Free Montana Hearts: Her Weekend Wrangler by Darlene Panzera Page A

ten-­mile radius made her think he wasn’tsuffering as much as he let on.
    Sammy Jo curled her fingers into claws and pantomimed a growling grizzly, making Bree smile as she opened the door to let in the next applicant.
    The few who were interested in becoming ranch hands had seen better days. One gangly man looked like he hadn’t eaten a meal in several weeks. Another looked too heavy to lift his plump body up into a saddle. Andone woman with a queen complex told her outright that she’d help the guests saddle up, but she wouldn’t be cleaning the stalls.
    But without any further options, the best having already been hired elsewhere for the season, Bree took what she could get.
    Sammy Jo walked beside her as they made their way down to the corral.
    “I’d be more than happy to pitch in when I’m around during theweek,” her friend offered. “I can lead trail rides, give horseback lessons, and help herd cattle.”
    Luke dipped his brush into the gallon of wood stain he’d been using to spruce up the outside of a nearby guest cabin, then glanced her way and grimaced.
    “What’s the matter with that?” Sammy Jo demanded, hands on her hips. “You don’t think I can herd cattle?”
    Luke’s jaw tightened, andwithout a word he turned away.
    “You can ,” Bree whispered. “But Luke can’t .”
    “Are you saying he’s jealous?” Sammy Jo asked, an incredulous expression crossing her face.
    “Wouldn’t you be?” Bree glanced at her younger brother, the one they used to tease because life had always been so easy for him. If a cow was lost, he’d find it. If a horse spooked, he’d hold on until the animal slowed.If dared to race, his motorcycle would cross the finish line first every time.
    Sammy Jo winced. “I shouldn’t have said anything. How could I be so insensitive?”
    “Because you’re used to Luke . . . well, being Luke . We all are. But since he’s been back . . . all he does is mope. No one knows exactly what to say to him.”
    “I can’t imagine not being able to ride,” Sammy Jo said, a noteof sympathy creeping into her voice.
    Bree used to feel the same way. Today she focused on the corral in front of her where Sammy Jo was going to work out a few of their horses. Because Luke couldn’t and she wouldn’t. “We’ve hired Ryan Tanner to be our weekend wrangler.”
    “Ryan will be great,” Sammy Jo assured her.
    “He wants me to help him train his new filly.” Bree glanced over at SammyJo and held her gaze. “You know how hard that’s going to be for me?”
    “I know how you feel about him,” Sammy Jo gushed. “But he’s changed. Ryan’s not the same attention-­getting guy we knew back in high school. He’s calmed down a lot and keeps to himself most of the time. Working with him won’t be so bad.”
    “Let’s hope,” Bree said, giving her a half grin. “But I was actually referring tohow hard it’s going to be working with the filly .”
    T WO DAYS AFTER making the deal with Bree, Ryan rose early, entered the Tanner kitchen, and poured himself a cup of coffee. He glanced out the window for a sign of her truck and then realized he still had another fifteen minutes before she was due to arrive for the filly’s first training session.
    The thought of teaching young ones to behavegot him thinking about his own son, and how awkward it had been to drive him to Mitch Wyllie’s house the night before. Cody’s apology wasn’t heartfelt, but he did it, and when the other kid’s outraged parents demanded Ryan pay the uncovered portion of their son’s medical bill, he’d lightened his wallet. At least when they left, that particular situation had been resolved. But when Ryan triedto get Cody to talk about his mother on the way home? The stilted, one-­sided conversation had only led to more awkwardness.
    Telling him man-­to-­man that he should never throw the first punch was one thing, but talking about how to deal with the fact his mother left them was another.