Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights, #2)(59)

Chapter 14


Dirk was waiting for her outside, pacing and wanting to kick himself. Once more he’d been a jackass, lashing out at her for no good reason. He should be happy as hell just to have gotten laid, but the situation was exactly as he’d feared. Being with Janice made him crave everything he couldn’t have—a normal life.

He’d accepted long ago, four years to be precise, that he’d never have the kind of freedom or relationship that others took for granted—especially where sex was concerned. It wasn’t just the prosthesis; his body was so scarred and mutilated that he’d never be able to reveal it to any woman in the light of day. Her pushing him to do so only reminded him of his inadequacies and frustrated the hell out of him.

Needing a distraction, Dirk headed out to the hay barn to load up the tractor to feed the cattle. He hated having to start feeding hay so early in the season, but it was a cost he would have to bear at least until he could find better winter grazing. The summer in this part of the valley had been dry, which made for lean grass, so he’d left the cattle up on the mountain pastures as long as he’d dared, but it was past time to bring them back down. The temperature up there had already dropped below freezing at night and the higher elevations were covered with snow. They could get more any day. He’d already gathered most of the herd, but he couldn’t afford to lose the strays to wolves. He planned to go after them as soon as he got Janice settled. At least a light cover of snow would give him a better ability to track his missing stock.

Dirk found the door to the shop open and his father working on the tractor.

“’Bout time you showed yourself,” Justin Knowlton grunted.

“It’s barely seven,” Dirk protested.

“And I’ve already been out here for a solid hour. Hand me that wrench, would you?”

“What’s wrong with the damn thing now?” Dirk asked.

“Looks like a hydraulic leak. I’ll probably have to go into town. We need a replacement hose. Why are you so late?”

“I was occupied with a new hand I hired.”

“Oh yeah?” The old man stood up with a groan and then looked around the shop. “Where is he?”

“He is actually a she,” Dirk replied. “Do you remember Janice Combes?”

“Yeah, I do. Didn’t she marry that Garrison boy you used to rodeo with?”

“She did, but now she’s come back home. She’s been looking for ranch work, so I offered her a job.”

“Did you now?” His father raised a pair of bushy brows. “Think she can handle it?”

“Yeah, I can handle it,” Janice answered for herself. She entered the shop and extended her hand. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Knowlton.”

Justin wiped his greasy hands on his coveralls before taking hers. “Been a long time, young lady.”

“It has, but I’ve done just about everything when it comes to ranch work.” She nodded to the tractor. “Even fixing machinery.”

“Oh yeah?” He slanted his son a dubious look. “Think you can tell me what’s wrong with this thing?”

“Probably,” Janice said.

Dirk interjected, “We don’t have time for you to grill her right now. I need that tractor running. You want me to go to town and get the part or are you gonna do it?”

“I’ll go,” his father replied. “S’pose I’ll take the ol’ lady with me. Come by the house later?” he asked Janice. “Donna will want to see you.”

“Sure, I’ll drop by for a few minutes before I leave.”

He nodded to Dirk. “While I get that hose replaced, maybe you’ll want to go ahead and take a look at the fence in the south section? The cows pushed part of it over.”

“Already on it,” Dirk answered. “Took a look at it yesterday. Gotta replace a few rotted posts. Guess I might as well tend to it now.”

It took an effort to temper his impatience. His father had supposedly turned operations over to him three years ago. It rankled whenever the old man forgot who was in charge.

“Later then.” His father gave a curt nod.

“Ready to get to work?” Dirk asked Janice.

“Not quite yet,” she said, once his father was out of earshot. “This is new territory for me too, but it’s my turn to apologize. I’m sorry, Dirk. I didn’t understand.”

“Understand what?”

“How you feel about your…loss.”

“And now you think you do?” He scowled back at her and then started throwing fencing tools into the utility cart of the ATV. “I ain’t buying that, sweetheart. No one can understand until they’ve walked in my boots—or maybe I should make that singular,” he added bitterly. “I only wear a pair for appearances’ sake.”

She laid a hand on his arm. “Please. Don’t be like this.”

“Like what?” he snapped, jerking his arm away.

“I don’t know…so…so…angry. Sometimes you seem like the old Dirk, and then at others you just turn like a rattlesnake. What happened to you over there?”

“What happened?” He glared back at her. “I’ll tell you what f*cking happened! I gave six years of my life and half my leg for nothing!”