Free Rocky Mountain Cowboy by S.A. Monk Page A

to me. My god, do you know what Tom and I had here? It’s one of the best spreads in the valley! And what the hell about the men who work here? Eli is too old to get another job as a ranch hand. He doesn’t have a pension, just his social security. Hank has been here a long time, too. And I can tell you, the man who would want to buy this place wouldn’t want it for ranch land. Brad Caldwell wants to subdivide it— to build a goddamned resort and golf course up at the northwestern end, by the hot springs, then to put vacation condos and homes all around it. Is that what you want to see happen to the ranch your dad spent a lifetime working his butt off for?”
    Jenny felt so bad, she wished the floor would open up and swallow her. She hadn’t meant to sound thoughtless or callous. It had to be her exhaustion that had prompted her to make such a tactless, narrow-sighted suggestion. Her father’s partner had been so considerate this past week, and now she’d made him furious. Damn!
    “I’m sorry.” The apology sounded so inadequate. She tried to repair any damage she’d done. “I thought it might be an option you’d want me to consider— that maybe you’d want a place of your own now.” The damn tears were back, and it made her angry. She didn’t want this man to think she was an emotional wreck all the time. Setting her coffee down on the end table next to the chair, she rubbed her forehead with her fingertips, then brushed away the tears, trying to get control of herself.
    “This place is very important to me, like it was to your dad. I don’t want anything else.” Hawk moved in front of her and sank into a a squat before her. Reaching out, he pried her hands away from her face, brushing her remaining tears away with his thumbs. “Jenny, don’t cry,” he coaxed, framing her face with his large hands. “It’s not necessary to discuss any of this tonight. You don’t need to make any decisions right away. We have time,” he reassured her. “Let me show you around the ranch. Give yourself time to get reacquainted with the place. I also think some hard work might be a better remedy than my brandied coffees. At least you’d be too tired to hurt so badly. And believe me, I could sure use your help. I’ve got a backlog of work, and fall round up is around the corner. Can you give me two or three weeks? I’ll take longer, if you can spare the time.”
    Jenny wanted to find out if the ranch would feel like home without her dad. Once, sixteen years ago, the Bar F had been very important to her. Was it still, without her father? She needed to find out. If she didn’t, she would always wonder.
    “Yes, I can give you two or three weeks, maybe longer,” she decided, instantly feeling better for having made at least that decision. “But I’m not certain what I can do or want to do beyond that.”
    “Fair enough. The right decision will come to you in time.” He sounded and looked so certain, she hoped he was right. “Now, let me clean up down here. You should go to bed. I’m going to be knocking on your door bright and early tomorrow morning. We need to bring in the bales of hay that are still in the lower fields, then get them stacked in the yard, for winter use and for sale. Wear your new gear, especially your gloves. Haying is hard work,” he warned her as he picked up the coffee cups. Hawk followed her out of the study with one final instruction. “Set your alarm clock for five.”
    She swung around in shock. “Five a.m.?”
    “You got it, Sleeping Beauty,” he laughed. “No more dozing half the day away.”
    “Oh Lord!” she exclaimed. “The sun isn’t even up that early.”
    “No, but ranchers are,” he said as he went through the doorway to the kitchen with the two empty coffee mugs.

CHAPTER 6
     
    At five a.m. Jenny really didn’t give a damn if the sun was up or not. Her eyes were barely open, even after showering and dressing. In the kitchen, she grabbed a cup of coffee and one of