Mossy Glenn Ranch 3 -Saddles and Memories (2 page)

“The thing is, I think maybe I loved the idea of her more than her, you know?” Rocky said, shoving her hands in her front jeans pockets. “Instant family, with her having kids and all. I really wanted kids.”

“Don’t see why you can’t have any,” Salt said, confused over that. “I mean, you could get artificially inseminated—”

Rocky’s sharp burst of laughter cut him off. “Oh no, man, you don’t get it. Just ‘cause I have a uterus doesn’t mean I’m the pregnant type anymore than you are, and the whole baby part of it…” She shook her head. “I like them from about four on up. The complete helplessness of a baby scares the ever-lovin’ shit out of me. I’d even take a teenager over a baby.”

Salt didn’t have a preference one way or the other. He wasn’t the father type, or the mother type. He loved his job too much, and he could admit he was too selfish to have kids. It was too bad other people weren’t so honest. It’d spare a lot of kids some horrible—and deadly—abuse. Not that he’d ever hurt a kid if he did somehow magically end up with one, but he’d mess it up somehow. He just didn’t think he’d be a good parent, period.

“And I thought I had the family I’ve always wanted, but I should have known better,” Rocky was saying. “Shelly hasn’t been returning my calls unless it’s right before payday, and I bet that wasn’t her sister who answered her phone last Saturday night when I called to see why Shelly didn’t come out here like she was supposed to. I let that bitch walk all over me, didn’t I?”

“You were sending her money?” Salt asked. “Didn’t you two start dating right before you started here?”

Rocky glared at him. “Yeah, yeah, I’m a fuckin’ idiot, I get it.”

“No, you aren’t.” Boy, Salt could sure dig himself in deep. He put a hand on Rocky’s shoulder. “You’re just wanting someone who’s as good and honest as you are, and people will take advantage of that.”
There, that sounded pretty good
.

“Which translates into, I’m a desperate fuckin’ idiot,” Rocky snapped. “It’s a damn good thing I count you as a friend, otherwise I’d think you were trying to insult me on purpose.”

“I wasn’t trying to insult you anyhow, purpose or accident,” Salt said as he raised his hands up in front of himself. “I just don’t rightly know what to say. She’s a stupid bitch for using you, though.” He rolled his lips in between his teeth and pressed down to keep from blurting out anything else insulting. Bad-mouthing Shelly was probably a huge mistake.

But Rocky cackled and slapped him on the shoulder. “There, see? That’s how you comfort a friend who’s been cheated on and dumped!”

Salt quit trying to keep quiet, letting his lips out from between his teeth. “Well, hell, Rock, I can bash your ex with you, no problem, but what happens if you two get back together?”

“We won’t,” Rocky assured him, wrinkling her nose at Salt. “Ugh. I’ve never ever taken a cheater back. And I might be an idiot, but I’m only a woman’s idiot once. I bet Shelly is gonna be calling me come payday and trying to tell me she won’t ever cheat again—huh.”

That sounded like a thoughtful ‘huh’ to him, one he was intended to inquire about, so he did. “Huh what?”

Rocky scratched her chin. “You know, I just realised every girlfriend I’ve had has cheated on me. Maybe something’s wrong with me.”

“Other than having bad taste in women, I don’t think so,” Salt quickly informed her. “You might want to figure out why you keep picking the same kind of girlfriend. Seems to me I read something a while back about how people always gravitate to the familiar, even if it isn’t any good for them. It’s what we know, so it’s safe even though it’s going to hurt us.”

If those words struck a little close to home for Salt, no one but him ever needed to know it.

“Yeah.” Rocky pushed her hat back and looked up at the sky. “I need to do some of that introspection Oprah and Dr Phil used to yammer about on their TV shows.”

“I never watched either of ‘em,” Salt admitted as they reached their trucks. “Good Lord, my back aches today. Think my mattress is older than I am.” He arched and tried to keep from grimacing as his lower back muscles spasmed. “Damn.”

Rocky spun him around and pushed him—not too gently, either—against the side of his truck. “I used to be a massage therapist ages ago,” she told him right before she began pressing firmly against his lower back.

Salt forgot about his initial instinct to protest. He moaned pitifully, closed his eyes and all but melted against the truck while Rocky worked the cramps right out of his back. There were obviously benefits to having a best friend. Salt couldn’t give a back rub comparable to the one he was getting, but he could do other things for Rocky, like listen to her talk and help her get over Shelly.

“Feel better?” she asked sometime later. Salt didn’t know how long he’d been holding the truck in place while Rocky gave him the best massage he’d ever had.

“Kind of feel like Jell-O,” he admitted as he opened his eyes. “Damn, Rocky. I’m feeling all kinds of loose.”

Rocky slapped his butt. “Yeah, I bet you are. A good massage can do that to ya. And now that I have you all relaxed and grateful, you can go with me to the feed store.”

Salt groaned and flopped around to press his back against the truck. He gave his friend a mock-glare. “I shoulda known there was a catch to that bit of bliss.”

Rocky guffawed and patted his hand. “Aw, now, no whining. Carlos already said we both could go in and have lunch out. I thought it’d be nice, then we can go to the feed store and pick up the small order Troy called in.”

“Yeah, okay.” Salt hated going into town—he was a ranch hermit all the way—but he did what he had to. And eating away from Drake, the ranch chef he’d had a crush on, would probably be better for his digestion. Salt got embarrassed every time he thought about how he’d ever hoped for a chance with someone as sexy and sweet as Drake. He really should have known better.

“I need to wash up first. Meet me back at the bunk house?” Salt got a nod from Rocky. It looked like he had a lunch date with his best bud, then.

Chapter Two

Lunch at the diner had been good, but Salt couldn’t help but compare the food to Drake’s cooking, and frankly the food at the diner fell short of Drake’s. That wasn’t him mooning over Drake, either. Salt didn’t think about Drake that way anymore, he was just embarrassed that he ever had in the first place. And the man was a damn good cook.

Why in the world Salt had been thinking about trying to have something serious with someone, with Drake, was a subject he’d been pondering on those nights when he couldn’t sleep. He guessed it came down to finally being able to be out—not something he’d have been able to do and keep his job on any other of the ranches he’d worked on.

Because he’d loved being a cowboy, a ranch hand, more than he’d ever been interested in being in a steady relationship, Salt had kept himself closeted, only peeking out of that darkness when he knew it was safe and he could get off without getting busted. He’d thought love wasn’t on the cards for him, wasn’t sure it was possible, period. Then he’d got hired on at the Mossy Glenn. There was no way he could miss the love and devotion between Carlos, Troy and Will.

Seemed to Salt that if that kind of enduring love was possible for three men, it sure as shit should be possible for two. And, he was getting older. He didn’t want to be alone for the rest of his life.

“Got your head in the clouds today.” Rocky’s voice pulled him right back to Earth.

“Yeah, guess so.” Salt took a sip of his iced tea. “Was the pecan pie good?” Rocky had got a piece, but Salt had passed. Dessert wasn’t a big deal to him.

Rocky licked her lips, her blue eyes gleaming. “Oh, hell yeah, that was the best pecan pie I’ve had in ages. Bet even Drake couldn’t make a better one.”

“Probably not,” Salt agreed easily. He honestly didn’t care one way or the other.

“Would you like a refill?”

Salt glanced up at the waitress. Her nametag declared her to be Jen. She looked to be younger than Salt, and someone Rocky kept sneaking appreciative peeks at when good ol’ Jen wasn’t looking.

“No thanks,” Salt told her. The woman was attractive, he reckoned, not that he was the best judge. “We’ll just take the bill.”

“The pie was awesome,” Rocky gushed effusively. “I’m gonna be coming back for more, soon. Pie, I mean. Pecan pie. Because it’s so good.” Rocky’s cheeks went ruddy and Salt could see the trepidation building in her eyes.

“She really likes the pie,” Salt joked, hoping to ease Rocky’s discomfort. Jen just looked torn between amusement and confusion.
Poor Rocky, she’s crushing on a straight woman.
That wasn’t going to end well, although maybe it’d peter out and Rocky would find someone to reciprocate her interest.

“It is good pie,” Jen said in a soft voice. “It’s my grandma’s recipe.”

“You made it?” Rocky asked, and damn, but she sounded a little too smarmy there whether she meant to or not.

Jen’s cheeks turned pink and she darted a nervous look to Salt before turning it back on Rocky. “Er, yes. I—let me get your ticket.”

“I’m such an idiot,” Rocky whispered as Jen hurried off. Rocky hissed and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God, next time shut me up.”

Salt nudged her knee with his under the table. “It wasn’t that bad. I just think you’re lusting up the wrong tree.”

Rocky peeked out at him from between her fingers. “Lusting up the wrong tree? Stop mixing metaphors or whatever that’s called. You’re gonna give me a run for the money in the ridiculous department.”

Salt shrugged. “I’m not trying to impress anybody, so I don’t really care what they think.”

The diner door swung open and a tall, stocky young man in overalls came in, battered ball cap on and a big, goofy grin in place. “Hey, Ma, did you save me some meatloaf?”

Salt thought the kid looked familiar and it took him a second to place him. Barney something or another, who’d come out and helped paint over the graffiti on the barns a while back.

Just about the same time he figured that out, Barney picked Jen up in a hug that made her squeak. “Put me down, son!”

Barney grinned and gave Jen a twirl. “Aw, Mom, you know I gotta sweep you off your feet before that guy you went out with last week runs off with you.”

Jen smacked Barney’s shoulder. “Craig and I aren’t running off anywhere.”

Rocky sighed and Salt gave her his attention. “Yeah, wrong tree and all that. Here’s my share of the bill plus the tip. I’ll meet you outside.”

A few minutes later, Salt joined Rocky on the sidewalk. The sun was just as bright, the heat just as brutal, as it had been earlier. Maybe even more so. “Let’s get the damn feed and go. At least we’ll have the AC in the truck for a while before we have to get all sweaty again.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Rocky gave the diner one last glance. Salt nudged her arm. “Yeah, yeah. She just seemed like the opposite of the type of chick I usually pick.” Rocky guffawed. “Well, and ain’t she? She’s straight, they weren’t.”

Salt thought silence on the subject was the best option he had. They strolled to the truck. “You driving?”

“Nah, you can.” Rocky tossed him the keys. “I want to sit back and relax once we have the feed loaded.”

At the feed store, Salt noticed an unfamiliar truck in the lot. The truck was a shiny red Dodge 2500, and it had advertisements all over it for a feed company he’d never heard of in his thirty-plus years of ranching. He saw the words ‘organic’ and ‘non-GMO’ along with lines about absolutely nothing added that included chemicals and antibiotics and such.

Pretty much the way it used to be, he figured. Salt parked up front by the doorway.

“Health food for cows and horses, sheep and goats,” Rocky muttered. “Gonna have ‘em doing yoga next thing you know.”

Salt chuckled even though he thought that fewer chemicals and additives in feed—for any animal, human or otherwise—was probably a good thing. More and more, he was becoming aware of what he was putting in his mouth, thanks to news reports and Internet stories.

Probably, like wanting a long-term relationship, it had to do with him getting older. Salt liked living, and he intended to go on doing it as long as possible.

“Bet I’d be richer than George Strait in no time at all,” Rocky continued as they walked inside the feed store. “Probably just have the cows and other critters standing like they always do and call it something like Animal Reaches Earth and Sun pose, ya know?”

Salt opened his mouth up to answer but was struck mute by the sight of a man across the store. Rocky didn’t seem to notice, she just kept chattering along, but Salt couldn’t look away from eyes so dark they might have been black. Salt blinked, then he took in the whole picture the man made.

He was wearing a white felt hat, a blue and white checked pearl-snap western shirt. Add in Wranglers so worn and tight that Salt could tell he was blessed with a nice package, and the man was sexy in that worn cowboy-looking way that always turned Salt’s crank.

The twitch of his dick snapped Salt out of his rude ogling. Granted, the other guy’d been looking right back at him, but still. They were out in public, in a small and not close to tolerant place. Salt dragged his gaze away and settled it on Rocky, who was still rambling on about sheep poses.

Salt herded her towards the customer service desk. “Hey there, Teddy,” he said, greeting the sales clerk. He was glad Teddy was working. Teddy was always friendly, and he wasn’t hard on the eyes, either, with his red hair sprinkled with white at the temples.

“Hey, Salt, Rocky. What you going on about?” Teddy asked, cocking his head at Rocky.

Rocky proceeded to tell Teddy about her idea and the inspiration for it, mentioning the red Dodge outside.

A tingle of awareness shot through Salt. In fact, it felt like his entire back was warming up, as if he could feel the heat of a stare. Despite Rocky’s continuing rambling, Salt heard the click of boot heels on the floor. Why didn’t Rocky or Teddy seem to be aware of the electric current in the air?