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Authors: Barbara Elsborg
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the neck.
Gunner had worked for his grandfather as well. The man was well past the age when he should have retired, but Calum suspected his father would let Gunner keep going as long as he wanted.
“Thought you took someone out with you on Zander,” Gunner said. “Lose them?”
“He’s coming back with Ring. Seems the rodeo star needed help handling the rhinestone cowgirls.”
Gunner laughed.
As Calum headed to the ranch house, he saw his father coming the other way looking unsurprised to see him. Bastard. Harsh words bubbled in Calum’s throat but he held them back.
“I need you to go to Jackson,” his father said. “Vera has a list of stuff and there’s a bunch of documents I want picked up from Hardy’s.”
And you couldn’t have asked me to do this yesterday when I went to the airport?
“Okay,” Calum said, and added, “Did you get that fence sorted?” Because he couldn’t help but think the whole thing had been made up just to find out where he was.
“Yep, Dave went.”
“Any cattle get loose?”
“I called Marty and asked him to check.”
Marty ran the adjoining ranch, but he and Calum’s father didn’t get on. Calum wasn’t sure if he’d ever known why. He did know that no man alive could hold grudges as long as his father. The guy had made it a work of art. Which led Calum to suspect his father lied about phoning Marty as well.
As Calum carried on walking, his father called, “Ask your sister if she wants to tag along.”
Calum clenched his jaw. It was almost as though his father could guess what he was thinking—which had been to wait until Jasper returned and then the two of them could go to Jackson together.
“Hardy’s waiting on you, Calum. You need to set off straightaway. Take the SUV.”
“Okay, Boss.” And fuck you too.
Calum ran up the steps and found Vera in the private lounge.
“Dad says you need something from Jackson.”
She handed him a strip of paper. “Thanks, Calum. It wasn’t urgent, but—”
“Does Angie want to come?”
“I doubt it. She’s desperate to finish her necklace.”
“Okay. I’ll go on my own.” He turned to his dog. “Bessie, stay.” Calum snagged the keys to the SUV from the rack and headed out. Maybe a drive would help him sort out his head.
The inane chatter of Melissa and Janie ruined Jasper’s ride back to the ranch. He tried riding ahead, but it wasn’t easy to make a horse lead when he didn’t want to. Zander didn’t have an alpha bone in his body. That bastard Ring managed to wedge Jasper between the two girls by riding his horse with its nose up Zander’s backside. Jasper ignored all the wrangler’s comments about Zander being gay. Ring obviously missed the point that his horse was the one interested in Zander. Ring was such a bloody wanker.
Maybe Calum was too. His sudden disappearance had been disappointing. He’d ridden off without a word, and considering what Jasper had been about to do, he couldn’t help but feel hurt. Though maybe it was for the best. They hadn’t talked much, but enough for Jasper to understand Erik Neilson wasn’t happy about his son’s sexuality. Jasper didn’t want to make trouble for Calum.
Within minutes, the girls had given him a splitting headache. Jasper refused to believe it was the sun. It appeared neither female had an unspoken thought.
“I can’t wait to do the overnight trip,” Melissa said.
“It sounds so romantic, sleeping under the stars.” Janie sighed.
“Cooking our own food,” Melissa added. “It’s going to be fun.”
“It’s cold at night,” Ring said behind them.
“We could snuggle up.” Melissa grinned at Jasper. “Share body heat.”
“What happens when the sun goes down?” Janie turned to Ring.
“We build a fire, cook, eat, drink. I play the guitar, some like to sing and tell stories. Then we go to bed. It could even snow.”
“That would be so great,” Melissa said.
Jasper thought Ring was going to choke
Gunner had worked for his grandfather as well. The man was well past the age when he should have retired, but Calum suspected his father would let Gunner keep going as long as he wanted.
“Thought you took someone out with you on Zander,” Gunner said. “Lose them?”
“He’s coming back with Ring. Seems the rodeo star needed help handling the rhinestone cowgirls.”
Gunner laughed.
As Calum headed to the ranch house, he saw his father coming the other way looking unsurprised to see him. Bastard. Harsh words bubbled in Calum’s throat but he held them back.
“I need you to go to Jackson,” his father said. “Vera has a list of stuff and there’s a bunch of documents I want picked up from Hardy’s.”
And you couldn’t have asked me to do this yesterday when I went to the airport?
“Okay,” Calum said, and added, “Did you get that fence sorted?” Because he couldn’t help but think the whole thing had been made up just to find out where he was.
“Yep, Dave went.”
“Any cattle get loose?”
“I called Marty and asked him to check.”
Marty ran the adjoining ranch, but he and Calum’s father didn’t get on. Calum wasn’t sure if he’d ever known why. He did know that no man alive could hold grudges as long as his father. The guy had made it a work of art. Which led Calum to suspect his father lied about phoning Marty as well.
As Calum carried on walking, his father called, “Ask your sister if she wants to tag along.”
Calum clenched his jaw. It was almost as though his father could guess what he was thinking—which had been to wait until Jasper returned and then the two of them could go to Jackson together.
“Hardy’s waiting on you, Calum. You need to set off straightaway. Take the SUV.”
“Okay, Boss.” And fuck you too.
Calum ran up the steps and found Vera in the private lounge.
“Dad says you need something from Jackson.”
She handed him a strip of paper. “Thanks, Calum. It wasn’t urgent, but—”
“Does Angie want to come?”
“I doubt it. She’s desperate to finish her necklace.”
“Okay. I’ll go on my own.” He turned to his dog. “Bessie, stay.” Calum snagged the keys to the SUV from the rack and headed out. Maybe a drive would help him sort out his head.
The inane chatter of Melissa and Janie ruined Jasper’s ride back to the ranch. He tried riding ahead, but it wasn’t easy to make a horse lead when he didn’t want to. Zander didn’t have an alpha bone in his body. That bastard Ring managed to wedge Jasper between the two girls by riding his horse with its nose up Zander’s backside. Jasper ignored all the wrangler’s comments about Zander being gay. Ring obviously missed the point that his horse was the one interested in Zander. Ring was such a bloody wanker.
Maybe Calum was too. His sudden disappearance had been disappointing. He’d ridden off without a word, and considering what Jasper had been about to do, he couldn’t help but feel hurt. Though maybe it was for the best. They hadn’t talked much, but enough for Jasper to understand Erik Neilson wasn’t happy about his son’s sexuality. Jasper didn’t want to make trouble for Calum.
Within minutes, the girls had given him a splitting headache. Jasper refused to believe it was the sun. It appeared neither female had an unspoken thought.
“I can’t wait to do the overnight trip,” Melissa said.
“It sounds so romantic, sleeping under the stars.” Janie sighed.
“Cooking our own food,” Melissa added. “It’s going to be fun.”
“It’s cold at night,” Ring said behind them.
“We could snuggle up.” Melissa grinned at Jasper. “Share body heat.”
“What happens when the sun goes down?” Janie turned to Ring.
“We build a fire, cook, eat, drink. I play the guitar, some like to sing and tell stories. Then we go to bed. It could even snow.”
“That would be so great,” Melissa said.
Jasper thought Ring was going to choke
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