Chapter 14
T hat night was tense and silent. Bailey had a headache from being bashed in the face. Cal wasn’t quite angry, but neither did he believe her suggestion someone on the ranch was a traitor.
“Everyone who is with me has been with me for years. We’re family. There are no drifters on the crew,” he said.
“Whoever it is is likely on drugs, and drugs change a person. Take Isabel, for example.”
At that point he actually put his hands over his ears and shook his head like an obstinate child. “I’ll stop,” she promised, too tired and sore to continue to argue anyway. “But not before I say one more thing: Not believing something doesn’t make it not true. And that goes for everything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“You know,” she said, eyeing his ring.
He crossed his arms, tucking his ring under his armpit.
“Stubborn,” she accused.
“A common trait in these parts,” he said.
After that she grabbed an ice pack and went to bed.
The next morning they worked calves, and it was all hands on deck, too busy and exhausting to wonder over the events of the day before. It was Bailey’s first such experience, and also the first time she saw Cal physically work the ranch. Most of his day was spent with the business of running the place. But today, wearing a t-shirt, jeans, boots, and a Stetson, he was indiscernible from any other cowboy, except for the fact that he towered above everyone else by a few inches.
The calves had to be separated from their mothers, rounded up, caught, branded, inoculated, and sorted. It was physically exhausting labor on any day, but the thermometer hovered north of ninety, making the work seem harder. Estralita was on hand, along with a couple of hired ladies from town, to dole drinks to the men, an unending job since they became dehydrated so quickly. Bailey stood on a fence and watched. From a distance, they looked like a hive of worker bees, all seeming to know what to do without being told. For someone who enjoyed order and hard work as much as she did, it was a beautiful sight.
“Want to take a turn, little bit?” Cal offered, coming to lean on the fence beside her. She hadn’t spoken to him all morning, and she wasn’t sure if he was avoiding her or merely busy. Was he the type to hold a grudge? Apparently not if the friendly way he was looking at her was any indication.
“You mean brand a calf?” she asked with no small amount of trepidation.
“You can beat a man half senseless, but you draw the line at hurting a cow?”
He grinned and, have mercy, the picture he made was alluring—dusty, dirty, sweat-stained, the hard muscles of his chest straining at his t-shirt. The only white parts of him now were his teeth and hat, which despite the hard day’s labor remained remarkably untouched. She had never wanted anything before like she wanted him, and he’d placed himself completely off limits. Bailey was used to going after what she wanted, regardless of the obstacles. But the obstacles in this instance were his principles, his very integrity, something she wouldn’t touch because she respected him. It was a vicious circle of honor and desire he’d sucked her into, and it was driving her crazy.
“If men were as cute and innocent as cows, I’d have a harder time beating them. Does it hurt them, really?”
If he noticed the way she was looking at him, he pretended not to. “Their hides are pretty thick, much like my head.” He reached out to flick her ponytail. “And we use freeze branding now. It’s less painful.”
“All right.” She hopped off the fence and followed him into the pen. They used chutes to hold the frightened calves and tip them on their sides, but Cal wanted to show her the old-fashioned way. He caught a calf and held it while she pressed the frozen brand into its hide, exactly where he showed her. The calf bellowed and fought, but it seemed more fearful than pained. Continuing to follow his instructions, she gave it the inoculation and tagged its ear before he let it go. The calf jumped up, bucked, and would have double kicked her if Cal hadn’t picked her up, moving her out of harm’s way.
“You’re quick,” she noted. If her voice sounded shaky, it was from his touch and not the near miss with the cow. She hoped he wouldn’t know the difference, but of course he did.
“You’re cute,” he returned, giving her a slow smile as he set her down.
“What’s it worth to you?” she asked.
“More than you know. Ready for another?”
“How many are there?” she asked, tearing her gaze from him so it could rest on the pen full of calves.
“Four thousand,” he said and laughed when she did a comic double take. “We break it up, doing about five hundred a day. This is round one. We’ll continue until it’s finished, taking a break for Sunday.” He paused. “So, I think you should stay, at least through calving. Then things will calm down, and we can assess where we are. In terms of security, I mean. But the next few days,” he gestured helplessly to the pen behind him. “This is my life, from before sun up until after sundown.”
He was a married man. Regardless of whether it was in name only, he was still married. She should go, should flee, should run home and forget she’d ever met him. “What can I do to help?”
“Your normal job. With all of us centered here the next few days, there’s going to be lots of room for mischief on the rest of the ranch,” he said.
“All right,” she heard herself agree. Weak, Bailey, you’re so weak. He flashed her another smile again and, though they were standing in the center of the hub of activity in full view of the entire ranch staff, it took everything within her not to reach for him, not to stand on her toes, pull him close, and kiss him hard. He was so…capable, so strong, so good and deep. He was everything a man should be. And, like it or not, she was in love with him.
She didn’t know what his thoughts were as he stood a foot away from her, hands clenched at his sides, but she figured they were along the same lines. She took a step back and then another. “Think I’ll do a quick patrol. Let me know if there’s something you think of I can do here. Otherwise, I’m probably in your way.”
“Not in my way, never that,” he said softly. He swallowed hard and took a breath. “Check in when you’re done with your patrol. You’re really on your own out there until this is done.”
She nodded once and made herself turn and walk away from him. When she was in the air, everything seemed so clear. She needed to go. Staying put was like prolonging torture. Cal wasn’t in the right frame of heart or mind for them to work. Why had she said she’d stay? She couldn’t; she wouldn’t. When she landed, she would tell him and then she would stick to her original timeline and leave in a few days.
But when she landed and went to find him, he was still in the midst of hard, manual labor. She stood on the fencepost and watched again, admiring him while he worked. The muscles and sinews in his arms and back were impressive, but more than that she enjoyed his work style. He was a man other men looked to, and that meant something to her. She had grown up with a strong father, a leader of men. She wouldn’t be able to accept anything less in someone she desired. Cal was that kind of person, the sort who made those around him want to work harder, be better, give more of themselves.
He caught sight of her on the fence and tipped his hat to her, tossing her a smile. Maybe I could stay a few days more, she found herself thinking as her eyes followed him. Then she turned away with a groan of frustration. “So weak, Bailey.” At the very least she could make herself useful. After a word with Estralita, she grabbed the keys to a truck and drove herself to town.