“Oh.”
“Know anyone around here who raises or trains them?”
I sighed and dropped my hands from the desk. This guy wasn’t leaving. “A few. Border Collie or Heeler?”
“Huh?”
“What kind of cow dog do you need? They do different jobs.”
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe one of each. What do you think?”
“I think you should go talk to the Walkers. They’re the only ones I know off the top of my head who breed both. They could tell you where to start, and they might even have some pups coming up.” I deliberately bent down to stroke Dakota’s ear, then turned back to my desk.
“Oh, that’s good to know. Dusty’s supposed to come out to the ranch tomorrow. I’ll talk to him.”
“He’d be the one to ask. Good luck to you.”
Austen stood a few more seconds in the doorway. I glanced up once to offer a quick, neighborly smile, and he finally put his hat back on. “Thanks for your help.”
“Anytime.” I sagged back in my chair and sighed again when he finally walked out. What was with that guy?
I mean, Iknew. It wasn’t like I was stupid. Guys always tried to hit on me, and it made it hard to get anywhere in a conversation. It would be different if all the guys who flirted with me were ones I’d be interested in flirting back with. But half the ones who acted like that were married, too old, or just plain gross, and I’d mostly learned to ignore them. The colder, more business-like I was, the sooner they started figuring out how to talk like regular people.
Dad popped his head into the office, his painting respirator dangling around his neck. “Who was that?”
“Name’s Austen Conrad. He came to see if I’d work on his tractor. I sent him to Bobby.”
Dad’s eyebrows crunched together. “He hauled his tractor all the way into town without calling first to see if you could even work on it?”
I shrugged.
He snorted and shook his head. “City folk.”
I laughed. “Pretty much. Are you taking a break? I might as well stop for lunch now since I’m not getting all these done as fast as I hoped.”
“Yeah. Hey…” He leaned a little farther through the door and lowered his voice. “Will asked me a bit ago if I thought you’d have dinner with him sometime. I told him I didn’t know. He might ask you when he gets in the break room.”
“Argh.” I groaned. “You know what? I think I’ll stay here and try to finish these.”
Dad gave me a sympathetic smile. “Want me to bring your sandwich over from the fridge?”
“Please.”
Chapter 5
Dusty
“So,whatdoyouthink?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and nodded toward the red Angus calves in Austen Conrad’s corral. “They’re in good condition but not growing as well as I’d have expected for their age. It hasn’t been that cold yet, so that shouldn’t be slowing them down. Did they get all their shots?”
“I don’t know. They were five or six months old by the time I got the ranch.”
“That might be part of it. Finney was getting up there. Maybe he got a little careless this last year or so. It’s a lot to stay on top of. We should also have Doc Burns check your parasite load, but I’m betting that’s not the problem.”
“Okay. Got it.” Austen tapped some notes into his phone. “What else?”
“Let’s go take a look at your yearling heifers.”