Teaser – The Foreman and the Drifter

The Foreman and the Drifter is the first book in my Farthingdale Ranch series, which is an mm cowboy/ranch romance series.

Leland is the ranch foreman, and the sad, little drifter is Jamie, and he’s just looking for a job. Here’s just a bit of the story, from the very first chapter…

“We need to get on with things,” said Leland. “We need to get things ready for the guests of week two. And we need to make the Ayer family pack up and go home.”

“Their chauffeur is still waiting?” asked Brody. The parking lot wasn’t quite visible from the horse barn, so Brody’d not been seeing what Leland had seen, that Mr. and Mrs. Ayers were still drinking on the wooden porch of the dining hall. Their luggage, evidently, was still in Cabin #2, which was larger than the other cabins, and had a wider, less sloped walkway to the road.

“Yes,” said Leland, sighing. “Maybe I’ll swing on over there and put a bug in their ear.”

“I could do it for you, boss,” said Brody. His smile was a bit on the sassy side, because maybe he’d get a bit more enjoyment about of kicking two rich folks and their daughter to the curb than he ought to have done.

“I’ll take care of it,” said Leland. “But thank you.”

“Who’s that?” Brody jerked his chin at the road leading to the parking lot to indicate where he wanted Leland to look.

Leland shifted in his saddle, looking down the dirt road as it curved beneath the pines and Aspen trees. A small breeze swirled the dust, and it took him a minute to realize that a young man was emerging from the trees and into the sunshine. He looked road-worn, Leland could see that, even from this distance. His shoulders were slumped and he looked down at his feet as he walked, as though uncertain of the surface. All he was doing, though, was kicking up dust and kicking up more dust—

Then he looked up, as though feeling eyes upon him. Leland couldn’t truly see the expression on the young man’s face, but as he looked over his shoulder, a bit of wind swirled his long hair around his face. Sun glinted on that hair, as though painting strands of bronze, and if that wasn’t fey, Leland didn’t know what was.

“Damn it,” he said. He took off his hat and wiped his forehead on his sleeve, then put his hat back on. “Damn that Eddy Piggot.” As Brody looked up at him, a question raising his eyebrows, Leland shook his head. “Over at the Rusty Nail. He’s been sending us drifters all week, telling them that there’s a job to be had. And now he’s sent us another’n.”

Leland needed to get rid of the drifter and then pay Eddy a visit, to clear things up. The ranch needed a sterling reputation if it was to stay in business. They couldn’t be seen hiring drifters who thought they could just show up with no experience in guests, cattle, horses, or anything related to a dude ranch and expect to get a job. Just one more thing on his long list of things to do. Just one more thing between him and that long, long ride.