Page 33 of Wyoming Heart

“I know you will.”

“Okay, then, Bill, if you’ll take Mr....” She stopped, blinked, flushed. She hadn’t even asked the man’s name and she hadn’t looked at that part of the job application.

“Jerry Fender,” he said, holding his hand out. He was certain she wouldn’t recognize the last name. It was his legal one now. It had been for years and years.

“Mina Michaels,” she replied, shaking his hand. “I hope you’ll like it here. Bill, can you get him settled? And Sagebrush there can sleep in the bunkhouse with him.” She glanced at Jerry and grinned. “You’ll have the bunkhouse to yourself,” she added. “My other guys, including Bill, are part-timers.”

He cocked his head. “Sagebrush won’t mind sleeping outside...”

She waved away the suggestion. “He’s a good dog,” she said. “You know, it will be nice having one on the place. We haven’t had a dog since...” She broke off, remembering. The look on her face was painful. The new man grimaced and turned away.

“Okay, then,” he said, interrupting her. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, I’ll clean him up.”

She laughed. “That’s a deal. He sure does have a lot of fur.”

“That’s the husky in him,” Jerry said, bending down to ruffle the dog’s fur.

Funny, Mina was thinking, how that simple act prodded memories of a time long past when her father had loved Duke so much. She turned back toward the house. The new man was oddly familiar to her, but she was sure she’d never met him before. It didn’t matter, anyway, as long as he did a good job.

“SHE’SNICE,” JERRYTOLDBill as he moved into the bunkhouse with his dog.

“She is. One day, she’ll be at the top of theNew York Timesbestseller list,” Bill predicted. “She can really write. They’ve had parties for her all month, introducing her to the best families.”

“The ones with money, I presume?” Jerry replied, and not with much enthusiasm.

“Mostly. She’s got a beau. Jake McGuire. He owns one of the biggest ranches around and he likes Mina. But she’s not much on men.” He shook his head. “What she went through at home,” he added, wincing. “Her mother’s lovers came and went. One beat Mina up, another had her hiding out in the woods all night. She’s had a hell of a life.”

The other man swallowed, hard. “She seems to have managed pretty well.”

“She did. She’s strong and tough.” He laughed. “You should read her latest book,SPECTRE. She went crawling on her belly through jungles with an AK-47 with this merc commando group that adopted her to research the damned thing. She loves mercs and cops.” He shook his head. “It’s a runaway bestseller.”

“Good Lord,” he exclaimed, and laughed. “I’ll have to give it a look.”

“You won’t be able to put it down,” the older man promised.

Jerry just smiled.

MINAHADLUNCHwith Bart in the local restaurant a few days later.

“How’s your new hired man working out?” he asked.

She laughed. “Now how did you know that?”

“Bill,” he returned. “He says you’ve got a real winner there.”

“I heard that he goes to church with Bill.”

Bart studied her. “You haven’t set foot in a church in years.”

Her face closed up.

He sighed. “Okay. Don’t talk to me.”

“I hear your houseguest is squiring the happy divorcée around,” she said after a minute. “Is he bringing her to the dance Thursday night?”

“He hasn’t said. Are you going?” he added.

She smiled. “I don’t know. Probably not. Next Friday, Jake’s taking me to Billings for what he says is the best steak west of the Mississippi River. If I go to the dance, I’ll be too worn-out the next day to go off with Jake.”