Chance For Love (Colorado Blues) (8 page)

Callie signaled her back and held her arms out,
waiting for the ball of energy to soar into her embrace.

“Looks like you have yourself a dog, Callie.” Chance
grinned as she stood amongst the pups with the cattle dog in her arms.

Sherbet licked at her face and she laughed with
delight before putting her down on the ground. Callie held out her hand to the
old man. “Thanks so much, Jim. She’s just perfect for what I want.” She lifted
her leg and scooted over the fence and Sherbet followed, sticking close to her
new owner.

“Damndest thing,
ain’t
it?
They always say a dog chooses it owner. Guessing she finally found hers.” Jim
scratched his head and grinned. “Glad to see her going to a good home too.”

“Oh she will be looked after, I can assure you of
that.”

Together the three of them walked back to the truck
and Sherbet jumped in and nestled on the floor beside Callie’s feet, signaling
her position in the family. Jim followed, leaning on the door of the truck.
“Looking like we might get a drift of snow the next couple of days.” He rubbed
his lower back. “Damn winter storms are making me ache all over.”

“But its spring isn’t it? At least I thought it was.
Don’t think I’ve mixed up the seasons and its autumn at home.”

“Yep, you got it right. Can’t make head nor tail of
the weather some days.”

Callie looked at the old man and then up at the sky.
“How can you tell?”

“Haven’t you seen the blackbirds flying around? Always
a sign of snow when they take to the sky in droves and circling overhead like
they have been last couple of days. Right pretty red sunsets too. Anytime this
week coming I reckon, you mark my words.”

Sherbet followed Callie around the rest of the
afternoon, dogging her every step. Chance let her go and do her jobs, and since
his hip was hurting he sat on the front porch and relaxed. His stress levels
were low for the first time in weeks. He loved being home at the ranch and
having Callie here was the best thing that could have happened to him. It was a
shame he had to have her here under false pretenses as far as his brothers were
concerned, but he was sure they would all come around sooner or later. He hoped
for sooner so he could come out about his future.

After Tyson’s visit this morning, he’d decided it was
time he called Rory and pushed him to come and visit. He missed his brother.
There had to be something he could do for him to bring him back into the fold.
He picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“Denver Police, Sheriff Watson speaking.”

“Rory, its Chance.”

“Chance, well what do you know. The famous one is
calling me. What’s happened, brother, run out of rich people to spend your time
with?” The bitterness in his voice was a shock. They had been close as
teenagers until Chance had run, leaving Rory to hold the fort with the other
boys and their drunken father.

“Since when has that been an issue between us? I
wanted to see how you were doing?”

“One day after another, same as always.” A deep sigh
sounded over the phone. “Sorry, I don’t mean to take it out on you. Some days
are great, some suck like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Rory, you can always take it out on me. What do you
think family’s for?” He missed the closeness they used to share. “When are you
coming home? It’s about time, don’t you think?”

“I just don’t know what to do anymore. I thought if I
stayed here I would get a sense of Cindy and it would be enough, but it isn’t.”

Chance could hear the weariness in his brother’s
voice. “Put in for a transfer or just throw it all in. Come and stay with me
for a while until you know what you want to do. Buy a ranch of your own if you
want or work in town. Pretty sure there are enough offences happening in a town
the size of Estes Park to warrant you moving back here.” Chance looked over the
view and his gaze was drawn to beyond the forest deep in the valley where the
town was nestled just out of sight.

“I already put in for a transfer. Decided it was time.
I’m just waiting to hear if I got it or not.”

A spark of hope settled in Chance’s chest. To have his
brothers all back in town would be the ultimate buzz. “It will happen, just you
wait and see. You can stay with me, I have heaps of room as you know.”

“From what I understand, you have a new house mate
already. Not sure I want to cramp your style.”

“Tyson.” His little brother was the town gossip,
Chance was convinced of it.

“Yep, that one never could keep anything to himself.
Besides, with you going back on the circuit, your new manager might want the
place to herself. I can get accommodation in town anyways. Maybe catch up with the
old man and see what he’s been up to.”

At the mention of their father, Chance grimaced.
“Can’t see how he’d change. Once a drunk always a drunk.”

“Let’s agree to disagree, shall we? You weren’t there
to see everything so don’t go judging him like that.”

Chance heard the words and took the hit to the gut,
knowing Rory was right. Still, he doubted his father had changed any since he
left home. Sitting at the kitchen table with a bottle of whiskey for company
while the boys brought themselves up was a poor excuse for a father. And when
he lost it, they all suffered. Until the day Chance up and left before he could
retaliate.

“Right. What he does no longer concerns me.” He rubbed
his knuckles over the faded patch in his jeans and looked over the ranch. The
chill was more noticeable now than it was yesterday. Snow for sure. “So, have
you heard from Evan lately?”

“Nope, not for a bit now. Last time I heard he was
still in Denver at the hospital.”

“Yeah me too. Well, you take care and let me know when
you get that transfer. Can’t wait to see you, Rory. It’s been too damn long.”

“Likewise.
Gotta
run.” The
phone disconnected and Chance put it on the table beside him. He lazed in the
chair and waited for Callie to come back. He missed her already.

***

Once the horses had been brought in and the chickens
fed, Callie walked over to the fence and gazed at the cows, some now with
calves at foot. Sherbet sat beside her and leaned into her leg. Callie reached
down and rubbed the ears of her new best friend, thankful Chance had taken her
down to visit Jim when he had. A dog completed her in a way she couldn’t
explain. On the farm, the dogs had been like an extra pair of hands and here on
the ranch Sherbet saved her a lot of work. She was a well-trained cattle dog
and the two of them had bonded immediately. She also filled up the hole in her
heart that stood empty the moment she’d pulled the trigger.

The dog moved her head and growled low in her throat.
When Callie turned it was to see Terror at the fence, pawing at the ground, his
head down in a show of aggression that would have been frightening if Callie
was on the other side of the fence. “Give it up, big guy, you don’t scare me.
Seen tougher than you in the desert where I used to live.”

The bull snorted and tossed his head around, intent on
intimidating her. She ignored him, turning and glancing over the cow paddock
again, looking for any sign of trouble. Seeing none, she snapped her fingers
and Sherbet followed her back down the driveway to the house. Chance was
sitting on the front porch, gazing silently over the valley.

“Hey.” She dropped down into a chair beside him.

He glanced at her, gave a smile, and reached for her
hand. “Hey, everything okay?”

“Yes. Why do I think it’s the calm before the storm
though? The ranch seems bathed in a kind of eerie light.” She looked up at the
mountains but couldn’t shake the weird tingling up her spine. Callie stared at
the hazy cast over the mountains, unsettled by the unfamiliar sight.

“Snow coming. Jim was right, look at the birds
overhead.”

She raised her eyes to the sky and watched as the
birds circled the house, high enough that they were silently gliding on the
wind overhead. “Hmm, best I get out there early in the morning then and make
sure the cows are okay. Any idea how long it’s likely to last?”

“Depends on how much we get. Might only be a light
dusting although I doubt it. We could be snowed in for a week or so. Damned
inconvenient time for a flash storm with calves arriving.”

She grinned. “I can make a snowman. It’s going to be
so exciting seeing snow for the first time.” Callie and her sisters had yearned
for a trip to the ski fields but it was never in the family budget so she had
yet to touch the cold white powder and she was excited about the prospect.

“I don’t want you putting yourself in harm’s way,
understand? I can’t come and rescue you if you run into trouble. You need to be
careful out there and not take un-necessary chances.”

“I know how to handle myself. Don’t fuss. Now how
about I go and light the fire since its getting rather chilly and your hands
are white with cold?” She rubbed her fingers over his, before bringing his hand
up to her lips. Chance grabbed her and pulled her down onto his lap. Callie
squealed and pretended to fight him but in all reality she was exactly where
her heart yearned to be. A sexy cowboy of her own, a house the bank wouldn’t
come and take over, and a ranch that was going to get a dusting of snow. How
much more could a girl dream of?

He kissed her passionately and held her on his knee as
they watched the sky slowly darken overhead. When the lights flickered on in
the town down in the valley, Chance released her and they headed indoors to
light the fire and prepare dinner.

By the time Callie and Chance crawled out of bed the
next day the sky was overcast and the air frigid. She hurried through
breakfast, determined to get a round done of the cows paddock before the
weather made it impossible to stay outside any longer. Last thing she wanted
was to lose any calves to the freezing weather. They were far too valuable.
Nothing Chance said could calm her down; she was hell bent on riding the
paddock to make sure the stock was okay.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I’m rugged up and
I have the horse and Sherbet with me. I won’t be long, and then we can go and
snuggle in front of the fire again and watch the snow blanket the ground.”

Chance wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
He didn’t want her to go out in the cold but she was taking her job seriously
and for that he was proud of her. She knew what she was doing. “If you don’t
come back in before lunch, I’m calling Tyson.”

“You won’t have to, I promise. One trip around the
paddock and I’ll be back before you know it.” She kissed him soundly and pulled
away, wiggling her gloved fingers at him before hurrying out the door with her
dog at her heels.

Chance watched her hurry down to the barn and he was
still standing at the window when ten minutes later she rode Sultan out of the
barn and headed down to the cow paddock. He made himself a cup of coffee and
hobbled into the lounge room and threw another couple of logs onto the fire
before turning on the radio to distract him from worrying about her.

An hour passed as he sat and looked into the flames,
all but ignoring the chatter on the local station. Instead Chance was trying to
find the right words to tell his brothers what his plans were. But no matter
how he worded it, it still sounded bad in his mind. He couldn’t figure out how
to tell them he hated his rodeo life and longed for the simple pleasures of
working his own ranch with his wife by his side. They would ask why he’d stayed
on the circuit as long as he had if it wasn’t what he wanted. There was nothing
he could say that would make it sound like he was doing it for himself when he
had been propping them all up with his winnings.

What man would be happy to hear that? Certainly not
his brothers. They all thought they were independent and could stand on their
own two feet. Knowing he had done it to make up for his guilt at leaving them
with their drunken father would cause a rift between the brothers he wasn’t
ready to deal with just yet, if ever.

He glanced at his watch and cursed. Three hours had passed
while he’d been sitting in front of the fire worrying about something he had no
control over. It might be best to just tell his brothers he’d had a change of
heart and was over the high life he’d been leading the last twelve years. If he
was careful, he could be convincing and make them believe him. What other
choice did he have?

Chance got up and put more wood on the fire before
heading into the kitchen to do the breakfast dishes. If Callie wasn’t back by
the time he’d finished, he was calling Tyson. Five long drawn out minutes
later, she still hadn’t shown up. Chance reached for the phone and called his
brother.

“What do you mean, she hasn’t come back? Hell, Chance.
I told you she was wrong for the bloody job. I’ll be right there.” He slammed
the phone down with a curse. Chance looked down toward the barn, all but
impossible to see now the snow was coming down harder. He paced the kitchen
until he saw the lights coming toward the house.

When Tyson opened the truck door, Chance was waiting
for him. “Where did she go? I’ll take the truck and if I can’t find her, we’ll
have to call in reinforcements.”

“Thanks. This is the first time she’s seen snow. I
should never have let her go out by herself in this.”

“Worry about that later when I get back. So help me,
Chance, this is going to get sorted one way or another. Stay indoors, I don’t
need to find you frozen to death against a bloody fence post.”

Chance shut the door, cursing the bull that put him in
this position. He couldn’t get over the feeling of uselessness that swamped him
when he couldn’t get in and help.

***

By the time she saddled the horse earlier that morning
and headed toward the paddock, the wind was coming at her sideways, bitter and
knife like. She pulled her hat further down over her face and huddled against
Sultan’s neck, trying to keep her face out of the bitter wind.

A few white flakes landed on her jacket as she
unhooked the gate into the paddock and Callie took a moment to gaze at them in
wonder. She slipped off her glove and touched the flake with her fingers,
watching it melt away to a spot of water. Another few dropped and then more
followed. It was like being caught in a pillow fight with white duck feathers
floating down from the clouds. Soon there was a steady rain of snowflakes.

She nudged the horse and they began their routine
crisscross of the large paddock, making sure there were no cows in trouble and
the calves that were already on the ground were making progress. She was
prepared to move any unstable calves to the barn until they were able to follow
their mothers and suckle freely. The last thing she wanted was to find a dead
calf with a distraught mother when she could have saved it.

Sherbet ran ahead and got lost in the long grass.
Callie cursed under her breath and hoped it wasn’t trouble. She nudged Sultan
and headed in the same direction, her head down, holding the brim of her hat to
keep the snow out of her eyes. The chill of cold snowflakes down the back of
her neck was starting to take the joy and shine out of the experience for her,
and she wished she was back at the ranch house in front of the fire with Chance
snuggling on the large rug watching the logs burn down to glowing warm embers
as they had last night.

She listened for the sound of barking and hoped the
dog would make it easier for her to find whatever it was that had snaffled her
attention. The soft flakes were falling faster and faster, making it difficult
for Callie to see where she was going. Everywhere she looked was a sheet of
white, making it impossible for her to gauge where she was in the paddock.

A sharp bark had her turning to the right. “Sherbet.
Sherbet, where are you?” She called and called, hoping the dog would keep up
its bark to guide her to where she was. After a couple of pauses, Callie honed
in on her dog and managed to find her way to a clump of grass hiding a dirty
white cow almost invisible against the snow covered ground.

Callie slid from the saddle and let the reins hang
loose over Sultan’s neck. She dropped to the ground and patted Sherbet. “Good
girl. Well done.” The cow wasn’t moving and Callie touched her swollen stomach,
hoping upon hope she and the calf were still alive. She could see its hooves
protruding out of its mother and wondered why she had gone down.

By the time the small bull calf was pulled from its
mother, Callie was exhausted. Her arms ached and she was freezing cold. With no
other choice, she picked up the calf in her arms, hooked her hand in the reins,
and started walking toward where she thought the gate was. Shivering with cold
and weary beyond reason, she was relieved when she saw lights coming toward
her.

Her brother-in-law pulled up and jumped out of the
truck.

“What the fucking hell have you done? Chance is out of
his mind with worry.” Tyson’s face was red with fury as he rounded on her. “I
had to threaten him with violence to stop him taking the horse and coming to
find you. What kind of irresponsible damned farm manager are you anyway?”

“The kind who gets things done and doesn’t let the
stock die because of a touch of bad weather. Now is there anything I can do for
you or are you just going to get in my way? I have to find this young man a
bottle or a surrogate mother before we lose him too.” Callie brushed past him
and headed back to the barn following the tracks the truck left in the snow.
When she got there, she struggled to an empty stall, her legs wobbly with
fatigue. She kicked the door open and walked in, dropping to her knees to place
the shivering calf on the ground.

Grabbing a handful of hay, she rubbed the
near-freezing animal down until it started to struggle and move under her
administrations. “That’s the way, fight buddy. I don’t want you to go the same
way as your mama. Don’t let me get frostbite for nothing now.”

“Callie. What the hell happened out there? I was
worried sick.” Chance came hobbling into the barn, his face a mixture of relief
and anger.

“Cow went down. She was halfway giving birth so I had
to get this little guy out. She didn’t make it.” Callie looked up. “Any
powdered milk around at all?”

He looked a little bit stunned but gathered himself.
“Yeah, sure. In the feed bins there’s always a bag of milk for cases like this.
Should be a couple of bottles as well. Let me go and look.”

“Nope, my job. You rest. Seems like you’ve already
done more than you should today anyway.” She hurried toward the feed bins
ignoring the deathly looks she was getting from her brother-in-law. She could
deal with him later, once the calf was settled and warm.

Tyson followed Chance and leaned over the edge of the
stall, his face thunderous. “Chance, this is ridiculous. If that had been a
local man you’d hired on, this would never have happened. And you damn well
know they could have handled this situation a lot better than she did too.
Getting lost in the paddock, scaring the heck out of you. Come on, how much
convincing do you need to get decent help? If I hadn’t been available to come
to the rescue, what would you have done, gone out yourself?” Tyson glared at
her as she brushed past him and went to make a bottle up for the calf.

“Leave it, brother. We can talk about it later.” He
looked down at the calf struggling to find its feet. “Callie did the right
thing. He’d have died alongside his mama if she hadn’t found him and brought
him in. At least she’s managed to salvage something out of bad situation.
Considering it’s her first taste of snow, I’m proud of the way she’s held up.”

Callie fought the urge to throw her arms around her
secret husband in gratitude.

“What is one calf when it could have been you out
there? Hell’s teeth, you’re injured and need to recuperate, not run around
after the ‘farm manager.’ Seems to me, you’re going soft in your old age. Sure
it wasn’t your head Terror stood on and not your hip?”

Chance pushed his brother against the wall of the
stall and put his face up against Tyson’s. “Give it a rest. Now. I made the
decision to hire her on and I fully expect you to respect that. Callie knows
what she’s doing and so do I. I don’t need you telling me what to do.”

She walked back with the bottle in her hand, shaking
it to warm the formula and make sure it was mixed properly. “Thanks, boss, but
if your brother has any issues he’s more than welcome to deal with me face to
face. I can sort out my own problems. Just let me feed this little guy and then
he can have my undivided attention.”

Callie met Tyson’s gaze and didn’t glance away from
the hateful look he was giving her. “After all, the animals come first in this
job.” She put the bottle on the ground and wrapped her arms around the calf,
encouraging it to its feet. She held her hands under its belly until it was
more stable on its wobbly legs before slipping a couple of fingers into its
mouth. The warm tongue whipped around her fingers and started to suck, banging
into the palm of her hand with insistent nudges.

Callie smiled, breathing a sigh of relief that he was
ready and willing to nurse. She picked up the bottle and slid the teat between
her fingers, easing them out of the calf’s mouth as it latched onto the teat.
The sucking noises filled the quiet barn, easing the fear from her shoulders.

When he was finished, he turned and tried to nudge her
hands looking for more milk. Callie laughed, rubbing his little body with her
hands to keep him warm. “Okay if I use a saddle blanket to wrap around him for
the night? He needs all the warmth he can get in this weather.”

“We have calf coats in the tack room. They should be
hanging up. Let me go and get you one.” Chance hobbled off before she could
protest.

Tyson walked into the stall and glared at her. “If you
do anything so damned stupid again and cause him anymore grief, so help me,
I’ll run you off the ranch myself. Do I make myself clear?”

Callie looked up at him, intensely sorry they couldn’t
tell Tyson the real reason she was here. “I’m doing my job the best as I can.
I’m not ashamed of the fact this is the first snow I’ve seen, but it doesn’t
make any difference. I had to save that calf and I did it. If you don’t like
it, tough luck pal, because you aren’t my employer, he is.” Sherbet eased her
way between her new owner and the man threatening her. Callie rested a hand on
the dog’s head, hoping to calm her before she reacted. Biting Tyson wouldn’t help
matters at all.

“I bet you think he’s an easy grab, a famous rodeo
star loaded with cash and a bum leg. Start out working the ranch and ease your
way into his bed.” He leaned closer and pointed his finger into her shoulder,
his hot breath rolling over her face. “Let me tell you something for free,
girl. You’re not his type, not in the slightest. You don’t even come close to
what Chance likes in a women, so do yourself a favor and go back to where you
belong cause it
ain’t
here in Colorado.”