Читать книгу In the Arms of the Rancher: In the Arms of the Rancher / His Vienna Christmas Bride - Jan Colley - Страница 8

He needed a break, and he was going to take one. Hawk McKenna stood in the sunlight slanting from the west onto the covered porch that ran the width of his ranch house, his hand absently resting on the head of the large dog next to him.

Though the sun’s rays were warm, there was a nip in the early October breeze. It felt good to Hawk after the long, hot, hard but productive and profitable summer. Yet he knew that before too long, the mild autumn would be replaced by snowflakes swirling, driven by harsh, bitter cold winds.

When the deep snows came, Hawk knew the work on the ranch would be just as hard as it had been during the summer. No, he thought, smiling wryly as he gazed around him at the valley in which his ranch was nestled, the work in the deep snows of winter entailed numb fingers and toes and being chilled to the bone. All things considered, he’d rather sweat than freeze.

The idea of what was to come sent a shiver through him. He must be getting old, Hawk mused, stepping from the porch into the fading sunlight. But as he was only thirty-six, perhaps it wasn’t so much his age as it was tiredness. Other than a run into Durango, the city closest to the ranch, for supplies, he hadn’t been off the property in months.

Nor had he been in any female company in all that time, other than that of his foreman Jack’s nineteen-year-old daughter and his wrangler Ted’s wife.

Not exactly what Hawk had in mind for female company. Ted’s wife, Carol, while very nice and pretty, was…well, Ted’s wife. And Jack’s daughter, Brenda, was even prettier but far too young, and she was becoming a pain in the ass.

A year or so ago, Brenda, who had hung around the ranch every summer since Jack had come to work for Hawk, had begun trailing behind Hawk. Her sidelong, supposedly sexy glances were beginning to grate on his nerves.

He wasn’t interested. She was a kid, for cripes’ sake. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, Hawk had tried dropping subtle hints to that effect, to no avail. She had gone right on with the sly, intimate looks, at moments even deliberately making physical contact, while making the touches appear accidental.

Frustrated, not knowing what to do other than be brutally honest by telling her to act her age and knock off her flirting, Hawk had approached Jack about her behavior. Treading as carefully as if he were negotiating a mine field, Hawk had asked him what Brenda’s plans were for the future.

“Oh, you know kids,” Jack said, grimacing. “They want everything. They just can’t decide what in particular.”

Hawk sighed. Not much help there. “It’s over a year since she graduated high school. I thought she was planning to go on to college?”

“She now says she isn’t sure.” Jack gave him a probing look. “Why? Has she been making a pest of herself hanging around here?”

Drawing a slow breath, Hawk hedged. “Well…she has been kinda getting underfoot.”

Jack nodded his understanding. “Yeah, I noticed,” he admitted with a sigh. “I’ve been meaning to say something to her about it, but you know girls…They get so dramatic and emotional.”

“Yeah,” Hawk agreed, although he really didn’t know girls, as in kids. He knew women, knew as well how emotional they could be. He worked hard at avoiding the dramatic ones.

“I’ll talk to her,” Jack said, heaving a sigh before flashing a grin. “Maybe I can talk her into spending the winter with her mother, as she always did while she was still in school.” He chuckled.

Hawk shook his head. Jack and his former wife had not divorced amicably. Although Brenda had spent only the summers with Jack while she had been in school, mere days after receiving her diploma, she’d taken off, telling her mother she wanted to be on her own, free.

Well, Hawk mused, if being on her own and free meant living with her father while bugging the hell out of him, she had succeeded too well. “You handle it any way you want,” Hawk said, not bothering to add that Jack had better handle it, and her, sooner rather than later. “Maybe a father-daughter heart-to-heart will help.”

“Will do.” Jack started to turn away.

“Hold up a minute,” Hawk said, stopping Jack short. “I’m going to take off for a couple weeks for a little R and R. Can you hold down the fort, and Boyo?” Hawk ruffled the hair on the dog’s head.

Jack gave him a look. “You know damn well I can.”

Hawk grinned. “Yeah, I know. I just like riling you now and again.”

“As if I didn’t know,” Jack drawled. “You tellin’ me where you’re going and when?”

“Sure. No secret. I’m going to Vegas as soon as I can make room reservations. I’ll let you know where I’ll be staying.” He paused before going on. “When I get back, you and Ted can take some time off. While I’m gone, you can decide who goes first.”

“Good deal.” Jack grinned and went back to work.

Relieved, Hawk drew a deep breath of the pine-scented mountain air. The dog looked up at him expectantly. “Not this time, Boyo,” he said, ruffling the dog’s thick hair. “You’ll be staying with Jack.”

If a dog could frown, Hawk thought, that was exactly what the big Irish wolfhound was doing. With a final hair ruffle, he turned to the porch steps.

A smile on his lips, Hawk walked into the house, picked up the phone and began punching in numbers.