10. Beast
BEAST
The cow was on the roof.
I stood in the yard staring at it.
The cow stared back.
For a long moment neither of us moved.
Then I looked at the teenage ranch hands.
The teenage ranch hands looked everywhere except at me.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"Explain."
Nobody spoke.
The cow mooed.
Helpful.
Very helpful.
I pointed at the roof.
"The cow."
Still silence.
I slowly removed my sunglasses.
The boys immediately started talking.
All at once.
"It wasn't our fault."
"It slipped."
"We were helping."
"The ramp broke."
"The cow panicked."
"We panicked."
"The cow panicked first."
I rubbed a hand across my face.
Every day.
Every single day.
Something new.
Three weeks ago, I'd been living a perfectly normal life.
Now I spend my mornings solving livestock emergencies.
Somewhere in the distance I heard laughter.
I already knew who it was.
Sadie.
The traitor.
I turned.
Sure enough, she was standing near the barn.
Laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
"Stop."
That only made her laugh harder.
The cow mooed again.
Almost like it agreed with her.
I looked back at the boys.
"How?"
The oldest pointed toward a pile of hay bales stacked beside the equipment shed.
Then toward a wooden loading ramp.
Then toward the roof.
I stared.
Slowly.
Painfully.
The pieces came together.
"You tried loading the cow onto the hay wagon."
Three guilty expressions.
"The wagon shifted."
More guilty expressions.
"The ramp slid."
Nobody answered.
"The cow climbed onto the roof."
The youngest raised his hand.
"Technically, she walked."
I closed my eyes.
Counted to ten.
Opened them again.
The situation remained exactly the same.
Unfortunately.
Sadie walked over.
Still laughing.
Still entirely too pleased with herself.
"You have to admit this one's impressive."
"No."
"It kind of is."
"No."
"A little."
"No."
The cow chose that moment to moo again.
Sadie doubled over.
The boys started laughing too.
I was surrounded by idiots.
Every one of them.
"Where's Hank?"
That sobered everybody.
Sadie's smile softened.
"He stayed in the house."
I nodded.
The gout had been hitting him hard all week.
He hated it.
Absolutely hated it.
The old rancher wasn't used to sitting still.
Unfortunately, his knee had swollen so badly yesterday that he'd needed help getting up the porch steps.
The thought sat wrong with me.
Hank Walker belonged outside.
On horseback.
Working cattle.
Not trapped inside watching life happen through a window.
Which was one more reason I kept showing up.
Or at least that's what I told myself.
Sadie watched me carefully.
Like she knew exactly what I was thinking.
Dangerous woman.
Very dangerous.
Then she smiled.
And ruined everything.
"Good thing you're here."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Why?"
"Because that's your cow."
I stared.
"My cow?"
"Yep."
"It is not my cow."
She pointed toward the roof.
The cow looked down.
Mooed.
Again.
The boys immediately nodded.
"Definitely Beast's cow."
"Absolutely."
"One hundred percent."
Traitors.
All of them.
I looked toward heaven.
Seeking patience.
Or whiskey.
At this point I'd take either.
Sadie bumped my shoulder.
The contact lasted barely a second.
Just a light touch.
Nothing more.
Yet somehow I felt it everywhere.
Unfortunately.
Her smile faded slightly.
Just enough.
"Thanks for helping."
The words were quiet.
Sincere.
Real.
I looked at her.
Really looked at her.
Sunlight caught the strands of hair escaping her ponytail.
Her eyes were warm.
Soft.
For once there was no teasing.
No jokes.
No walls.
Just Sadie.
And suddenly it became very difficult to remember all the reasons I was supposed to stay away.
A porch screen slammed.
The moment shattered instantly.
Hank emerged from the house carrying a cane.
His knee was clearly bothering him.
The sight made my jaw tighten.
The old rancher stopped beside us.
Looked at the roof.
Looked at the cow.
Then looked at the boys.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Hank sighed.
A deep weary sigh.
The sigh of a man questioning every hiring decision he'd ever made.
"What happened?"
The youngest raised his hand.
"It was mostly the cow."
Hank stared at him.
The boy slowly lowered his hand.
Smart decision.
Then Hank looked at me.
Completely serious.
"You're coming back tomorrow, right?"
I opened my mouth.
Paused.
Because the answer should have been easy.
It wasn't.
Not anymore.
I glanced toward Sadie.
She was watching me.
Waiting.
The boys were watching too.
Even the cow seemed interested.
The entire ranch held its breath.
Then I heard myself answer.
"Yeah."
A smile appeared on Hank's face.
A real one.
The kind that reached his eyes.
Sadie's did too.
And for some reason...
That smile felt a lot better than it should have.
Way better than it should have.