Stepbrother Cowboy: A Western Romance by Lee Moore, Angela Kelly

jumbled mess. I shook it to clear out the mental cobwebs. Did he mean watch out for her, don’t let her get hurt literally? Like keep Tim away? Or was he warning me off? How much did he know or suspect?
    I grabbed my bag and headed to the bathroom. The water in the old cabin was barely warm, so I hurried the shower. When I got out, I found a note on the door from Ali that she’d meet me at the horse barn. I smiled, surprised I hadn’t noticed it when Bill had come in. I pulled my boots on, grabbed the rifle and headed out, grabbing my hat at the last minute. I fled this life as fast as I could 7 years ago, now I was jumping right back into it. I checked the mags before I left the porch, and went back inside, getting the box. I loaded all three, putting one magazine in the rifle, but left the chamber empty. I put the extra shells in a breast pocket, knowing that any riding would be uncomfortable with those in any of my pants pocket.
    The walk to the barn didn’t take me long, and in the daylight I could see that I could have easily parked my jeep here. Note to self for next time. The ranch was already buzzing with activity, and a truck took off from the bunkhouse, with half a dozen guys sitting in the bed, their lunch buckets piled up near the cab. Only one or two people were mounted on horses, and it was probably because they were preferring to ride out, or riding fence the other way. Me? I was walking. At least for now.
    Inside the horse barn, the four footed beggars were all waiting. The man I assumed must be Charlie was rubbing down a paint.
    “Charlie?” held out my hand to the man who grinned at me with white teeth through a dark complexion.
    He broke out into a grin and offered me his. He looked like he was of Spanish and Indian decent, probably grew up right around here.
    “Yeah, that’s me. I heard you need to borrow a horse for some riding.”
    “Hi, I’m Cameron, yeah; I’m going to be riding fence on the Bart side.”
    Charlie gave a low whistle and put his hand on my shoulder a moment.
    “That may not be the safest job on the ranch right now.”
    “I’ve heard. I’d like to help, and I’m family now.”
    “Yeah, and you have to do what you can for family. I have a big one myself. What you need, is a good fast horse.”
    “Lightning?” I asked, breaking the grip and rubbing the paint’s nose.
    “Yes. She’s quick, but she has a temper. Don’t let her start steering on her own, or she gets a bit uppity. Might nip you. She’s only thrown me once, but that’s when she was younger. We get along good now,” he said rubbing her neck.
    Lightning leaned her head my way, looking me in the eye and taking my measure. I reached my hand out to pet the other side of her neck when she stomped her hoof. I stepped back, giving her some distance. After a moment, she stepped forward and put her nose into my shirt, getting my smell. She shook her head side to side for a moment, and I scratched her, between the ears. She gave me a gentle nudge with her head that almost had me stumbling. Charlie was laughing quietly.
    “That means she likes you. That’s a Lightning hug.”
    “Well, I’m glad I passed muster.”
    “I’d hate to see what would have happened if you tried to saddle her without me here.”
    “Bad?”
    “Yeah. You should be pretty good now. If you’ve ridden headstrong horses before, you know what they’re like when they test you.”
    “Yeah, Mom and I sold the ranch I grew up on when dad died and-”
    “Yes. Good then. Feel free to use any tack, just keep her tied off on the lead, otherwise she’ll try to sneak into one of the cans for an extra bite of feed. She’s a pig, that one,” but Lightning shook her head up and down, chuffing air out of her nose at Charlie.
    “Ok, thanks.”
    “Good, I have to go. I’m taking the last truck with a couple late starters this morning out to the field.”
    With that, he was gone, and I had a new friend to win over. I took Lightning by the halter