Free The Lonely Heart by K.M. Mahoney

a knowing smile.
    “Cool. Just thought I’d ask. I don’t get a lot of hot gay cowboys wandering into my office, you know?”
    Isaiah laughed. When he said his goodbyes and collected Josh an hour later, it was with a relieved smile and a much lighter step. Tony and Lydia were realistic—they understood the extra work needed to fit Josh into the school, and were matter-of-fact about dealing with his needs. He had the feeling that between the two of them, there was little that they couldn’t handle. They would take good care of Josh and see that he made a place for himself.
    Isaiah fired up the truck and pulled out onto the street with a much happier little boy riding beside him this time. That was one worry taken care of.
    Only about a hundred more to go.

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    THE LONELY HEART K.M. Mahoney 51

Chapter Eight

    “Well, screw you, then!”
    Grady looked up as Isaiah slammed down the phone with a low curse. Peering at the ticked-off man warily from across the room, Grady cleared his throat.
    “Problem?” he asked.
    “Oh, no, everything’s fine.” Isaiah sent him a smile, but it looked incredibly fake. “So, Joseph had some thoughts about—”
    “Isaiah.”
    “What?”
    “Who was on the phone?”
    “It’s no big deal, Grady, I swear.”
    Grady wasn’t buying it for a minute. “Isaiah.”
    “I was thinking about those damned accidental cross-breeds we’ve got. Jensen said he might be willing to—”
    “Isaiah.”
    “Huh?”
    “You tryin’ to distract me?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Try harder.”
    “Boss!”
    The bellow bounced off the walls, accompanied by the slamming of the front door.
    Joseph appeared in the office doorway seconds later. His face was ruddy, and his breathing heavy.
    “Boss,” Joseph repeated with urgency. “We’ve got a fence down and cattle wandering into Murphy’s pastures.”
    Isaiah sighed. “All right, I’m coming.”
    He’d only taken a step when Micah burst through the front door and slid down the hall, nearly crashing into Joseph as he tried to skid to a fast stop.
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    THE LONELY HEART K.M. Mahoney 52
    “’Nother fence down,” he gasped. “Brutus and Hector are loose and headin’ for the hills. By way of Campbell’s place.”
    “Shit!” Isaiah’s face paled with panic. “Damn it to hell, Campbell will kill me if our boys get in with his girls.”
    “Damn right,” Joseph agreed.
    Isaiah grabbed his hat off the corner of Grady’s desk and was gone before Grady could blink. Grady groaned, grabbed his own hat, and hustled out after them.
    It was too damn early to be dealing with crises—barely nine a.m.. The bulls wouldn’t wait for Grady to have his third cup of coffee, though. Campbell and him didn’t get along at the best of times. If Grady’s bulls threw calves with some of Campbell’s heifers…well, it wouldn’t be pretty. Grady mostly bred mixed Hereford stock while Campbell was extremely picky about the bloodlines of his Black Angus.
    Cowboys streamed to the barns—his entire crew including his four main hands and the six temp guys were moving fast. Grady wasn’t overly fond of a couple of his temporary employees, but the ranch and pastures needed to be readied for the encroaching winter. Fall was looking to be short this year and his regular crew wasn’t going to be able to get the job done. Grady would let the extra workers go in a week or so, but for now, he was extremely grateful they were still around.
    Someone had already saddled up Lance for him, so Grady grabbed the reins and hauled ass. He stopped just outside the barn, tightening the girth and zipping up his coat. Grady gathered the reins and had one foot off the ground when something slammed into his side.
    He went reeling. Lance danced to one side and snorted, panic imminent.
    “What the hell?” Grady yanked Lance’s head down. He ran one hand over the gelding’s side, trying to soothe his boy down.
    A mumbled apology reached his ears, and he