Page 4 of Her Missing Cowboy (Silver Creek Ranch #10)

Four

Joaquin

Joaquin lay in his bed contemplating his life.

Every day was the same. Sure, the tasks changed sometimes, but in essence he was just going through the motions.

It was like he was in the remake of that old school movie, Groundhog Day.

There was no thrill, no love and nothing to look forward to.

The life of a cowboy was not for the weak.

Not that he was weak. Just the opposite. He was just unhappy.

The man craved the love of a good woman.

Not just any woman either. She needed to be a kindhearted, former Marine with beautiful brown eyes and the ability to make him sit up and beg.

Since he was convinced that life was an impossibility for him, he rose from his bunk and got ready to rope some cattle.

“Hey Tanner, I need you out on the west pasture today. We’re vaccinating the calves this morning,” Buck, the lead ranch hand, ordered.

Not one for a lot of talk, Joaquin nodded at the man to acknowledge he understood his assignment. He mounted Jersey, his brown and white Appaloosa, and rode off with the rest of the cowboys.

The day was long, and the temperature was hot.

The work was hard, and his body was feeling it.

By lunch time, his head was pounding and all he wanted to do was sleep.

So instead of spending his downtime eating, he decided to take a nap under a tree, with his feet kicked up.

Before he could get comfortable, he was summoned by Buck.

“Tanner, I can’t have you passing out from hunger. Miss Bee has cooked a hearty lunch for us. If you don’t eat, she will take it as a personal insult. Do you want to upset Miss Bee?”

“No sir, I don’t. That’s the last thing I want to happen. I just have a headache.”

“Well, they got aspirin up at the house. Get you two of those pills and come on. Everybody’s waiting on you.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the crew was attacking Miss Bee’s fried chicken, there was a loud knock on the door. Everyone was chatting wildly about how good the chicken was as Mr. Harvey, the ranch owner, stood up to answer the door.

“Miss Bee, you sure put your foot in this chicken,” Cody barked.

“Damn, Cody! Chew first, then talk,” Rocky ordered.

The two of them argued like an old married couple.

If Joaquin didn’t know any better, he would say they were lovers.

Joaquin zoned out and chewed his food. It was damn good chicken.

The best he had in a long while. Just as he was chasing down his mashed potatoes with some ice-cold lemonade, he heard Mr. Harvey come back into the dining room.

“Tanner, there’s someone here to see you,” Mr. Harvey growled.

Shocked that anyone would be there for him, Joaquin’s head shot up to see who was there.

The room started spinning as he locked eyes with the beautiful woman he had ever seen.

He had to be hallucinating. Had he fallen asleep under the tree and all of this was a part of his dream?

Before he could make sense of what was happening, he heard her familiar voice squeal.

“Oh my God! Quinny! It’s you.”

He sighed at hearing the nickname she always called him.

The beauty rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around him before he could react.

She plied him with kisses all over his face, as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Each peck melted a little piece of ice from his aching heart. It felt like heaven. Was it really her?

From the moment her soft body crashed into his, Joaquin went numb.

She smelled just like he remembered. The lime and coconut scented body wash and lotion she always wore reminded him of a day at the beach.

Taking a long sniff of her neck, he reveled in the fact that he was really touching her. This was no dream.

“Cassie,” he barely managed to growl before burying his face back into her neck.

All he really wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and squeeze her until his limbs went numb.

She felt so damn good. It was the moment he had been dreaming of for the last two years.

As the water welled up in his eyes, he heard the country drawl of his co-worker ring out into the room.

It was just like Rocky to try to make everything about him.

“What in tar nation? Who knew old Tanner had a woman? I thought she was just a fantasy from his dreams.”

“Shut up, Rocky. I’m trying to watch the show,” Cody reprimanded, causing the rest of the cowboy to laugh.

That reaction was what caused Joaquin to pull away from her. She allowed him to pull back, but only a bit. Cassie took his face in her hands and just stared at him. She looked him over, as if she was checking to see that he was uninjured. There it was. The bronco bull in the room.

He wasn’t the same as she left him. He was indeed injured.

However, he had no intention of making it obvious.

Joaquin was determined to hide his injury from her for as long as he could.

There was no way he wanted to see disappointment or pity in her eyes.

Not after the way she had just greeted him.

He felt like a whole man for the first time in years.

He craved her acceptance. And he would have it.

“Sweet girl, pull up a chair and have some lunch. Miss Bee made her famous fried chicken and let me tell you, it is good,” Mr. Harvey cooed.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Harvey. I’ve been driving for quite a few hours and refused to stop on the way. I would appreciate a good meal,” Cassie replied as her stomach growled in agreement.

Joaquin stood up, grabbed a chair and helped Cassie sit. Everyone was staring at the poor girl like she was fresh off the planet Mars. It was Miss Bee who broke the tension up by passing her the bowl of mashed potatoes.

“You’re lucky this lot didn’t have a chance to polish off the food. They’re a greedy bunch. Especially when I cook their favorites,” Miss Bee chimed.

She was the nicest person in the room. Everyone liked and respected her. If she said jump everyone in the room would assume she was talking to them, and they would all leap into the air without question.

Cassie smiled sweetly and accepted the bowl of potatoes.

Joaquin had a difficult time keeping his eyes off her.

She was so damn beautiful. Even after driving all morning.

Her brown skin glowed with a light sheen of sweat.

She wore no makeup, but her face was flawless.

Her hair was pulled into a ponytail allowing her brown eyes to shine.

But her best feature was that smile. Joaquin loved to make her happy just to see it cross her lips. It hadn’t left her face since she arrived. It warmed him inside to know that she had missed him as much as he had her.

“So, Tanner, you gonna introduce us or naw? Some people don’t have the manners God gave a Billy goat,” Rocky grunted.

Jaquin rolled his eyes at his annoying coworker. He did have to admit he was being quite rude. He just didn’t want to share her with any of them. Especially since she had just arrived.

“Sorry, guys. Everyone, this is my Cassie. It’s been a long two years since we’ve seen each other. Cassie, these are the guys I work with on the ranch. Names are not relevant, as I don’t intend for you to interact with them. You’ve already met Mr. Harvey and Miss Bee.”

Joaquin screwed up his face at Rocky when he made the comment about names.

The last thing he wanted was for Cassie to take up a conversation with this group of guys.

There would be no telling what lies they would come up with.

They were a bunch of jokesters, and he didn’t need anyone to play a prank on him.

He especially didn’t want any of them flapping their gums about his arm.

“If’n you thought that little jab was gonna keep me from asking this pretty lady questions, you got another think coming, Tanner,” Rocky said as he set his eyes on Cassie.

A chill shot down Joaquin’s back as he waited to hear what would come out of his nemesis’ mouth next. Normally, he didn’t mind Rocky’s shenanigans, but when it came to Cassie, he was a bundle of nerves.

“So, Miss Lady, how do you know our Tanner?” Rocky continued.

The rest of the men at the table looked on with interest. They were all nosey and just salivating for a chance to get into Joaquin’s business.

Since he arrived at the ranch a year ago, he had kept to himself, not divulging much about his life.

It was none of their business. Now was their chance to get the answers to the questions that had never been answered.

Cassie, being a cautious person, gave surface level information to appease the crowd.

“We met when I was deployed over in Syria. Joaquin was a civilian contractor for our unit. Our relationship quickly became more than friends and we spent every minute we could together. We got separated during an attack and I’ve been searching for him ever since.

I heard about this ranch that Mr. Harvey started and decided to take a chance.

I guess fate was on my side because here he sits. ”

Everyone was fascinated by her tale, as short as it was.

They wanted more, but not even Rocky was crazy enough to pry after finding out about the attack.

He knew what it was like to hold pain inside.

They all did. By the time lunch was over, the fellas seemed to have a new respect for old Tanner.

Mr. Harvey, being a romantic, decided to give Tanner the rest of the day off so he could get reacquainted with his love.

“Tanner, you just go on and take the rest of the day off. We’re almost finished vaccinating the calves. The rest of us can manage without you for the afternoon. I’m fine with you having some time off.”

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate your kindness.”

He rose from his chair as giddy as a kid on Christmas.

All he could think about was getting her alone.

Seeing her again had awoken his libido. The need to bury himself inside her was at the forefront of his mind, but he knew better.

They hadn’t seen each other in a while. They needed to talk first. Plus, his sit-down air wasn’t very pleasant.

His stand-up air was even worse. He needed a shower.