Ranch Manny - B.A. Tortuga Page 0,17

man was made to work.

“Just watch the kids. Keep Curly close to the house. He might get some wild oats and try to ride out to help us pen calves, and he can get lost in his head real easy.”

“Sure. I can do that. I’ll need him to show me about the chickens anyway. I’m happy to cook meals too, no problem.” Trace was so accommodating right now. Brent thought maybe he was still scared to be homeless and jobless and was a little desperate.

Or maybe Trace was simply a good guy. “Look, if you end up watching the kids most of the time as well as housekeeping and all, we’ll talk about upping your salary.” He was a fair man, and frankly, money wasn’t the problem. It was all logistics.

“Sure. Totally. Susannah is so ready to have friends.” Trace’s smile was warm, eager even. “Have…has it been long since they lost their folks?”

“Not too long. I mean…” Brent guessed it had been longer than it felt like. It felt like yesterday. “Five months? Damn near six. Daisy was just barely home.” God, that hurt. Life went on, but losing Hayley had been like losing a sister, and Shane had been his best friend. “Their mom was my cousin, and their dad was my best friend from high school. They died in a car accident, but Daisy didn’t have a scratch on her.”

“Jesus. Oh Jesus, man.” Trace reached out to squeeze his hand, the motion as natural as breathing. “I’m so sorry. Honest to God. Thank God the kids have you.”

“I’m just glad I could be here. I’m their godfather, so I had agreed to take them if something happened. My aunt has emphysema and is on all sorts of immunosuppressants, so she couldn’t take them, anyway, and Shane’s folks split up years ago and have their own lives…” Brent shook his head. “I wanted them to have a solid place right here in town.”

“You can tell they’re loved. Those kids are solid. Seriously. You’re doing a good job.”

“Thanks. It’s been toughest with Jakob, as he remembers the most, but he’s trying hard. Too hard sometimes.” Of course, he’d read on the internet that happened sometimes, that a kid would go the route of trying to be perfect instead of acting out. Shit, he didn’t know. He let it be what it was. It was the best he could do. God knew he couldn’t wander around wailing and mourning and bemoaning his damn situation. He was a fucking cowboy, and he had shit to do. “Good thing he likes ranch life.” Caro had been lonely, so Brent hoped Susannah could help with that a bit.

“Isn’t that every little boy’s dream? To be a race car cowboy on the moon?”

“It is.” He chuckled. “At least it was for me. I kinda made it. I was a rodeo cowboy for years.”

Trace’s eyes wrinkled when he smiled, proving there were either hidden years or miles there. “There you go. I’m an outlier. I always wanted to be a teacher. I never wanted to be anything else.”

“That’s a bitch, man. I can’t imagine you getting fired someplace like Austin, you know?”

“Right? You think that it’s the last liberal bastion of Texas, but… The guys with money make the decisions.” Trace sighed and spun the dregs of the beer in his bottle. “I tried to be the straitlaced guy. I tried to be what they asked, but I couldn’t, so…”

“So you’re you.” He nodded. God knew Brent got that. “That was why I left rodeo. Won a few big pots and suddenly I had a PR machine. Wasn’t me, and then stuff happened, and I needed to come home and sink some time into the ranch.” And money. He wasn’t even going into his inheritance right now.

“I don’t know anything about real ranching, but I’m a quick learner, and it looks like you have the cowboy part covered.” Trace chuckled, the sound surprisingly warm, catching his attention. “I am uniquely suited to the taking care of things.”

He hoped he wasn’t staring, but that little chuckle warmed his belly right through, and threatened to go lower. “Curly will help teach you. He really isn’t so bad, and I feel guilty as hell having to treat him like—” He bit it off. If Trace had taken care of an Alzheimer’s patient, he knew.

“His routine was messed with. It makes it worse. It’ll be easier now because he can relax. He’s a good man.” Yes. And Trace got