Morning happened.
At first, Jess thought that something was wrong. There was so much birdsong. It was as though every bird in creation had decided, just that morning, to sit outside her window and exercise its vocal chords. This couldn’t be normal. But then she had stuck her head out of her window and the world appeared to be working just fine, only with more music in it than she had heard before.
She crept downstairs and found a suitcase with some of her clothes in it. They were office attire, all pencil skirts and tailored suits. What had she brought them for? She was a ranch owner. Her life was one of jeans and T-shirts now. Rummaging in another bag produced a creased Tee with Hello Kitty on it, a joke present from her sister, and a pair of cut-off denims that were fraying their way into non-existence. The Tee was too small, stretching over her more than ample bosom. She sighed. Well maybe she could go into town and buy something more suitable, but for now…
Dressed, she walked into her new kitchen. It was huge and sadly empty. She would have to unpack, but first things first. There was a kettle and a stove so she managed to heat some water to make tea. This cup was infinitely better than the one from last night, and Jess was beginning to feel mostly human when there was a knock on her kitchen door.
It was a stable door, so she unlocked and opened the top half on the second try. “Yes?”
“Mornin’,” said Wyatt. He looked as fresh as a daisy, and smelled that fresh too. It was as though he’d had a bath in dew and rubbed himself dry with fresh green grass. Jess sighed.
“Early isn’t it?” she asked walking back into the kitchen leaving him waiting outside.
“Not really,” Wyatt said leaning on the door. “We generally start before dawn.”
“Is that a fact?” Jess was standing at the stove, contemplating what she could have for breakfast in a house with no groceries.
“May I come in?” Wyatt asked.
“If you must,” Jess said.
“Look, Ms. Lincoln, you need our help,” Wyatt said with no preamble at all. “I thought we’d settled this last night.” He was now standing in her kitchen and there were four other men behind him.
Jess bore down on him. “Look, Mr. Wade isn’t it? I just need to find some breakfast. So unless you have some crispy bacon and eggs sunny side up under that shirt-- I don’t need your help!”
Wyatt sighed, “Actually you do. These are my friends and we’re gonna look after your cattle for you, for a really reasonable price.”
“Now hold on just one moment,” she snapped raising a finger in the air. “How do I know you know what you’re doing? What if you’re nothing but a lying shark?”
Wyatt smiled at her. “You know I like you. You’re spikey. And those are really good questions, but I thought after I rode in on my charger last night and saved you, you’d be…”
“I’d be…?” Jess asked folding her arms across her chest. She eyed the other men. They were watching her and Wyatt with every indication of amusement. “I’d be what?”
“More grateful for one thing,” Wyatt said. “You didn’t lose one cow last night. Not one! And you could’ve lost the whole herd.”
“Well!” Jess yelled and then stopped. She stared into another world, another time and then deflated, her anger draining away. “I’m sorry. You’re right and I’m wrong. Everyone’s just been fighting with me at every turn lately and…”
“And you thought it would be fun to fight with a total stranger?” Wyatt asked grinning. “I can see the appeal.”
“So, what is this decent price you mentioned?” she asked dreading the figure.
Wyatt smiled then. “Consider today as us just being neighborly. We can talk about it, over dinner?”
Jess’s inner voice yelled at her to refuse. Hadn’t she learnt that all men were evil, cheating little liars? But her mouth was running on automatic and said “yes” before it could be stopped.
Wyatt’s smile was positively dreamy. It was intoxicating and probably infectious she thought, as he lined his friends up for her to meet them.
There was Kyle, blonde with dimples. Then came Ryan with hair as dark as hers and as quiet as a shadow. He was in stark contrast to the last two who were introduced as Tyler and Jesse Crowe. Brothers, one look told her that anyway. Tyler, the younger had a goatee, but other than that the two were very similar, with blonde hair and big broad shoulders.
“You all have the same color eyes,” Jess noted looking at them standing around her kitchen.
“We’re sort of related,” Jesse said smiling.
“That must be one heck of a strong gene for you all to get it,” she remarked. The men looked at each other and then Wyatt said “Well boys, time to go do some work.”
Hats were donned and they marched out into the clear, bright day. Jess watched them go and only then did she realize that she had a dinner date and no idea what to wear.