girls where he was. It was better to just play aloof right now and get back with them when school started. They’d forgive him; they always did.
Before he logged off, Maddox decided to send a note to his buddy Hollace. Maddox knew his friend would give him proper pity for being stuck in the sticks with a bunch of bumpkins. His eyes roamed to the picture of Chanel and her mother. She was not a bumpkin. Chanel was something else. A bitch, for sure, but something else niggled at him too. He could tell Hollace about the “farmer’s daughter,” which would spur some hilarious comebacks and provide a thread for them to banter on for the duration of summer, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. After nixing that topic, Maddox realized he had nothing to say after all. How could he admit to beaching his car and almost seriously injuring a girl when he dumped her on the dashboard of a tractor because a coyote startled him? Oh, and don’t forget the frying pan alarm clock. Aside from meeting Lila, the last three days had been one humiliation after another. Trashing the email, Maddox closed down the Internet and switched off the monitor.
The house was quiet when he emerged from the office. Maddox spotted Mitch and Chanel still out on the deck. Feeling sorry for himself, he turned and slipped out the front door.
CHAPTER SIX
Cattle spilled over the hill, and Chanel’s heartbeat quickened. Watching horses gallop through a field was her favorite sight, but this was a close second. Mother cows calling to their calves, and the little ones bawling back created hundreds of voices raised in chaos. Cowboys yipped, and dogs barked as the crew funneled the herd into an oversized log corral.
A calf tried to break away, but Chanel spotted it and called out to Soda, “Left circle.” The black and white dog zipped around the calf and neatly tucked it back into the swarm of bovine bodies.
The dust would choke most people, but Chanel inhaled deeply the smell of manure, sagebrush, and dirt. Excitement zipped through her as she fingered the rope tied to her saddle. The night before she’d thrown a few loops around a roping dummy to warm up her shoulder. It’d been a year since she’d attempted to catch anything, and she knew the guys would be ready to give her a hard time if she was off today.
Jerry rattled the metal gate into place behind Fritz, David, and Mitch. They would begin sorting the grown cows and bulls out of the pen, leaving behind the calves to be branded and vaccinated.
Chanel led Vivi, her palomino mare, to a nearby tree and tied the lead rope to a branch. The sound of a motor, just audible above the mob of irritated cattle, made her peek over Vivi’s back. Christine’s red pickup bounced along the faded tracks of an ancient road. Her aunt pulled the truck into a shady spot under a couple of pine trees across the clearing from Vivi and Chanel. Maddox jumped out of the cab with Jessi close behind him.
“We’ll find out just how good he is at tackling things,” Chanel murmured, and the mare switched her white tale in response.
Chanel crossed the clearing to help unload the truck while the guys continued to sort the cattle. It would be a little bit before they got everything situated, so the branding could begin.
“Maddox, can you lift that barbeque out of the truck for me?” Christine asked, coming around the pickup. “Hey, Chanel. How was the gather?”
Chanel and the rest of the crew had set out at five o’clock that morning to round up the cattle for the branding. “Good. I think we got a fairly clean sweep. Hopefully, the stragglers will bring themselves in before we break camp tomorrow.” Every year the Double O set up camp on Jersey Flat for two days of working cattle. It was an adventure Chanel had loved since she was little. From the time she was five, she had a job in the middle of the action. She started carrying the bucket to catch the castrated testicles, and moved up to painting tar
Before he logged off, Maddox decided to send a note to his buddy Hollace. Maddox knew his friend would give him proper pity for being stuck in the sticks with a bunch of bumpkins. His eyes roamed to the picture of Chanel and her mother. She was not a bumpkin. Chanel was something else. A bitch, for sure, but something else niggled at him too. He could tell Hollace about the “farmer’s daughter,” which would spur some hilarious comebacks and provide a thread for them to banter on for the duration of summer, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. After nixing that topic, Maddox realized he had nothing to say after all. How could he admit to beaching his car and almost seriously injuring a girl when he dumped her on the dashboard of a tractor because a coyote startled him? Oh, and don’t forget the frying pan alarm clock. Aside from meeting Lila, the last three days had been one humiliation after another. Trashing the email, Maddox closed down the Internet and switched off the monitor.
The house was quiet when he emerged from the office. Maddox spotted Mitch and Chanel still out on the deck. Feeling sorry for himself, he turned and slipped out the front door.
CHAPTER SIX
Cattle spilled over the hill, and Chanel’s heartbeat quickened. Watching horses gallop through a field was her favorite sight, but this was a close second. Mother cows calling to their calves, and the little ones bawling back created hundreds of voices raised in chaos. Cowboys yipped, and dogs barked as the crew funneled the herd into an oversized log corral.
A calf tried to break away, but Chanel spotted it and called out to Soda, “Left circle.” The black and white dog zipped around the calf and neatly tucked it back into the swarm of bovine bodies.
The dust would choke most people, but Chanel inhaled deeply the smell of manure, sagebrush, and dirt. Excitement zipped through her as she fingered the rope tied to her saddle. The night before she’d thrown a few loops around a roping dummy to warm up her shoulder. It’d been a year since she’d attempted to catch anything, and she knew the guys would be ready to give her a hard time if she was off today.
Jerry rattled the metal gate into place behind Fritz, David, and Mitch. They would begin sorting the grown cows and bulls out of the pen, leaving behind the calves to be branded and vaccinated.
Chanel led Vivi, her palomino mare, to a nearby tree and tied the lead rope to a branch. The sound of a motor, just audible above the mob of irritated cattle, made her peek over Vivi’s back. Christine’s red pickup bounced along the faded tracks of an ancient road. Her aunt pulled the truck into a shady spot under a couple of pine trees across the clearing from Vivi and Chanel. Maddox jumped out of the cab with Jessi close behind him.
“We’ll find out just how good he is at tackling things,” Chanel murmured, and the mare switched her white tale in response.
Chanel crossed the clearing to help unload the truck while the guys continued to sort the cattle. It would be a little bit before they got everything situated, so the branding could begin.
“Maddox, can you lift that barbeque out of the truck for me?” Christine asked, coming around the pickup. “Hey, Chanel. How was the gather?”
Chanel and the rest of the crew had set out at five o’clock that morning to round up the cattle for the branding. “Good. I think we got a fairly clean sweep. Hopefully, the stragglers will bring themselves in before we break camp tomorrow.” Every year the Double O set up camp on Jersey Flat for two days of working cattle. It was an adventure Chanel had loved since she was little. From the time she was five, she had a job in the middle of the action. She started carrying the bucket to catch the castrated testicles, and moved up to painting tar
Similar Books
