Cowboy Take Me Away (Rough Riders 16)

But today the man was being a jackass and left them to deal with it on their own.

Fine. They’d show him they didn’t need his help.

They moved down the bottom slope that led to the rise where the road bisected their land. From here Carson could see the whole herd.

Casper kicked his horse to a gallop so he could get the gates open. They’d decided he’d position himself on one side of the road once the first few head of cattle passed through the gate and the herd mentality would keep the flow going. Then Charlie would flank the opposite side while Cal drove the main part of the herd forward.

It went like clockwork—until that first boom of thunder. Then the last twenty cow and calf pairs bolted. Half went to the left. Half went to the right. Running right down the middle of the damn road in opposite directions.

Carson whistled at Cal and pointed left, while he reined his horse right, kicking it into a gallop. He didn’t get the runaways stopped for a quarter of a mile. After he’d gotten them turned around, he half-hoped for another boom of thunder to get them back to the gate quickly.

No thunder, but it started to rain. Which didn’t bother the cattle; in fact, it got rid of the flies for a while. They didn’t have much farther to go. Once they settled the herd near the small stock dam they could ride back to Cal’s place. After all this shit had started with his dad, Carson had moved his horse and his tack to his brother’s barn.

The rain didn’t let up. It became a torrential downpour. Good for the land so he wasn’t complaining. But the temp had hovered near eighty-five and the rain cooled him down right quick. Since the ground was slippery, they’d slowed the horses.

At least the wind wasn’t blowing.

Yet.

Cal yelled at him, “Ain’t this ridin’ horseback in the rain shit romantic? You and Carolyn oughta try it.”

“Piss off, Cal.” Then he smiled for the first time in an hour, remembering that hot, wet night he and Caro had spent in the rain.

It took two hours to get back to Cal’s. Carson tried to put it out of his mind that it would’ve taken them ten minutes to load the horses and fifteen minutes of driving time if their dad had helped out today.

After feeding the horses and hanging up the wet tack, they trooped into Cal’s house.

The place was big and it needed a lot of work. They’d fixed what they could until the rest of their building supplies arrived.

Once inside the main living area, Carson noticed Cal had placed buckets everywhere. “At least we’ll know where to patch the roof when it dries out.”

“I’m thinkin’ the whole thing needs replaced.”

“It’s pretty flat, probably won’t take that long. Order the shingles next time you’re in town and I’ll help you roof it before summer’s end.”

“Won’t you have to ask the little wifey if you can hang out with your brother first?” Casper asked with a sneer.

“Nah. I’m hopin’ maybe she’ll help.”

Cal and Charlie laughed.

“Maybe once she learns the the truth about the ranch she won’t stick around,” Casper said slyly.

“What truth?”

“Oh, haven’t you heard? With the most recent land purchase and you getting married that Dad is changing the legal parameters for inheriting the ranch.”

Carson stared hard at Casper. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

“Dad had an appointment on Friday with the trust attorney at the bank.”

“What?” Carson and Cal said simultaneously. Then Carson demanded, “Why the f**k would he do that and not tell us?”

“Because you’re legally tyin’ yourself to a member of the West family. He knows blustering about cuttin’ you off and kickin’ you off the ranch are meaningless threats. He can’t run the ranch without you. And I sure as hell don’t wanna pick up the slack.”

“No surprise there,” Cal said.

Casper glared at him. “Poor Cal. Twin to Carson but even that don’t get you close to the pedestal the first born son has been placed on.” Casper smirked at Carson and took a long swallow of beer. “But you tarnished that halo and even put a f**kin’ dent in it by finding the one woman guaranteed to send Dad into a red rage.”

“How long you been sittin’ on this information, Casper?”

“I overheard part of the conversation…a couple days after you informed Dad you were marryin’ Carolyn West. I don’t know what all he decided to change but it’s a done deal.”

Carson looked at Charlie. “Did you know about this?”

Charlie put his hands up. “First I’ve heard of it, I swear.”

Goddammit. It was so f**king typical of Jed McKay to do what he wanted and his sons just had to live with the consequences.

But what if you can’t live with them?

Then he’d leave. It’d serve his father right if his oldest son found a job working as a ranch hand for someone else. Yeah. He’d stick around just to make Jed McKay look like an idiot.

Casper stood. “I’m goin’ home. See you tomorrow. Come on, Charlie.”

Charlie didn’t say anything. He just put his soggy hat back on and followed Casper out.

After they left, Cal said, “Wanna get drunk?”

“No. I wanna hit someone.”

“I ain’t helpin’ you with that. But if you crash here tonight, we’ll confront Dad first thing in the mornin’ about this inheritance change bullshit.” Cal handed him another beer. “You think Casper might be full of it?”

Carson shook his head. “He was goddamn gloating, so no. He knew about it ahead of time and purposely told us after the fact so we couldn’t do anything to prevent it. He’s such an ass**le.”

Several moments passed where they didn’t speak.

Cal said, “Come on. Get outta them wet clothes and stop makin’ that huffing noise. It’s annoying as hell. There’s nothin’ we can do about it tonight anyway.”

“So you might as well crack open the whiskey.”

Early the following morning Carson and Cal found Jed in the dining room drinking coffee.

“So what’s this bullshit about you talkin’ to the estate lawyer at the bank and makin’ changes without tellin’ us?” Carson demanded.

“Mornin’ to you too.”

“Cut the shit. I ain’t in the mood.”

Jed motioned to Cal. “Get your brothers up. If we’re talkin’ about this now, I’m only sayin’ it once.”