Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights, #2)(66)

“So what’s the Suttons’ plan?” Janice asked.

“Dunno and ain’t too keen to find out, but I s’pose I’ll have to go by there soon enough. I need them to move those horses outta here before calving season. I’m not about to lose any more stock because a herd of Mustangs ran the calves to death.”

“But, Dirk, how the heck are they going to catch them?”

Dirk shrugged. “That’s their problem. There’s a lot of good cowboys looking for work. They’ll figure something out.”

Toby froze, ears perked and nose raised. Tallulah began sniffing the ground.

Dirk pulled up his horse. “Got something, boy?”

Toby gave a single bark and bounded off to the right through a large patch of sagebrush with Tallulah hot on his heels.

“They found a scent all right. If it’s the cattle, they’ll herd and hold ’em for us.” Dirk spurred his horse with Janice following. A moment later, he reined up again to listen, head cocked to the side. “Sounds like a bawling calf to me.”

Janice listened intently, trying to isolate other sounds from that of the two panting horses but heard nothing until the dogs sounded a cry.

“Yup. They got ’em, all right. Thank you, Jesus!” Dirk declared with a smile and spun his horse around in the direction of the baying dogs.

Three hours later, Janice dismounted to open the wire gate, the dogs standing sentinel as Dirk drove the two cows and solitary calf into the pasture.

He sighed and dismounted from his horse. “Recovered three. Not a total loss, I s’pose. I just hope the damned wolves stay on the mountain. For now, I guess the dogs’ll have to put in some overtime babysitting the herd. Least until I find some safe winter grazing.”

“What about installing fladry lines?” Janice asked. “I’ve heard they help keep wolves away.”

“It’s cost prohibitive and it’s only a short-term solution,” Dirk said. “The wolves eventually get used to them flapping and then pay no more heed. I’m not too worried about it right now though. Don’t anticipate any real trouble until next spring when I move the herd back up the mountain. I may have to bite the bullet at that point and hire someone to babysit.”

“Got anyone in mind?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, but I’ve got enough on my plate right now without fretting about that. Speaking of plates… I’m just about starved.”

“Me too,” Janice confessed. “I’m not a big fan of jerky.”

He shook his head. “I warned you ahead of time what was on the menu.”

“You did, but I also recall you promising to grill me the best T-bone I ever ate if you got your strays back.”

“I did at that,” he said. “You free tonight?”

“Tonight?” She hadn’t really expected him to take her taunt seriously. “I could be,” she replied. “But I’d want to run home and check on Cody and Mama first and of course take a shower and change.”

“Tell you what, Red. I’m so damned happy, I feel like celebrating. Since you plan on getting all cleaned up anyway, how ’bout I take you out instead of cooking? I got a place in mind if you don’t object to a bit of a drive. Might not be quite as good as my home-grilled T-bone, but it’s pretty damned close.”

“Oh yeah?” Janice smiled. “It sounds great, but if I’m gonna be out for very long, I’d need to get Cody settled for the night.” She looked at her watch. It was almost four o’clock. “It could be two or three hours before I could be ready.”

“Then I’ll make us a late reservation.”

“It would have to be after seven.” She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “You probably don’t want to wait that long for supper.”

“Don’t be so sure about that, sweetheart,” he replied. “I’ll pick you up at seven thirty. I may be a slow starter, but I’m learning that some things are worth waiting for.”

*

Arriving home twenty minutes later, Janice came in the back door and hung her hat and coat on the pegs. Her mother was already starting supper and Cody was at the kitchen table doing his homework.

“Hey, Mom!” Cody looked up. “Think you can help me with my spelling words?”

“Sure thing.” Janice smiled and ruffled his red hair before sitting down beside him.

“How was your day?” her mother asked Janice.

“Interesting. Cody would have loved it. Dirk and I rode up the mountain and brought down some missing cattle. His dogs, Toby and Tallulah, found them for us.”

“Really? What kind of dogs are they?” Cody asked.

“Catahoula Leopard dogs.”

“They’re part leopard?” Cody asked.

“No, silly. But they do have spots.”

“Can I have a dog?” Cody asked.

“Make an A on your spelling test, and maybe we’ll talk about it.”

“But I hate spelling!” he replied sullenly. “Spelling sucks!”

“Cody. You watch your mouth.”

He hung his head. “Sorry, Mom. I’m just no good at it.”

“Then you need to work at it more. You can’t get good at anything without practice, Cody. Just like riding horses.”