Free Mail Order Bride - Westward Secrets: A Clean Cowboy Romance Novel (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 13) by Linda Bridey

tried to figure out what was wrong.
                  “It worked!”
                  “That’s right.  Anytime they’re doing something you don’t want them to do, hiss like that and most ferrets will stop and they’ll soon learn what they can and can’t do,” Rick said.
                  “So you raise them, but what do you do after that?” Gina said.
                  “Some people like them for pets, like me, but they are actually used by farmers who need to control rodent and rabbit populations to keep them from eating all of their crops.  Which is what I intend to start selling them for around here soon,” Rick said.  “Now, Curtis is a working ferret.  He goes to the bar with me while I work as a bouncer and sometimes while I’m working as a deputy.”
                  Ryan picked up Curtis and kissed him.  “So he’s a deputy, too.”
                  Rick laughed.  “I guess you could say that.  He’s certainly good at helping keep the peace.”
                  Gina said, “A little animal like him?”
                  Rick took Curtis from Ryan and coaxed Curtis into opening his mouth.  “See those teeth?  You don’t want them latching onto you because they’re not going to let go easily.  Guys in the bar tend to think twice about messing with me when they see those teeth.  Plus, a ferret is fairly hard to shoot because they bounce around so much and their movements are unpredictable.”
                  “What does that mean?” Chloe said.
                  “Unpredictable?  It means you never know what they’re going to do.  Sort of like Ryan,” Rick said and ruffled the boy’s hair.
                  Gina said, “Maybe I should try hissing at him when he says something inappropriate.”
                  Rick laughed.  “I’m not sure it works on humans, but it works on ferrets.  C’mon, I’ve got some other critters to show you.”
                 
                  Another hour into the visit found Gina and the children amazed at the number of unusual animals he had on his land.  A pot-bellied pig roamed about freely, his name was Stan and he liked his back scratched.  Pumpkin and Patch were two dairy goats.  Rick not only had ferrets, but he raised skunks as well and they were just as tame as the ferrets.  Several different varieties of birds flew about in the trees and some would come sit on Rick’s hat or finger.
                  He got some to do this and urged the birds to hop over onto someone else’s finger or even a shoulder. 
    As they walked down a path, Rick put a hand on Gina’s arm and said, “I don’t think you’re going to want to go farther than here.”
              “Why?” she asked as she tried to ignore the way his touch made her feel.
    Rick smiled and said, “There are some of your least favorite animals down there.”
    Gina looked beyond Rick and asked, “Snakes?”
    “That’s right.  Nothing poisonous.  Just some black snakes and gardener snakes, but to people like you, who don’t like snakes at all, they’re still a snake,” Rick said.
    “I don’t want the kids going near them,” Gina said.
    “Well, then how am I going to take them to see the alligator?” Rick said.
    “What?” Gina almost shouted.
    Rick laughed and said, “I’m just kidding.  There’s no alligator.  They can’t survive in this kind of climate.  But I do have some cute burros back here that they can ride.”
    “Rick, I want to see them, but there’re snakes,” Gina said.
    “What if you could get past them without walking?” Rick said.
    “What am I supposed to do?  Fly?” she said a little irritably.
    “Nope.” 
    Rick picked her up before she comprehended what was happening and started walking with her.
                  “Rick!  Put me down!”