King's Country (Oil Kings #4) - Marie Johnston Page 0,38

for it before, and then I’d seen how Bristol lived. How she’d loved her father despite the cards he’d been dealt and how he’d played them.

Yet I couldn’t just turn it over to Bristol and expect to be her hero. Learning the details would hurt her and leave her with questions about why the woman she’d adored like her own mama would do something like this to her.

Chapter 7

Bristol

My body ached in the best way. I’d worked all day. If I kept this up, I’d need a replacement walking boot.

I sat on the porch steps in front of Dawson’s house, a bucket of water next to me, and scrubbed the boot clean. I was covered in dust and grit. Bucket was back in my pasture, but he’d been whinnying all day, missing his friends. As if I didn’t feel guilty enough when it came to that horse. I was heading inside to soak my aching leg. If I hadn’t canceled the physical therapy appointments the clinic had made, I was sure I’d be told that I’d overdone it today.

I’d overdo it again tomorrow too. Because I had to.

Dawson’s truck had been parked by my barn off and on throughout the day, but we’d crossed paths. I had split my time between working in the shop or roaming my land and making a to-do list about what I could get done this summer or save for next. There were some fence sections I could reinforce. I’d checked on the cabin. And being in my pickup had given me an excuse to swing by Dawson’s when I’d had to use the bathroom.

I set one boot aside and cleaned the other one. Tucker rumbled from the pasture down the drive in the big John Deere. They’d been using the tractor to do chores at my place. He parked it by the barn and swung out in a move all the single women in town would’ve loved to witness. His cowboy hat was pulled low and he walked like he’d been on a horse for the last twenty years, which was probably the truth.

“I think that’s all for today, Bristol. You need anything else?” I’d talked more to Tucker today than I ever had. He was in his thirties and had a more aw shucks appeal than the King brothers.

“No, that’s more than enough. After we work cattle, you won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

I’d sucked down enough of my ego for the cows and calves I raised. I couldn’t wait to be on my own again.

My heart sagged like I’d hung a sandbag off it. So maybe I’d miss the company. And the help.

I’d really miss the help. But I wouldn’t miss not being able to afford it.

Thanks to Tucker and Kiernan’s TLC, my cows were fat and the calves were thriving. If I could keep it going, sales this fall would be the best I’d ever seen. I’d love to reinvest the profits, but I’d have to reimburse the guys for all they’d done.

“Ain’t no worry,” Tucker said. “It’s not much extra work with the right equipment.”

And there was the rub. I’d be offended, but he’d just stated a fact. His tone didn’t make it sound like I was at fault for what Pop had left me. “I’ll get there.”

“I know you will.”

I wasn’t sure what “there” would look like yet. Today was the first day I’d comprehended that I could do anything with Cartwright Cattle. My means were meager, but my ambition wasn’t. Could I build my cow-calf operation to the point where I could hire help?

Would I be picky about the people I hired, or would I try to find someone who needed the work mentally as much as they did economically, like Pop?

I’d be smarter about it.

Right. Time to rein in my fantasies. I should arrange a real roof over my head first.

Tucker tipped his hat and shot me a knowing look. “You’ll get there faster if you don’t kick us out as soon as the cattle are moved.”

Before I could tell him that I couldn’t afford his help—and I wasn’t going to take his charity if I could keep the cattle healthy by myself—he climbed into his pickup and fired up the engine. He gave me a wave as he rolled away.

I wiped off my boot and slid it on. My leg both welcomed and hated the intrusion. I tossed the water on the grass and put the bucket by the door. Other than to get a