“Does anyone know what we do here at the Double B?”

Immediately a hand goes up in the front. I take in the boy with the jeans that look as if they may be last year’s because they barely reach his ankles. As soon as I acknowledge him, his eyes widen, and he clears his throat. “Uh, sir, the Double B has been here for three generations. It’s a cattle ranch that has purebred Santa Gertrudis beef cattle. The ranch started with six heifers, five cows, and one bull that was bought from the King Ranch in Texas. Now it is home to over a thousand cattle and a hundred quarter horses.”

I nod, impressed. “What’s your name, son?”

His hands are fidgeting at his sides. “Elijah. Elijah Jones... sir.”

“Well, good job, Elijah Jones. I’m impressed. But we actually have over two thousand cattle on the ranch right now. Two thousand, five hundred and twenty-three, to be exact.” I wrack my brain trying to recall the name Jones. “Are you from a ranch around here?”

Elijah shakes his head when the boy next to him starts to laugh. “No, he’s never even been on a ranch before.”

The teacher, Olivia Banks, quiets everyone down. I remember her from my youngest brother, Ryan. They were friends growing up. When the kids all start to join in the laughter and she’s not able to get them in hand, I start walking toward the group. If they were my cowboys, I know exactly how I’d handle it, but I can’t do that with a bunch of kids. So instead, I walk up to Elijah and put my hand on his shoulder. Everyone quiets down when I lean down to talk to him. “So you’ve never been on a ranch before?”

His face is red. “No, sir.”

“Well, you’ve obviously done your homework to prepare for this field trip, and I think you need a crash course in ranching.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see my three brothers step out from behind the barn. They’re caked in dirt so maybe they didn’t do this on purpose, but I wouldn’t put it past them. I raise up. “Well, I’m going to leave you all to it. Miss Banks, is it okay if I take Elijah on a tour of the ranch?”

The teacher looks over toward the group of moms, but I refuse to follow her gaze. I’ve done my best to avoid the women staring at me as if they’ve never seen a man before. And I already saw Jacqueline in the mix. I’m definitely going to avoid her. She never wants to take no for an answer.

Miss Banks looks back at me. “Sure, Mr. Bryant. That will be fine.”

I lean down and look at Elijah, who’s beaming up at me. “What do you think? Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, sir,” he says, and I can hear the excited emotion in his voice. As I walk away, I nod at my brothers. “You’re up, boys.”

They look oddly at me and the boy I have my hand on but quickly realize they have about twenty kids that need their attention. I take Elijah into the barn. “So what do you want to know?” I ask him, expecting him to ask me if he can pet a horse or maybe even ride one.

He looks around the huge barn with his mouth hanging open. I stand and watch as he takes it all in. I recognize that look on his face. It’s the same look my brothers and I have anytime we’re out working the cattle. When he looks back at me, he says the one thing that blows my mind. “Can I muck a stall?”

I was already walking toward the stall that held Zeus, my stallion. I was going to get him out and let Elijah pet him, but when he asks that question, I stop and stare at him. “You want to muck a stall?”

Elijah cringes a little. “Well, I know it’s probably gross, but from what I read, it says when you own a ranch, you have to be willing to do the work, and keeping a clean barn is the first place to start for healthy animals. So I thought I should learn that first.”

I gape at him. I’ve never been around kids, but I know when I was his age, I sure as hell didn’t want to muck a stall. Just knowing that this kid has researched it and wants to actually work tells me a lot about his upbringing and what kind of kid he is. “Sure, we can muck a stall.”

Instantly, he’s shaking his head. “Oh no, I didn’t mean you. I’m sure you have better things to do...”

I’m already folding the sleeves on my shirt up. “No, you’re right, Elijah. Keeping a clean barn is very important. We’ll start there.”

Tags: Hope Ford Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net