The Cougar and the Cowboy

When he saw her pull into the long winding drive, he went out to meet her and tell her where she could park her truck until they returned. She backed her trailer in where he could easily hook up to it and hopped out to unhitch it.

“You back that stock trailer like a pro. I’m impressed,” he told her as he helped with the hitch.

She gave him a rather disdainful look and answered, “What exactly does that mean? You expected me to not be able to back it where you wanted it because I’m a female or because you just thought I couldn’t do it?”

‘Well, Jace, you seem to have started out on the wrong foot this morning,’ he silently chastised himself.

“Look Danielle, I apologize if I offended you with the first words out of my mouth. I didn’t mean anything by my statement except that you did a good job. I’ve known lots of people…men and women…who have a hell of a time backing a trailer. That’s all. We have a lot of hours to spend together and I’d rather not start the trip with you being angry at me.”

She looked up at him and grinned. “I’m sorry. I get a bit testy when someone is questioning my abilities concerning horses, trailers, rifles or anything else about a ranch or equipment. I’ve heard it all my life and it always raises the hair on the back of my neck. I apologize…truly I do. I promise not to make this trip miserable for either of us.”

They hooked her trailer up to Jace’s truck and proceeded to load Jasper. Danielle could tell this was heart-breaking for him and it made her like him even more. A man not afraid to show a little emotion was always a good sign.

She grabbed her duffle bag and stashed it in the back seat of the truck with Jace’s. He handed her a mug for coffee along with the thermos and they were off on their journey.

Danielle started the conversation with what she thought was an innocent question: “Have you lived in Montana your entire life, Jace?”

“Yes and no. I was born here but I’ve lived a few other places but never for long. I consider this my home and consider myself a true Montanan. How about you, Danielle? I haven’t seen you around before the day we met a few weeks ago.”

She moved around a bit on the truck seat until she was comfortable. “First things first…please call me Dani. Danielle is too long and I prefer Dani. In answer to your question about living here, my answer is I moved here about a year ago. Before that, my dad and I moved around a lot…all over the Southwest until I got a job on the Frasier

ranch. That’s where we stayed for years but I always had it in my heart to have my own little spread in Montana. I saved every penny until I could afford the down payment on the property I have now and…” she put her hands out, palms up… “here I am.”

Jace nodded. “So what did you do on the Frasier ranch?”

Dani looked sideways at him to determine if he was really wanting to know or if he was insinuating she couldn’t have done the ranch work.

“I was one of their cowhands. For a long time, I was the only female on the crews.” She continued and laughed at the memory. “The thing was…they didn’t know I was a girl when they hired me and if Mrs. Frasier hadn’t figured it out, they might never have known.”

Jace shook his head. He glanced at her from her head to her boots. Perplexed, he asked, “How could they not know?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she answered.

“It was meant as one. My second question is why did you feel the need to do that? Lie about it, I mean.”

“Well, you see, I applied at a lot of ranches and as soon as they knew I wasn’t a man, they wouldn’t even give me a chance to prove I could do the work. So I decided to put my hair up under my hat and tell them my name was Danny. It worked for me until Mrs. Frasier knew the truth. By that time, I was a valuable asset and Mr. Frasier didn’t care. It didn’t hurt that his wife is a strong woman and I’m sure she told him to keep me on the payroll.” She laughed as she remembered. “It all seems so long ago now, but it wasn’t really.”

“Do you have a family, Dani?”

“Just my dad. My mom died when I was six. Dad took care of me my entire life. He took me with him everywhere he went. I never attended a real school because we moved around too much but no matter what time he got home, he would work on my schoolwork with me. He didn’t know much about girls so he dressed me in boys’ clothing most of the time. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for me to pretend to be a man when I needed a job.”

She continued talking, “He was a great cowboy in his day. He never drank a drop of alcohol but he smoked like a chimney. I remember helping him roll his own cigarettes many times. He was a three-pack a day man. In his defense, no one knew it was as dangerous as we know now. That’s what finally caught up with him. He was diagnosed with lung cancer. They removed the tumor and treated him. It never reoccurred, but he has COPD and is on oxygen all the time. He has a great attitude and is quite active for someone who has trouble breathing.”

She stopped and looked at Jace. “I apologize for talking non-stop. I am never this chatty. You must be an easy person to talk to. I won’t say another word, I promise.”

“Please don’t think a thing of it. I’m enjoying getting to know you. You can talk all the way if you want to.” He sincerely meant those words. She was like a breath of fresh air…no games and no pretenses.

“Oh no. It’s your turn. Tell me something about your life. I’m pretty sure you didn’t have to pretend to be a girl to get a job.” They both laughed at that statement.

“No, that I didn’t have to do. We do have some things in common, though. I grew up without a mom also. Mine didn’t die…she left me and my dad to run off with some other guy. Sounds like a bad soap opera, doesn’t it?”

“Have you ever seen her again?”

“One time, at a rodeo in New Mexico. She must have seen my name on the program and she came to talk to me. It was awkward…what do you say? Hi, Mom, it was nice of you to take off and leave me like you did.”

“I’m sorry, Jace. Maybe it would’ve been better if she had just left it alone.”

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t know the answer to that. She tried to explain her reasons for what she did but it was too little, too late, y’know?”