look on Hawk’s face when he realized the task I’d been required to handle. I’d never seen the man cry, but on that day, his eyes had been glistening.
The act of bringing home a fallen hero, accepting such an honor had taken a significant toll on all of us, but there was no remorse in the decisions I’d made. Since the day of Snake’s funeral, Hawk and I hadn’t been able to talk about the difficult mission.
Or the choices we’d all been forced to make.
Sighing, I rubbed my tired eyes, wanting to get this event the fuck over with. A flash of memories sliced into my mind, the same ones that continued to give me nightmares.
“Where the fuck are you going?” I hissed at Hawk, noticing the bastard rebel soldiers getting closer. The sound of gunfire was all around us. I knew what my buddy was thinking. He was going to save Snake’s life regardless of the danger. “We need to get the hell out of here.”
“I’m not leaving without Snake,” Hawk growled.
“Then we’ll all fucking die!” I snapped.
The memory wasn’t one I ever wanted to think about again. Somehow, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Duty.
Honor.
Respect.
All three words had been drilled into me for years, leaving me a changed man. Or at least that’s what I’d heard more than once since arriving back home.
Maybe immersing myself in the auction was the best thing for me. However, there was something about the feisty girl that had yanked me into another plane altogether.
I craned my neck, continuing to study her. The asshole following her seemed to have disappeared.
“Stop worrying, Tanner. The price is ingrained in my mind and I know what I’m doing.” While I was thankful Hawk had asked me to join the business, I still had to prove that I could handle the job. It was another thought that made me cringe. As much as Hawk had attempted to avoid handling his father’s ranch, even pretending he didn’t give a damn, I’d known better.
He was a cowboy through and through. Now he was making one hell of a surrogate father to his deceased brother’s little girl as well as helping the ranch turn a profit.
Hell, I wasn’t certain staying in once place was even in my blood. The military was the only place I’d ever felt comfortable, or decent as a human being. Some of the folks in town still saw me as the bad boy, a kid with a nasty reputation as well as a bad temper. Time would tell if they would be able to get over the moniker. At least I could help Hawk get the ranch on a profitable road before any decisions were made.
Tanner and I had come early, inspecting the various pens and livestock without tipping our hand as to the lot we were here to bid on. I had an advantage since I’d only been back from Afghanistan for a couple of months and this was my first auction. No one knew me so the bid from some unknown entity might throw them off their game.
Tanner tipped his hat, his gaze more inquisitive than anything else. “I can see that. You just need to know this is a dog-eat-dog environment. Nothing like before. Ranchers are like vultures given the state of the economy. There are also some unscrupulous people in the game as well. You just need to be careful.” He kept his voice hushed, his eyes forever scanning the group of seated ranchers.
That much I’d learned as well. Times were entirely different than when I’d left Missoula years before, the economy shutting down several of the ranches and farms I’d known as a kid. I’d even questioned whether I still had a place in the ranching world. Still, I was in no mood to be treated as if I’d never seen a damn cattle auction before. Besides, careful wasn’t in my vocabulary.
“Yeah, I got it.”
Tanner bristled, grumbling under his breath.
“What is it?”
He cursed in Spanish before inching closer. “Stay away from that one.”
After searching the crowd, I followed Tanner’s stare toward a man who stood at the rails, the same one who’d been following the cowgirl. Interesting. “What about him?”
“He’s bad news. An asshole. A true swindler.”
“There must be a story.”
Snorting, he darted a look in my direction. “Not one worth mentioning any longer, but just mind you stay away from him.”
“Got it. I’ll take another look at the herd.”
Nodding, I knew the business was cutthroat, men and women fighting tooth