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fed some of the best and greasiest food he’d had in a long time. Everyone who stopped in sat at his booth and talked to him. It was nice catching up with everyone and he’d heard all the latest gossip in town. He’d heard all about how the old Mayor’s wife had gone plumb crazy two years ago and how Travis had hightailed it out of town. Even though the Mayor—well, ex-Mayor—was still living in his big house, he was half the man he used to be; no one in town blamed him. Or so he’d been told over and over again.
    He heard how the new mayor, William Davis, was working hard to bring order to chaos after the big ordeal.
    By the time he drove out to Saddleback Ranch, he was all caught up on what had happened around town since he’d left. His folks weren’t the kind of people to gossip, and most people in town hadn’t know he’d been injured or that he’d been honorably discharged from the army a few months ago. Apparently, his father and mother were the town’s only introverts. There was a part of him that was thankful for the privacy. This way, he could tell the town a short version of what had happened, leaving out all the details and the guilt.
    When he drove through the iron gates, he stopped his truck and smiled. The place looked good. The last time he was here, things hadn’t been kept up so well. Now, however, there was a new green roof, and new windows and shutters, and it looked like the whole place had a fresh coat of paint.
    He could see fat cattle grazing in the back fields, and there were a couple men on horses working near the corrals to the side.
    When he drove up, he realized one of them was Chase, and he waved.
    Stepping out of the truck, Chase pulled a tan horse to a stop next to the truck.
    “ Evening,” Chase said, taking his hat off his head and wiping his brow with a bandana.
    “ Looks like you could use a few more hands.” Wes nodded to the corral, where they were trying to brand some cattle.
    Chase laughed. “We could always use a few more hands. I have the keys to the place here. I moved a few things around, but it’s yours, if you need it, until the end of next month.” Chase tossed him down a set of keys.
    “Thanks.” He pocketed the keys. “I hope to know something from the VA in Tyler soon.”
    “ Do you have a job lined up?” Chase asked, dismounting from the horse.
    “ A few possibilities. Actually, I was thinking about asking Stephen Miller about a job down at the station.”
    Chase smiled. “Wanna be a deputy?”
    Wes nodded. “I was thinking about it. I studied law enforcement for two years before deploying.”
    Chase slapped him on the back. “Well, doesn’t that beat all.”
    “But I’m dying to ride again, so if you need a hand around here . . .”
    Chase laughed. “Anytime you want to lend a hand, just grab yourself a horse.”
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Four
    T he heat was getting to her. She’d spent the last six hours on the horse and wished for just a moment out of the saddle. Not to mention a cold shower. Branding new calves was hot and sweaty work and usually lasted a whole week. It was a full-time job when you had acres and acres of them to do.
    She looked over the corral full of little ones and their bellowing mamas. It always put a smile on her face to see how many they had and how healthy all of them were.
    There were a dozen ranch hands at any given time working the fields, and she usually knew all of them by name. She liked most of them, at least the ones that came back year after year.
    There were four ranch hand houses along the side of their property, which had been there since before she was born. Two of them had been rebuilt after the tornado that had claimed their mother’s life had come through. Most of the workers stayed in their own travel trailers in the park area her father had built shortly after the tornado. They could hook up with water, sewage, and electricity and most of the men preferred it