Free After the Sunset by Mary Calmes Page A

for the first time since I’d met the man, he talked to me like I wasn’t absolutely stupid. It was a nice change.
    “There are seven events at the rodeo. I’m sending six men with you and eight horses, two extra just in case you need them. You should take that fool dog of yours, too, as well as that mare Rand gave you since she’s the only horse you know how to ride. I expect my stock returned in the same condition they left in. You hear me?”
    “Yessir.” I nodded, turning to leave.
    “We’re all gonna have hell to pay when he finds out about this, Stef.”
    “I know.” I nodded. “Give me a better plan.”
    He just looked at my face.
    “See?”
    Two hours later—why we were leaving so early I had no idea—I was driving a huge pickup truck with double wheels off the ranch with Everett sitting beside me in the cab, and Dusty stretched out behind me with Bella laying on the seat next to him. Pierce, Tom, Chase, and Chris were in the pickup behind me.
    “You look stupid.”
    I turned my head to look at Everett. “Pardon me?”
    “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone who looked less like he should be wearing a cowboy hat and boots than you.”
    The worn brown cowboy hat I had on my head had been a gift from Rand as had the boots that were on my feet. While I wasn’t entirely comfortable, fitting in was key. I did not want anyone to second-guess my right to be there.
    “So what was your plan for this thing if Mac hadn’t talked us all into it?”
    “I dunno,” I sighed. “I was thinking of calling Mitch Powell and seeing who he could maybe pay to go with me, and then I would have to pay him back.”
    My hat was pulled off fast, I got a quick slap across the top of my head, and then the hat was shoved back down hard. It took only seconds, but it stung like mad.
    “Shit, Dusty,” I groused at him, lifting my right hand to rub where it hurt.
    The motion sent my hat down over my aviator sunglasses and my eyes. But Everett was there to slap my hand away and knock the hat back.
    “Try an’ keep your eyes on the damn road, all right?”
    “I would if people weren’t hit––”
    “You never go off the ranch for help,” Dusty scolded me. “Never.”
    “Never,” Everett echoed him. “We take care of our own.”
    “But I’m not one of you guys,” I told them. “You all respect and care for Rand, not me.”
    “You don’t give yourself no credit,” Dusty assured me. “Without you knowing about finances and such, Rand would not be making all the money he is.”
    “That’s not true,” I assured them. “Rand is a very smart business––”
    “And if Rand didn’t wanna make a home for you, then he wouldn’t be fixin’ to make all the changes in Hillman.”
    That part was probably true.
    “Before you was here,” Dusty chimed in, “Rand Holloway was a prick.”
    I wasn’t touching that one with a ten foot pole.
    “Well said,” Everett cackled.
    “But since you been on the ranch, I can stand to talk to him for more than five minutes.”
    Everett was laughing.
    I smiled, seating the hat on my head as Dusty yelled at Bella to quit moving. We all laughed as she muscled him out of the way, all seventy pounds of dog taking up position so she, instead of Dusty, was behind me. She put her head on the back of my seat to the left, and I felt her warm breath whuffling on my cheek before her tongue got my ear.
    “Bell,” I griped, wiping it off, reaching back to scratch under her chin.
    “She’s worried I’m gonna hit ya ag’in.” Dusty chuckled. “I ain’t never seen a dog more protective. It’s sweet.”
    As she nuzzled the side of my neck, I had to agree.
    We stopped for lunch and then again for dinner, and after we fed and watered the horses, took them out, walked them a bit, and then got them back in the trailers, we were back on our way. We reached Truscott just after midnight, and I was thrilled to see the area awash with lights. I left Chase in charge, and took Dusty and