Free Desires of the Cowboy Bears (BBW MMF Menage Shapeshifter Romance) by Tabitha O'Dell Page A

They
wouldn’t be the only ones who went in on a ranch together. Ranching is hard
work and costly. Doing it on your own isn’t for many folks.
    “We’re just getting settled in,” Flynn told us. “Old
Mr. MacGucket sold us the herd along with the land, so we’ve been focused on
making sure we’ve got our ducks in a row, so to speak.”
    “Anything we should know about the area?” Hudson
asked.
    “Well, it’s not the kind of place that welcomes city
slickers easily,” my dad said, giving them the hard sell.
    “Good thing neither of us are,” Flynn chuckled. “I’m
sixth generation, and Hudson’s fifth. We’re both third sons, which meant when
it came to passing on the family homestead, we were both third in line. We
figured we might be better off going in together and buying a place of our own
to ranch. We’ve got three thousand acres out there, which is about what we were
both raised with.”
    “Only thing is that we’re both from Nebraska,” Hudson
told us. “So we don’t know the lay of the land. Things to be cautious of. If
you could help us out, well, that’d be mighty kind of you.”
    “Oh, well, yes,” my dad grumbled as he kicked at the
dirt.
    It wasn’t that my father is an asshole, but he has
never taken too kindly to strangers and them proving him wrong at every turn
was hurting his pride. I could see where this was going and I put a stop to it.
    “Watch out for the groundhogs,” I told them. “But you
probably know about that. Honestly, the biggest issue we’ve had lately is
cougars.”
    “Cougars?” the men asked in unison.
    “Yeah, mean old bastards,” I said. “I can’t blame ‘em,
drought killed off a lot of the wild critters they’re used to eating. We’ve
lost a few head ‘a cow the last couple months to them, though. Just be careful
and don’t let them get the drop on you.”
    “Thanks for the warning, ma’am,” Hudson said, and I
blushed at that. No one ever called me ma’am. I usually got ‘Little Lady’ from
my dad’s friends. I was an adult, but no one saw me that way. Hudson did,
though, and I hoped Flynn did too.
    “We best get back to the ranch,” Flynn said. “But it
was a pleasure meeting you.”
    “You too,” I told them. “And if you need a hand, just
call. Hopefully MacGucket left the local numbers by the phone.”
    “That he did,” Flynn said. “And I’m sure we’ll need to
ask for a hand sooner than later.”
    That hand came more sooner than later, and I lit up
when I heard Hudson’s dark, silky voice on the phone. “Hi, is this Amy?” he
asked and I almost giggled instead of replying.
    “Yes,” I told him, hoping he needed me to come over
for something. Anything.
    “We’re a bit short handed right now,” Hudson said. “We’re
looking to hire some hands, but at the moment it’s just Flynn and me. Would you
mind coming over and helping us do a little inventory on the herd?”
    “Sure!” I told him, and was out the door before I
could even think of telling my dad where I was going.
    Not that it mattered. He was out on the range with a
few of the new hands we’d hired on, showing them the ropes. I could probably
head the few miles down the road and help the out and return before he even
knew I was gone.
    The ride to the MacGucket Ranch, or maybe they’d rename
it, was nearly twenty minutes in the old Ford, but I was excited the whole way.
I’d been down there hundreds of times to help out, but this was the first time
I actually wanted to head over there.
    Flynn and Hudson were sitting on the front porch of the
homestead as I pulled up and I offered a wave as I hopped out of the truck.
They looked even better than I remembered and I prayed I didn’t say anything stupid
as I walked over to them, but they got down to business right away.
    “We’ve got a horse saddled for you,” Flynn said as we
walked toward the stable. “We brought a few of our own from Nebraska, and we
have a few from MacGucket. I hope you don’t