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had resolved to find a motel somewhere to sleep tonight before moving on. Perhaps up north to find a spread he could work on. Now, it seemed with the interview going well that he would have his own place.
"Bring your gear up, take some time to get yourself settled. Starting tomorrow is soon enough. Dinner's in the main house at seven and I can give you keys to this place."
* * * *
    Robbie knocked on the door and waited. He wasn't entirely sure what the protocol was here. Back on the station he had been one of twenty-six hands and there was a separate bunkhouse complex with a cook. Jack hadn't mentioned any other staff; it would seem apart from Jack and him there was only Riley and their daughter. There was a small area in his room with a burner and a sink, a small fridge, and a toaster oven. He would be more than happy to keep himself fed. Being at the owners' table was always difficult. He would have to be polite and mind his manners and after a hard day out on horseback that was sometimes hard to do. They in turn would have to be polite back, and act like they were happy to have a hired hand at their table. It was a lose-lose situation. Just tonight then probably. A 'welcome to the ranch' dinner. A shower, clean jeans, and a shave had been the right thing to do.
    The door flew open like someone had yanked at it from the other side and suddenly Robbie was face-to-face with a laughing Riley.
    "Come in," he said. Leaving the door, he disappeared and after a few moments' consideration of whether he could keep his boots on with a tiled floor he followed where Riley had gone. Straight into the kitchen and slap-bang in the middle of chaos. Hayley was on a chair helping Jack with something at the sink and Riley had joined them.
    "We need more carrots," Riley said.
"And broccoli," Hayley added.
"More meat," Jack insisted.
"We don't need more meat. It's not good for you,
    Pappa," Hayley remonstrated. Robbie bit back a laugh. How often had his mamma told him he needed to eat less meat and more greens.
    "Help me, Robbie," Jack pleaded. "My fellow cowboy, tell me you eat meat with every meal."
"Sure do, sir… Jack."
"Jack has this saying," Riley started. "That if he had to take a pill…" Riley paused and then between laughs he and Hayley singsonged the remainder of the sentence, "'I'd wrap it in bacon first'."
Jack shrugged and then Robbie saw him exchanging a broad grin with Riley.
"Well it's two-all now. So you can keep your greens on your plate and give all the meat to me and Robbie. Agreed, Robbie?"
Jack was talking to him. Asking him something that implied Robbie would be spending more dinners in this worn and cozy kitchen. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.
"Agreed," he said.
Hayley clambered down and under the watchful eye of both Riley and Jack she came to a stop in front of Robbie who wasn't rightly sure he knew where to stand.
"Come sit down with me," she ordered. She settled into what he supposed was her seat at the large scarred and worn table. When they were both sitting she held out a hand. "Hayley Samuels," she said.
He shook her small hand.
"Robbie Curtis. We met at the wedding, didn't we?" Robbie asked.
"We did," Hayley answered. "It's Daddy's turn to cook tonight but Pappa always says there isn't enough meat in the stuff he makes."
"He does?" What else did you say to a slip of a girl with shiny eyes and the confidence of a kid much older than she looked.
When the men appeared finished with whatever they were cooking, some kind of meat in one pot with potatoes thing, they took chairs at the same table and Jack handed Robbie a beer. They passed the time with talk about the ranch and covered Riley's aims for his exploration company as Robbie listened and learned. These two men had something he had never experienced before. A love so deep that you could see it. In every gesture or touch or word Jack and Riley were what Robbie wished for and had never found. They were happy.
"Tell him what you do." Jack