Texas Two Step by Cynthia D'Alba

Author:Cynthia D'Alba [D'Alba, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Western
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2012-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

After convincing Joanna that he wasn’t angry with her—when in reality he was quite put out—and assuring her that he understood she was just trying to help, Mitch headed off to the barn. Hobbs kept an office there. Even though Mitch had offered him much better office accommodations, Hobbs always said staying in the barn kept him close to what was going on. Plus, Mitch suspected Hobbs enjoyed the smell of leather and horses as much as Mitch did.

“Hobbs.”

“I’m in the office,” came the muffled reply.

Hobbs had taken the door off the office a few years ago and had it cut in half, converting the once solid door into a makeshift Dutch door. The upper unit stood open while the lower unit was closed. This was as close as Hobbs would ever come to an open-door policy.

Mitch leaned on the edge of the lower door unit’s sill. “How’s that new calf doing?”

Hobbs looked up from the spreadsheet on his desk. “The one born right before you left?”

Mitch frowned. “Is there another new calf?”

Hobbs shrugged. “Nope.”

“Then, yeah. That calf.”

“Doing fine. Kept him and his momma here for a couple of days. Wanted to make sure both of them were okay after that rough delivery. Sent them down yesterday with the other calves and moms.”

“You got them in Lee’s Pasture or have you moved them yet to Black’s Ranch?”

As the Lazy L had grown and bought up surrounding acreage, Mitch and his hands had never bothered to rename the lands. It just seemed easier to keep calling them what they always had. So Lee’s Pasture had been bought from Chuck Lee. Black’s Ranch had been owned by Russell Black.

“Right now, they’re still in Lee’s. Figured I’d wait until you got back to move ’em to Black’s.” Hobbs pulled a sheet of paper from his desk. He always had the current cattle-rotation list handy.

Mitch didn’t do grain-fed cattle. He believed cattle raised in the field on grasses produced better tasting and more tender beef. To keep the herd adequately supplied, he and Hobbs followed a field-rotation schedule that kept the cattle moving from area to area, providing fresh grass while allowing the previous field time to replenish. Moving cattle on a regular basis was time consuming and labor intensive, but all the extra work had paid off. The Lazy L produced the highest quality beef in the state.

“Let’s move them tomorrow. I’d like to get them a little closer. With the drought, the ocelots in the area will be hungry and thirsty. It’d be safer for our calves and the ocelots. I’d hate to have to shoot one of those fellers.”

“Right. What time you want to head out in the morning?”

Before Mitch could answer, the radio on the desk squawked. “Hobbs.”

Hobbs keyed the mike. “Yeah. Hobbs here.”

“We’ve got a cow down.”

“Damn it,” Hobbs muttered. “Where?”

“Section 320.”

“Ocelot?”

“Maybe. I’m thinking wild hogs though. She’s torn up pretty good.”

“Okay, let’s get the rest of the cattle moved out of that section and into…hold on a sec.” He pulled out his rotation schedule and glanced at Mitch.

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