Cowgirl Up and Ride (Rough Riders #3)(89)

“You seen Colt?”


“Nah. Dad’s keepin’ him away from me. You seen him?”


“Nope. Kane and I are doin’ the shit hayin’ along the ditches in the public thoroughfare on either side of the county line so I ain’t seen much of my brother either.


What’ve you and Uncle C been talkin’ about?”


“Keepin’ the part of the herd that’s up on the western edge on summer grazin’ over the winter and through calvin’ season.”


“Why?”


“There’s plenty of feed and water. We need to rest the grazin’ where we’d keep ’em here anyway. I’m sick of drivin’ cattle a hunnerd miles, and back and forth twice a year.


If we don’t lose too many head, we might expand up there with a fulltime operation. If we do have losses, chalk it up to a failed experiment and we know for sure it can only be used as summer grazin’.”


“That’s damn isolated country out there, Cord. No town for sixty miles.” Kade’s eyes registered recognition. “You’re thinkin’ of sendin’ Colt out into the boondocks? As a way to get him to dry out?”


“We’re considerin’ it. Don’t know if he’ll go for it. We can’t force him. Even out in the middle of nowhere he could invite some of his boozin’ friends. Then our experiment wouldn’t matter—either for him or the cattle, ’cause I’ve no doubt the cows wouldn’t do well under his half-assed drunken care.” Cord sighed. “Like I said, nothin’s decided, somethin’ we’re kickin’ around.”


“Keep me in the loop.” Kade eased to his feet.


“Don’t say nothin’ to nobody.”


Kade snorted. “I’m a little short on roommates these days. Do most my talkin’ to the tractor or the cattle.”


“I hear ya there.” Cord followed Kade out to his pickup.


“This sucks sometimes, don’t it?”


“What?”


“Bein’ the oldest next generation McKay son. You. Me. Quinn. Knowin’ that keepin’ the McKay ranch goin’ is on our shoulders. Feelin’ responsible for every damn thing that happens on our place. Bein’ stewards to the land and the cattle and feedin’ the mouths of our family. Makin’ sure everyone and everything is properly tended. Can be a heavy weight, cuz. Can be damn lonely.”


Cord didn’t respond. Kade wasn’t much for philosophizing, but when he did, he was always dead on. Cord was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and listen.



“Least you got an heir. I thought I’d be married by now. Have a couple of kids. It ain’t really bothered me until recently. I figured there was time. Now that I’ve been livin’ with my folks, might sound sappy as shit, but I want what they have. I’m afraid I’m gonna wake up in ten years and be a grumpy forty-year-old man and be in the same damn place I am now.”


Was Cord an example to his cousin of the kind of man Kade did not want to become? Why’d that sting so bad? He wasn’t so set in his ways he couldn’t change, could he?


“Maybe things are gonna change.”


“Whenever you say that, it’s usually for the worse,” Kade said wryly.


“Lemme know when you’re ready to introduce your lady friend.”


“Like hell. She’ll dump me and go for you—the broodin’ cowboy with the wounded soul and the cute-as-a-button motherless son. Plus, you’ve got a bigger”—he grinned—