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Charlie snorted, but she didn’t join in on the conversation.

Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know. Last year I didn’t do that great.”

“You kidding? You placed fourth.” Liam glanced at Ash. “He says he’s not great, but he’s better than most of the locals.”

“I can’t beat any of the professionals.”

“That’s because they’re idiots and make their whole life about bull riding,” Charlie muttered from across the room.

All the men glanced toward her, but Liam didn’t pay attention to her statement. “You have to practice more.”

“Do you guys even have access to a bull you could practice with?” Ash asked.

Daniel shook his head. “Wade doesn’t like it. The way they get the bulls angry enough to buck us off is to prod them.”

Ash grimaced. No wonder Charlie didn’t like the idea of anyone riding a bull. “Maybe you should try something else. Don’t they do barrel racing or something? That sounds cool.”

Liam and Daniel glanced at one another and then laughed. “That’s usually mostly women barrel racing,” Liam pointed out. Then he tilted his head, a smirk still on his lips. “I don’t imagine there’s that many women in your line of work. I can’t imagine too many could drag a heavy person’s body out of a house.”

“Oh, I don’t do that,” Ash said with a chuckle.

Daniel and Liam exchanged glances, and then Daniel leaned forward. “But I thought you were a firefighter.”

Ash leaned back in his seat and laced his fingers behind his head. “Oh, I am, to a degree. But it’s different. I’m a smoke jumper.”

The brothers looked between themselves again, confusion written on their faces. “What’s that?” Liam asked. “You still put out fires, right?”

The sounds from behind Ash went quiet—the pots, pans, clanking sounds disappeared. The room hung with anticipated silence from every member of the Keagan household—Charlie included.

Ash grinned. “A smoke jumper parachutes into the wildfires to put them out.”

Daniel choked on his drink. “What?”

He nodded. “Yep. It’s easier that way. We don’t have to hike or carry our supplies with us. It’s a rush.”

“Sounds like it,” Liam said with a grimace. “Dude, how does your girlfriend feel about it? I know Margot would kill me if the flames didn’t get to me first.”

Ash shrugged. “There’s no issue. I love my job. She knows it’s important to me.” Ash couldn’t see Charlie’s reaction to him discussing his job, but he wouldn’t imagine he was very far off. A job was a job. His just happened to be more exciting than most.

“That’s cool. Can’t wait to meet her.” Liam pushed out from the table and stood. “You staying for dinner?”

Ash glanced over to Charlie, noting that she’d gone still again. “Nah. I’ve got a TV dinner with my name on it.”

Liam wrinkled his nose. “And I have a wife who can cook for me at home, but everyone loves Charlie’s cooking. Besides, there’s plenty of room. You should stay. Margot’s on her way, too.” He called over to his sister. “Can you make enough for one more?”

Charlie glanced over her shoulder toward Liam, purposefully avoiding Ash. “Yeah. No problem.”

“See? You’re staying.” Liam clapped him on the back. “You can repay me by helping me get the horses in for the night.”

Ash chuckled with a nod. “How can I turn down that deal?”

“Easy. You can’t.”

A few horses grazing in the pasture needed to be brought in for the night. Others who were in their stalls needed some feed.Ash wasn’t a cowboy by any means, but he’d spent enough time with the Keagans that he knew how to do some of the basic stuff. They worked quietly, side by side.

Liam had to be one of the hardest workers Ash knew. He would have made a great firefighter if he wasn’t so devoted to his family. He worked for the Callahan family as well, usually only picking up chores when Wade asked him to.

It almost felt like the family had scattered to other parts since Ash had been here last. Caleb spent more time with his wife on her smaller property or shadowing Mateo while he raised ranch dogs. Liam still worked for Zeke Callahan. Mason ran his wife’s uncle’s property. And Hudson preferred to work with Rachel and her horse sanctuary. That was a quarter of the family—and the guys that Ash had gotten to know the best.