Sassy Cowgirl Kisses by Kathy Fawcett
Chapter 8
“An electrical storm swept through Chicago once, when I was an intern. One minute, the sky was blue and cloudless. The next—it was dark as night. A wind blew down the street by the hospital like it was shot out of a cannon, and shook the building. The street lights were going sideways, like this.”
Kat West flattened her hand to show her husband, Gunnar, the position of the lights. They were sitting on the deck of the ranch house eating their lunch, facing the gorge and enjoying the sunshine.
Gunnar took a sip of his iced tea as he listened.
“Needless to say,” she went on, “the storm hit hard, complete with sheets of rain, flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s a lot of weather adjectives.”
“Oh yeah, all the adjectives. But then the power went out, which completely overwhelmed the generators. In the doctor’s lounge, anyway. We were pretty low priority as far as emergency power went.”
“Uh huh,” Gunnar stayed with the story, though he had no idea where it was going.
“For five whole minutes, I sat in the dark,” Kat said. “I’d been checking my email at a desk in the lounge, so I just waited there. Then the lights came back on, and I put my hands on the keyboard once again… and then…”
“And then?”
“Yep,” she said theatrically, “a surge of electricity zapped my hands, and the computer started smoking!”
“Holy smokes,” Gunnar said, “a power surge? You mean to tell me the hospital didn’t have surge protectors on their shared computers?”
“I’m sure they do now,” Kat said.
“Wow, now I won’t be able to sleep tonight until I check all our surge protectors on the ranch,” Gunnar said, shaking his head, “and don’t take this wrong, Kat… but how did we get here, conversationally speaking? Weren’t we talking about the summer ranch hands Rowdy and I hired?”
“Were we?”
“Yes,” he said, “there’s the three fellas from Dirk Trainor’s old ranch, they know what they’re doing.”
“Uh huh,” Kat nodded.
“And there’s Freda Lang, plus Wayne, Red and Jackie’s nephew,” Gunnar continued.
“Wayne’s all grown up. He’s been working at Red’s BBQ empire, but wants to see what the big deal is with ranching, right?”
“That’s right,” Gunnar said. “And then there’s Sassy.”
They were silent for several seconds.
“Ah yes, Sassy.”
Kat sounded like she tasted something bad. “That’s how we got here, conversationally. When I met her at the ranch office and shook her hand, I felt that same electrical power surge as the one in Chicago.”
“Well, she is from the Midwest, come to think of it.”
“There’s something about her I don’t like, Gunnar.”
“She’s smart. Always on time or early,” he said, “and that’s good. She’s helping us wrangle some of the financial loose ends of ranch business.”
“Okay.”
“Sassy doesn’t mind hard work or getting her hands dirty, even though she’s…”
“She’s what?” Kat knew the answer, but wanted to hear Gunnar say it.
Her husband seemed to choke on his words, and Kat secretly enjoyed watching him squirm a little.
“Well, she’s awfully… she looks… she doesn’t look like a typical ranch hand, I guess.”
“She’s gorgeous,” Kat offered, and Gunnar shrugged in agreement.
“Sassy isn’t the first woman we’ve hired on the ranch, but she’s the most…”
Gunnar stumbled again.
Curvy? Smoking hot? Beautiful?Kat wondered what he was trying not to say.
“Qualified,” he said at last. “She recently graduated with a degree in business and accounting, with a minor in livestock management, same as Ash.”
“Ash!” Kat exclaimed. “That’s another thing. What kind of influence will she have on Ash, young and vulnerable as he is?”
Gunnar laughed a low rumble and took Kat’s hand.
“Sassy is young and vulnerable, too. Besides, mama bear, it’s not for us to control.”
“Maybe he won’t notice her,” Kat said, hopefully.
Just then, they turned to the sound of an ATV roaring across the sagebrush, between the ranch house and the gorge. The ATV was heading towards the creek.
The loud laughter of two people trying to be heard above the engine traveled up the cliff to where Kat and Gunnar could hear. The driver was tall, with dark hair. The passenger held one hand on her cowboy hat, with golden blond tresses flying around her face.
It was Ash and Sassy, no doubt.
“I think that four-wheel-drive has sailed,” Gunnar said.