Free Love on the Range: A Looking Glass Lake Prequel by Rebecca Nightsong

Marlee asked.
    Crazy Hoss nodded.
    “And the ranch is short-handed,” Marlee said slowly.
    Fern nodded.
    “And I’ve told you I can ride,” Marlee said. She chuckled and hopped up to grab a plate of pancakes. “So I guess that’s settled.”
    Crazy Hoss stared. Then he threw his head back and laughed, his whiskers jutting out.
    “You sure about that?” Fern shook her head. “You know pride goes before a fall. And the fall off a horse’s back is a lot rougher than it looks.”
    “You’ll have to talk to Jett,” Crazy Hoss said. “He decides who rides and who don’t.”
    “Oh, don’t worry,” Marlee smiled. “I’ll show Jett what I’m made of.”
    “If he don’t turn you down flat,” the old man chuckled.
    Marlee grinned.
    Yeah. Jett wouldn’t like the idea. But she still had to give it a shot.
    If a man could cowboy in the day and cook in the evenings, so could she. She’d just have to get creative.
    And get almost no sleep for the next few weeks.
    And get the most frustrating man in Big Sky country to say yes to her half-crazy idea.

CHAPTER TEN
     
    The next morning, Marlee rose early, thanks to Fern’s wind-up alarm clock.
    She had the fire going, biscuits on and bacon already sizzling before anyone woke.
    Marlee stepped a little outside the perimeter of firelight. If she followed the line of the makeshift corral that the men had put up for the horses, she’d reach a lookout point. Maybe as the sun came up, she could get a glimpse of the lake everyone in town talked about. Looking Glass Lake should be nestled down in the valley, and she couldn’t wait to see it.
    Jett had told her it glowed with light, reflecting a brightening sky even before the sun came up. And last night, Crazy Hoss had told the legend of the Native American chief the lake was named after. Chief Looking Glass had lived his whole life working for peace, but then had died in war.
    Crazy Hoss had said that according to legend, if a person peered into the lake long enough, they would find their real identity staring back at them.
    If she looked into Looking Glass Lake now, she’d most likely see her sister’s faces staring back at her.
    What it would feel like to be free of the expectation to be like her sisters?
    The verse she’d read that morning in Galatians floated through her mind.
    Each person should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.
    Well, that’s why she’d worked so hard to get through culinary school. And it was why she’d come out west. It was time to stop trying to be someone else. It was time to just be Marlee Donovan.
    She tipped her head back to look at stars so close she wanted to reach out and touch them. She gulped in air so sharp it nearly sliced her lungs in half. It was like a crisp sorbet. She didn’t know air could be so fresh, but still be packed with so much scent.
    A horse nickered in the darkness and a twig cracked.
    Marlee froze, her heart lurching to her mouth. Were rustlers coming for the horses?
    A figure moved in the darkness, and Marlee jumped.
    “Just me.”
    Jett stepped out of the shadows.
    Marlee blew out a hard breath and her heart clattered back down where it belonged.
    “Did I scare you?” His grin flashed in the shadows.
    She ignored him, stuck her nose in the air and headed back to the kitchen.
    He followed her, ducking under the tent flap and standing across the table from her.
    She took an apple from the bushel basket on the table and began peeling it, hoping the action would calm her shaking hands.
    Jett gave a low whistle. “You sure are determined to make us cowboys eat our fruits and veggies,” he said. “Do you serve fruit with every meal?”
    “This is for dinner tonight,” Marlee said. “I’m prepping now because I plan to head out with you men and help bring in the cattle today.”
    He snorted, laughter lighting his face.
    Marlee frowned. Last night, that dimple seemed charming.