. “That’s the Mal I know.”

“I tell you what, I’m a stone-cold bitch some days.” She couldn’t have sounded merrier.

“I love that about you.” He chuckled. “We’ll have a beer soon, huh?”

“Ha ha. You’ll have a beer, I’ll have a Sprite, and Hank will watch us both like a hawk.”

“I’m in.” He grinned, shaking his head. Mal was pregnant. Lord have mercy. “See you soon, lady. Love you.”

“Love you too, West. Check your email.”

“Will do.” And he hung up. He needed to pack and hit the road.

He was going to help Trey out. The rest would fall into place as he went.