Page 15 of Wrangled

“I said on the application form I haven’t ridden a horse since I was a kid. My granddad had a place in Wyoming. I used to spend my summers there.” Heavenly days.

There was a gleam in Butch’s eye. “Cattle ranch?”

I shook my head. “Horses. He’d break them, then sell them on.”

Butch nodded. “Well, we’d better find you a reliable horse.” He glanced at Teague before addressing Paul. “What about Lightning?”

Zeeb stilled. “Hey, no—”

“You hush. He’s used to horses. He said so, didn’t he?”

“Sure, when he was a kid. Lightning, though…”

I had the feeling I was being tested again.

Teague cleared his throat. “Let’s leave this till the morning. Seeing as you’ll be getting up at five.”

Garrett blinked. “‘Five’? That time comes round twice in one day?”

They laughed.

“Matt’ll have a good breakfast for you, then we feed the horses. And after that the lessons can begin.”

Garrett frowned. “We don’t get a day to settle in?”

Zeeb chuckled. “Hell no. Gonna teach you how to rope a steer.”

“Don’t worry,” Declan assured Garrett. “It’s easier than it sounds. Besides, you won’t be roping arealsteer, just a metal one they yank along.”

Butch snorted. “That’s not what you said the first timeyoutried.Howlong did it take you to get the hang of it?”

Declan laughed. “Yeah, okay. I was pretty shit at it. But I got better.” When Butch peered at the ceiling and whistled, Declan thumped him on the arm. “Hey! I did.”

“Yeah, you did,” Butch admitted. “Just yankin’ your chain.” He peered at Garrett. “And so is Zeeb, truth be told, because we won’t get to steer roping on the first day. The first week is always training, where we teach you to care for the horses—feeding, grooming, the whole shebang—plus you’ll ride a lot of trails, practice roping…”

“And then the second week, it’ll be the cattle drive,” Zeeb added. “Gotta make sure you’re ready for that.”

“I’ve been telling them about it,” Butch commented. “How long it takes, stuff like that…”

“We usually camp out three nights before we head back.” Teague smiled. “Most folks like the idea of sleeping under the stars. Then you get a little downtime before you leave.”

“How long has there been a dude ranch here?”

“Since 2016. Declan was one of our first visitors. The boss’s dad died the year before, and the boss’s sister came up with the idea to bring in more income and keep the place going,” Butch told me. He grinned. “Then she went and started her own dude ranch, but it’s nothing like this place.”

I recalled our conversation from the ride to the ranch. “Ah. Would that be the swanky one?”

“Yup. Real fancy.”

His comments about Salvation’s owner had me intrigued. “The boss’s dad…Was he more hands-on than his son?”

Crickets.

Zeeb broke the awkward silence. “Yes, he was, but so was the boss—before.”

“Before what?”

“Bed, I said.” Teague’s voice rang out.