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head will never be right as long as
that woman is around. It's like she scrambles your brains or
something, man. Best thing you can do is stay away from her."
     
    "Not happening, Cole. I'm doing this...I
have to do this."
     
    ***
     
    Cassie tucked her hair behind her ears and
slipped on her old straw hat, before heading out the back door of
the house. Her boot heels kicked up dust with every stride she made
toward the bunkhouse. After wearing a suit and heels every day for
the past six years, being in boots and blue jeans felt like heaven,
so there was a bounce in her step as she headed out to the barn to
talk to Bud.
     
    It was early, but Bud was usually an early
riser, so she'd probably catch him eating his breakfast. The six or
so horses in the barn nickered a greeting from their stalls when
she stepped up on the porch to the bunkhouse.
     
    Although she was tempted to stop in there
and scratch every head, she didn't. Her mission this morning was
too important. She wondered if Bud had fed the horses yet though.
If not, she'd do that for him. It was going to take them a few days
to get a routine down pat, one that was necessary to run the ranch
right. Changing partners for the delicate dance her daddy and Bud
had been doing by rote for thirty years was going to take some
time, but she could do it. Her daddy had big shoes to fill, but her
feet weren't small, and she was determined.
     
    She knocked on the whitewashed door of the
bunkhouse then twisted the knob and walked inside. Nobody was in
the kitchen, and she took a deep breath and inhaled the familiar
smell of hay, leather and dust. Someone had evidently been cooking
bacon in there recently, she thought, when the smoky rich scent
teased her nostrils. She took a look over at the old cast iron cook
stove and saw the skillet still sitting on the eye.
     
    Walking around the long rough board picnic
like table skirted with flat wood benches, then across the narrow
kitchen, she looked down the long T hallway to the sleeping rooms
and called out for him. "Hey Buddy--get your old bones out here! I
need a hug!" Her voice echoed down the hall and bounced back
unanswered.
     
    She walked down the long hallway to his room
at the end and knocked loudly. "Buddy, sun's up lazy bones. Open
up!" Still no answer. This was really odd, she thought. Her dad had
still been sleeping when she left the house, and Imelda wasn't
there yet to cook breakfast. Maybe her dad knew where Buddy could
be. But she wasn't going to wake him up. Sleep healed, and he
needed a lot of healing. No, she'd feed the horses, then go see if
he was up yet.
     
    Excitement filled her at doing something
physical for a change. She felt empowered as she walked back
outside then into the barn and grabbed the thick hose from the
spindle on the wall, and a feed bucket. Dragging the hose to the
first stall, she dropped the feed bucket then opened the latch and
stepped inside. Politely, the pretty roan mare with a white blaze
on her muzzle took a step backward and then shook her head.
     
    "Morning girl," Cassie said and scratched
the mare between her ears then shoved the hose nozzle into the
water bucket and turned it on. When it was filled, she turned off
the water and stepped back out and locked the stall. "I'll be back
with your breakfast in a few minutes." The horse whinnied as if she
understood and Cassie chuckled.
     
    She made her way to all seven occupied
stalls and refilled water buckets then went to the feed closet and
filled up a feed bucket and grabbed a scoop. This job she'd done a
thousand times in her life, it had been one of her chores as a
teenager, and she loved it. Bonding with the horses in the morning
and at night gave her a sense of peace and accomplishment.
     
    After she'd given all the horses their feed
and supplements, she went to the hayloft and got a couple of bales
and cut the string loose. A tabby barn cat rubbed at her ankles
while she peeled off several flakes from the bales. She stopped