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“They’re waiting on the porch.” Harlan had his window down and was waving as the girls ran towards us. They jumped in theback with their overnight bags before I’d come to a complete stop.

“We’re so happy to see y’all,” drawled Lucy. She was born in Texas and had the accent that came with growing up there. Tammy talked more like a northerner—she was from Montana like Harlan.

“How about pizza?” I asked and both girls screamed.

Harlan laughed and put his hands over his ears.

“Okay, pizza it is.”

Pizza Nova. Shelby.

I had no idea about the pizza places in Shelby, but the girls didn’t seem to care. Harlan pointed to Pizza Nova, and we went in and got a table.

The girls talked non-stop about the other girls and stuff they’d learned how to do, and when they talked about the cowboys helping them, that’s when Harlan got interested.

“Those cowboys ain’t touching any of the girls, are they?”

Lucy giggled. “They do a lot of looking, but I think they’d get fired if they dragged any of us into the hayloft.”

“I’d make sure they did,” I said. “I’m sure Marilyn made it clear what their duties were when she hired the summer help.”

“They are nice to us,” said Tammy. “Nice and polite.”

“Yep, nice and polite,” I said. “They don’t know y’all too well yet. Better stay nice and polite all summer.”

“You worry too much, Travis,” said Lucy. “Nothing is going to happen to us. Marilyn is with us while we’re training, and she runs her ranch kind of strict-like.”

“Good.” I ordered a beer while the kids decided on what toppings we were going to have on the pizza. A lot of arguing went on until I settled it and made them each pick three toppings and for it to work out, we had to get two pizzas.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

When we got back to the ranch, I saddled Outlaw for a ride and Harlan decided to stay with the girls because their horses were at the other ranch.

I took off on my own and it was good to gallop across the land I owned and get rid of the stress of the day. The ride was peaceful and relaxing until I got close to the back property boundary and that’s when I saw something that made my heart race.

Three of the wild horses were running from east to west and that was a normal sight. I considered it a lucky day when I got to see the mustangs. What made my blood boil was seeing three guys on horseback, lassos in the air, chasing the wild horses.

“Hey,” I hollered and took off after them. When they saw me galloping towards them, they turned and went the opposite way.

Had this been going on under my nose? How could I stop them? I’d make it my business to find out.

While Travis was riding Outlaw, Harlan was alone in the barn with Lucy and Tammy. They had missed him a lot, and there was a lot of heated kissing going on.

So much so, that Harlan had to call it before he did something he was going to regret.

“Come on, girls. You’d better get unpacked and do your laundry.”

Lucy laughed. “Is that what you want us to do, Harlan? Laundry?”

“No, that’s not what I want to do, but that’s what we’re going to do. You girls are going to get me into huge trouble. Trouble I can’t get out of.” He gave Windrider a carrot and went to the house.

When I came back from my ride and cooled Outlaw down, I found the kids in the house playing cards at the kitchen table.

“How was your ride?” asked Tammy.

“The ride was good, but what I saw out there wasn’t good atall.”

“Did you see bears?” asked Harlan.