Page 6 of Country Winds (King Creek Cowboys #9)

“ T hat’s a start.” Ellie sat back in her chair and petted her tortie Ragdoll cat as she stared at her laptop screen. Hailee purred as she lay next to Ellie’s keyboard.

Ellie read through the document again and nodded to herself. She had written a good chunk of a narrative for Tucker’s site, and her start wasn’t half bad.

Before Tucker's project, she’d worked on a cattle rancher, Rosco Redford’s social media.

For a man in his thirties, he was tech-clueless, other than what it took to use his smartphone or basic requirements on his desktop.

A fellow rancher had convinced him he needed a website and social media to grow his business, which had taken a financial hit in recent years.

A knock at the door of her townhouse drew her attention. Hailee jumped off the desk as Ellie rose from her desk. The cat followed at her heels as she headed down from her office on the second floor. When she opened the front door, she was greeted by Leeann McLeod Gann’s smiling face.

“I have muffins.” Leeann raised a small white bag. “From Rachel’s Bakery.”

“Gimme.” Ellie took the bag from the bakery in King Creek. “Come on in.”

Leeann stepped inside and closed the door before setting her large purse on an armchair. She greeted Hailee with a hug, the big cat giving a rumbling purr.

Ellie headed to the kitchen with the bag. She put it on the counter, took a banana nut muffin and a double chocolate one out of the bag, and set each on a plate.

Her cousin went to the Keurig machine and made two cups of coffee. Ellie placed tuna in Hailee’s food dish, and the cat went at it.

In no time, Ellie and Leeann sat at the dining room table with their coffee and muffins. Ellie handed Leeann a paper napkin from the holder on the table and took one for herself.

Ellie peeled off the double chocolate muffin’s wrap. “How did you know I needed this?”

“Because you always forget to eat breakfast, and you love Rachel’s.” Leeann sipped her coffee.

Ellie bit into her muffin and moaned with pleasure as she chewed. She swallowed and smiled at her cousin. “I needed the chocolate, too.”

“I have something to show you.” Leeann got up, grabbed her purse, and sat down. She dug inside and brought out a book with her name printed beneath the book title, Sisters . “Ta-da. The advanced reader copy of my next novel.”

“I love the cover.” Ellie took the ARC from her cousin. “We’ll take a picture of you holding it for your social media.”

“I knew you’d like it.” Leeann smiled and bit into her muffin.

Ellie flipped through the pages of Leeann’s women’s fiction novel. “I have to read this.”

“I’m happy with how it turned out.” Leeann gestured to the book. “I have a few twists and turns that might surprise you. My editor seems thrilled.”

“I’m not surprised.” Ellie set the soft cover ARC on the table. “Is it going to be in hardback like your first two?”

Leeann nodded. “Both have done so well in print and eBook sales that they’ve offered me another three-book contract.”

“Even before the third of your current contract is released.” Ellie smiled at her cousin. “You don’t know how proud I am of you.”

“Thanks.” Leeann grasped her mug handle. “Your help with my social media and teaching me how to use it for my career has contributed to my success. You really should let me pay you for all you’re doing.”

“I’m happy to help.” Ellie refused to take money from a family member. “My payment is seeing you become successful as a novelist.”

“I did enjoy my career as an X-ray tech, but this beats it by a long shot.” Leeann sipped her coffee and set the mug down. “It has been my dream since I was a child.” She shifted in her chair. “Speaking of new careers, how are things in the voicework world?”

Ellie swallowed her bite of muffin. “Fantastic. It won’t be long until Myth Hunter comes out.”

Leeann brushed her hands with her napkin. “It’s a kind of Lara Croft game, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Ellie thought about her most recent contact with her voicework agent. “Marie told me that the owners are so happy with my work that they want to contract me for the next version.”

Leeann tipped her head to the side. “Are you going to accept?”

Ellie shrugged. “I’m waiting for the game to come out. If it’s very successful, I can negotiate bigger royalties.”

“That’s smart.” Leeann took her napkin, wrapper, and Ellie’s and tossed them. “My publisher offered an unbelievable advance, and my agent thinks it’s a generous offer, so I’m planning to sign.”

Ellie got up from the table and picked up Leeann’s ARC. “At least I don’t have to go to Japan for this project. The travel for the anime work is fun but tiring and takes a lot of time out of my schedule.”

Leeann walked with Ellie to the living room. “Going to Los Angeles isn’t too bad, is it?”

Ellie handed Leeann the ARC and picked her camera up from the coffee table. “I do have to go more than I’d like, but I don’t have a recording studio in my home, which means I fly out to L.A. every time I start a project.”

“The animated movie for your last project comes out next year?”

“August first.” Ellie gestured to a chair. “Get ready to flash your gorgeous smile.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Leeann settled in the armchair, which had a variety of potted plants behind it, making it seem like the chair was in the middle of a jungle. Ellie had arranged the chair and plants perfectly for social media photos when she had a client in her home.

Hailee jumped into Leeann’s lap, causing her to laugh. “Hailee gets to be in the photo, too.”

“That cat sure loves to pose. Now hold the book up, Leeann.” Ellie crouched and took a photograph in front of her cousin. She took more photos from different angles and paused to scan the digital images from the small screen on the back of the camera. “These are terrific.”

Ellie showed them to Leeann, who pointed to an image. “I think that’s the best one.”

“Agreed.” Ellie started for the stairs. “Hold on while I get my laptop.”

When she returned, she uploaded the photos, and they looked at them again, only this time in a much larger format. Leeann sat beside her on the couch and pointed to the screen. “Yes, that’s the best one.”

While they chatted, Ellie logged into a social media manager, picked her cousin’s file from a list of clients, and uploaded the photo. She copied hashtags from a file on her home screen, pasted them below a caption they agreed on, and added a few more tags.

“There you go.” Ellie opened a file labeled Rawlings Ranch. “Check these out.”

She scrolled through the photos she had taken with her phone. “This is a client I picked up yesterday. These are just pics from my phone—I still need to go out with my camera and take more professional photos.”

The first image was of the sign at the ranch’s gate. “I’ve heard of Rawling’s Ranch. It’s in Gold Canyon, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Ellie waited for her cousin to come to the picture she wanted Leeann to see.

When she reached it, Leeann pointed to the screen. “Oh, my God. Is that gorgeous hunk of cowboy your client?”

“Yep.” Ellie grinned. “Even better, I spent time with him at the Renaissance fair when I only knew his name was Tucker, and he was a horse rancher. When I went to the appointment yesterday, I had no idea it was his ranch.”

Leeann perked up. “Oooh, tell me everything.”

Ellie told her all that had happened that she could think of about the fair and her visit to the ranch. “And he invited me to a barn dance and chili cookoff at his place on Saturday.”

“That’s fantastic.” Leeann gave Ellie a teasing grin. “I thought you’d sworn off cowboys.”

Ellie flopped back against the couch and smiled. “That’s true. But I’ve never met a man like Tucker, and I want to get to know him better. You never know, I might find being on a ranch again attractive.”

“If he’s as fine as his picture in all ways, it could happen.” Leeann scrolled through the other photos. “His ranch looks so nice. I love the black mare.”

“It is a beautiful place.” Ellie took the laptop from Leeann as she handed it over. “You wouldn’t believe how many trees are around his home.”

“I’d love to see it.” Leeann cocked her head. “Porter might shoe his horses. Maybe that’s where I’ve heard the name of Tucker’s ranch.”

Leeann’s husband was a sought-after farrier in their region. She had met Porter the year before last when he shod her horse.

A wistful feeling washed over Ellie. “I’d love to travel with someone I love like you did with Porter when you went to Europe for your honeymoon.

I love the photo of you two kissing in front of that church in Budapest.” She shook off the feeling.

“But I’d like to go to Germany to meet my relatives on my mom’s side while I’m there. One of these days.”

Leeann smiled “When your career in voice acting takes off, you’ll be able to travel all you’d like.”

“I need to hire someone to handle my social media business.” Ellie sighed. “It’s too successful to let slide while I do voicework projects.”

Leeann turned so that one knee was on the couch, and the opposite foot was on the floor. “What about your YouTube channel?”

“That I’ll have to keep up on myself.” Ellie considered it. “‘Tips and Tricks for a Great Social Media Presence’ brings in clients that I wouldn’t have found otherwise. But it’s almost too much business.” She nodded to herself. “Yes, I’ll have to hire a part-time employee soon.”

Leeann furrowed her brow. “Autumn’s sister, Reese, works in advertising for a firm in Phoenix. Maybe she’d be interested in a side job.”

Ellie brightened. “That’s right. Autumn told me that Reese wants to put away extra money so that she can travel. I haven’t seen Reese for a long while, but she’s wonderful with people, and I know I can trust her with my business. She’d be perfect.”

“That’s settled then.” Leeann smiled as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll text you her number.”

“Great.” Ellie waited for her phone to ping. “I’ll call her this afternoon.”

“Thanks for coming so fast.” Tucker talked with Porter Gann, the farrier who had backed up his truck in front of the barn. “We’re on your calendar for the rest of the horses, but Katydid decided she needed to see you sooner. I know your schedule’s probably full.”

Porter, a man who generally didn’t do a whole lot of talking, lowered the tailgate, revealing a portable forge and tools of his trade. “Had a cancellation. The man’s wife went into labor early.”

“Lucky for Katy.” Tucker waited until Porter had finished his preparations, then headed with him to the barn. He approached the two-year-old’s stall and took the bridle off the gatepost. He opened the gate, put the bridle on the horse, and walked her out of the stall. “You remember Katydid.”

“Sure do.” Porter patted the roan’s neck before he took the lead, led the horse to his truck, and settled in to shoe the mare.

Tucker watched Porter as he started up his forge. “How’s married life?”

The corner of the gruff man’s mouth lifted. “Never saw myself getting married. Now, I can’t think of life without her.”

“Leeann, right?”

Porter nodded. “Yep.”

Over the past couple of years, Tucker had imagined getting married, but hadn’t yet met the right woman. This time, Ellie came to mind, and he wondered what she thought about having children.

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind for the moment. “Didn’t you say your wife is a McLeod?”

“Yep.”

“I just hired Ellie McLeod to handle my social media,” Tucker said. “Any relation?”

“Leeann’s cousin.” Porter started cleaning the mare’s hoof. “Ellie helped me with a problem about a year ago.”

Tucker didn’t want to pry, so he asked, “How’s your little sister?”

Again, a slight curve to Porter’s lips. “She’s a busy young girl.”

Tucker’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of the holster on his belt and checked the screen. “Gotta take this. Let me know if you need anything.”

Porter gave a nod. “Will do.”