Sassy Cowgirl Kisses by Kathy Fawcett
Chapter 12
“Turns out, that so-called ranch hand that came in late for work today is Ash West!”
Sitting with Freda in the living room of their rental house, Sassy ate her bowl of chili, holding the spoon stiffly with her bandaged hand. The boy who couldn’t seem to stop rescuing her was an heir to the West fortune, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
This last thing wasn’t new to Sassy. Her young life was dotted with looks and leers from men, along with jealous glances and a few daggers from women. She was her beautiful mother’s daughter, something her mother reminded her of all the time. But where the mother invited the looks, the daughter wanted no part of them.
“Yep, he is,” Freda answered distractedly in between hearty bites, with one eye on a muted television show.
When Rowdy finally hired Sassy, he offered her a shared “bunkhouse” with Freda Lang, another summer hire who lived in Lander, a few hours away. This was Freda’s third summer on the ranch, Rowdy told her.
“You’ll like Freda. Everybody does,” he said.
Sassy agreed to the terms and braced herself for rustic lodging. Instead, the bunkhouse was an adorable bungalow in town with a common space and modern kitchen, along with two bedrooms.
Rowdy was right about Freda, and the girls became fast friends. Freda and Sassy took turns with the cooking—Sassy making summer salads and vegetable casseroles, with fresh fruit for dessert. Freda, in contrast, cooked sloppy joes, mac and cheese, and her favorite, chili.
“Prince Ash, I call him,” Freda said with a giggle.
“Oh?” Sassy was intrigued. “Why is that?”
Freda put her bowl in her lap and smiled at Sassy.
“Well, it’s like this,” she drawled. “West Ranch is a bit like a kingdom—the most powerful in the land. Ridge used to be the king, but he handed his crown to Gunnar. That makes Kat West the queen. Not just of the ranch, but of the town, the family… of everything she surveys.”
Freda used a free hand for a grand sweeping gesture to punctuate her last words.
Sassy got a chill up her spine at the insight into the West family, and gave Freda her full attention.
“Tell me more.”
Freda went on to give Sassy a history lesson about Wyoming ranches.
“Time was,” she said, “ranches were small mom and pop organizations, and every building did double duty. The main house was used as an extension of the ranch—for meals and gatherings. The ranch wives were in the thick of things, cooking for hands in the busy season and such. They kept the books and ran errands—they’d go back and forth to town for machine parts and supplies, in their spare time.”
“Not much of that, I’m sure,” Sassy said, and Freda nodded in agreement.
“Plus, they raised the kids and did all the laundry,” Freda added, “kept a garden and preserved food for winter… tended their own livestock… volunteered at church.”
“You say West Ranch is different?”
“Now it is,” Freda said. “Today, West Ranch is more like a large corporation. Or like I said before, a kingdom. And queen Kat has the luxury of keeping all the messy, dusty, dirty ranch work separate from her castle. I don’t blame her; I’d do the same.”
Sassy murmured in agreement.
The once-modest ranch had an expanding infrastructure of outbuildings, cook houses, bunk houses, feed storage, barns, sheds, equipment garages and so forth. The hands gathered each morning in a large building that housed offices, lockers, picnic tables, showers and bunk beds.
There was a kitchen, next to a long counter for serving food. Most days, the hands were welcomed by breakfast burritos or sausage scrambles. The ranch cooks also put out a hearty lunch or early dinner, depending on the day’s scheduled tasks. There was always fresh coffee in the stainless dispenser and maybe a cookie or two on a tray.
Sassy, who manned the reception desk outside the offices occupied by Gunnar and Rowdy, was intrigued by the picture of West Ranch Freda was painting.
“And where does prince… I mean, Ash, fit in?”
“Prince Ash will for sure take over one day when Gunnar and Rowdy are ready to retire,” Freda said, scraping the bottom of her bowl for the last chili bean. “The other brothers aren’t involved anymore, so Ash is next in line. It’s a big responsibility, with an equally big payday.”
“And…” Sassy spoke gingerly, being careful to appear dis-interested, “there’s no princess for the prince… that you know of?”
“Not unless there’s someone back in Michigan. The way he looks, though, it’s only a matter of time. That will be one lucky girl, but she’ll have to be tough enough to dethrone the queen. I have a feeling Kat won’t give up her position without a fight.”
“Interesting,” Sassy said quietly.
She knew Ash was interested in her, but again, it was nothing new.
“Lots of men will think they want you,” her father told her many times before he died, “but you get to decide what and who you want. Don’t ever settle.”
Did she want Ash West? It was too soon to tell. He was funny, kind, and very good looking. And while his wealth didn’t interest her, he did have something she wanted: access to the front door of the ranch, and the heart of the family.
Maybe, Sassy thought, maybe she’d been handed a gift.