Sassy Cowgirl Kisses by Kathy Fawcett
Chapter 29
“Shoot!”
Gunnar was sorting through ranch mail a few days later, next to Sassy’s desk. It was mid-morning and most everyone else had left the building.
At his tone, Sassy glanced up from her spreadsheets, wondering what was wrong. She’d been working on numbers since sunup, and needed to pull her eyes away. That was the thing about numbers—they had to go somewhere to mean something, and it could be tedious work.
“What’s up?” She asked, standing to stretch, then walking over to fill her coffee cup.
“Kat’s been waiting for this piece of West Foundation mail, but it came here by mistake. I was just heading out to the east pens though,” Gunnar said. “Sassy, would you mind driving this over to the big house for me?”
Adrenaline shot through Sassy’s body at the opportunity, dropped right in her lap.
At last.
“Sure… sure I can do that, Gunnar,” she said, fumbling the words in her eagerness.
“I imagine you wouldn’t mind a break from the computer,” he said agreeably. “No one person should spend such a beautiful summer day in Wyoming in front of a screen, and that’s not our intention. So if you wouldn’t mind the distraction, I’d be obliged.”
Sassy took the mail from Gunnar and smiled. He was consistently one of the nicest men she’d ever met. All the West men were easy-going and polite; tall and handsome too.
“I don’t mind at all,” she said. “I’ll go right now.”
“Take one of the Jeeps, why don’t you,” he said, tipping his hat before leaving.
Breathe,Sassy told herself as she walked outside. She didn’t want to be anxious or winded as she drove a ranch vehicle, or when meeting Kat West again.
She’d met her once,weeks before, when the entire family came to an event designed to kick off summer activities. Sassy shook hands with Liu and Colton, a striking young couple. Unlike the cowboys, he wore a polo shirt with West Development embroidered on the chest, and mirrored sunglasses atop his spiked hair. Liu was very hip with her maternity sundress and sleek black hair. Sassy noticed how Colton kept his hand lightly on Liu’s back as they moved around the room, and was touched by his caring and protective gestures.
Pike and Paislee were also very nice. Paislee wore a short bohemian linen dress with perfect makeup and silver jewelry, and a diamond-studded watch. Their two children seemed very close in age. At first glance, the little girl looked as though she belonged with Liu. But Paislee’s attentiveness left no doubt as to who her mama was.
The little boy, Ford West, was a blonde mini-me of his daddy, Pike—the famed artist. There were a few of his paintings in the Arts and Culture Center that Ash took her to, and while Sassy was no expert, even she could see that Pike was gifted. Different from his stockier brothers, Pike was long and lean with more of a Nordic look than the others. Freda had said that Ridge’s first wife was Scandinavian, so that made sense.
Ridge was there with Casey, his bride of only a few years. The two were all smiles as they went around the room. Sassy saw Ridge fill his small plate with tacos and other goodies from the commissary table, while Casey “edited,” exchanging a few cheesy treats with carrot sticks and an apple.
And then there was Kat.
From a distance, Sassy watched her enter the room with an expectant grin like a grande dame—the hostess and matriarch of the ranch. Even though Casey was married to Ridge, Freda told her that Kat was large and in charge.
Standing at the back of the room, Sassy could see Kat was beautiful. From the twinkle in her eyes to her confidence level (which seemed off the charts) Kat West kept one manicured hand on her husband Gunnar, and extended another to each and every ranch hand and cowboy as if being introduced to royalty. She had grace and style, but worked hard to make everyone feel welcome.
“Sassy, why you hiding over there? Come on over and say hi,” Gunnar called out to her, leaving her no choice but to come forward and face her at last.
“Hello,” Sassy said quietly, “it’s so nice to meet you.” She worked hard to keep her hand from trembling with moderate success.
“Sassy,” Kat said, almost fumbling over the name. She stopped mid-shake, and held the girl’s hand as she searched her eyes for recognition. “Have I met you before? You seem so familiar to me.”
And then, to Sassy’s horror, Kat’s eyes grew big and her smile faltered slightly.
“Nope.”
Sassy pulled her hand away and forced her smile to widen, to compensate for Kat’s own.
“She’s never been anywhere near Wyoming before,” Gunnar told his wife with a small laugh. “But she’s doing a fine job getting our records in order, and clearing muddy creek beds with Ash in her spare time.”
Gunnar tried to move Kat on.
“Darlin’, you remember Red’s nephew, Wayne, don’t you?”
Kat’s eyes remained fixed. Sassy was used to stares, and took Kat’s in stride. It was a good first encounter, she thought, and had been trying to engineer a second. So far, Ash wasn’t as much help as she’d hoped.
Gunnar, however, made it easy with one simple request.