Hot Blue Velvet (2 page)

ONE

Prime Rib

It takes two to get one into trouble.

Cattle range, fifteen milers outside of Flatonia, Saturday 7 a.m.

T
he herd looked pretty dammed good, Kanda Kincade thought as she rode the lead horse for the drive. The old saying applied to her life; if you’re not making dust, you’re eatin’ it. She smiled at the old cowboy motto as the cattle moved along at a good clip. Cattle drives weren’t done much anymore, but her mother insisted on keeping the old tradition. It wasn’t a long drive, just ten miles into Flatonia.

Kanda never complained. It was the only time she felt like she was actually free. Being a cowpuncher was in her blood, so a drive always made her happy.

Her brother, Trevor, usually went on the drives, but he seemed preoccupied lately. She rolled her eyes. She didn’t know if it’d been the right thing to hire Bren Plush as the ranch’s cook. He’d finally gotten over his failed relationship with that dumbass fluff head housekeeper that Ma just had to hire. The last few days, he seemed happy though, so maybe it was for the best?

Happy?
A foreign word to her. So, maybe satisfied was a better word for her? Her entire life was spent on the family ranch—the Triple K. Still, she wouldn’t have had it any other way. Her days were full and busy.

The fact that she worked with an all male crew never bothered her either. Not that there would be romantic thoughts of any kind involving one of them and her. Kanda almost laughed aloud. No, these cowboys never saw her as a woman or a hot babe, that’s for sure.

It didn’t really bother her, but sometimes, she wished she could just be someone else for a while. Maybe go on a date or two? Meet a man who didn’t know who she was and had nothing to do with the cattle business. Kanda shook her head.
Not likely.
She was a particular female and stayed on the ranch all the time with the exception of trips to Dallas and San Antonio.

Get a man and lasso a life for yourself!
Her mom was always saying that. She would go on and on about Kanda never taking a fun trip or trying to make friends. Marge loved to rant about Kanda’s impossible list of requirements in a man.

Sure, she certainly did have a set of requirements for this supposed man in her life. She herself was a large curvy woman, but she was in shape, because working a ranch was almost like an Olympian triathlon at times. So, a man for her? He would have to be a big guy himself. He would also have to stand up to her, because Kanda couldn’t stomach a sissy type guy.

Who cares anyway? Who wants some man bossin’ them around?
She moved her horse past the turn as the Flatonia station came into view. The beef in her life wasn’t the kind you could date. Besides, who could beat a big ole meaty slice of choice prime rib? Kanda laughed aloud as she rode her horse.
I ain’t met me a man yet that could compare to that experience.
Wearing an amused smile, she rode past the herd and headed for the platform.

*~*~*~*

Main Street, Flatonia Texas

B
ren needed a ride. It was 8 a.m. and she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. She stood out on Main Street after locking up her apartment and deciding she would walk all the way to Victoria if she had to. Her car hadn’t been much to look at, but she relied on it to get her where she needed to go. She’d left it in a ditch on Triple K land, after trying to avoid sharing her front seat with a side of beef.

She only had two days before she needed to be back at the ranch, early on Monday to cook for the crew. She couldn’t reach her mom by phone, but that didn’t surprise her none. Her mother had a busy life and never answered her phone. What the hell her mother actually did at her little ranch was a complete mystery to Bren. She wondered why her mom would buy a place so far out and what the hell did she ever know about cows, except how rare she liked a steak to be?

This reminded her about her mom always comparing men with beef. Something like, it was a hard choice if you had to choose between a man and a steak.
But it don’t make no difference really, both meats were better rare and served up hot.
Bren laughed a little. She wasn’t like her ma though; she’d chosen her man. At one point in the last couple of days, she’d even had him served up rare and he was just about hot as they came. She nibbled nervously at her lip.
He came and…he went.
She tried to set her crushed heart aside, because dwelling wasn’t gonna do her no good right now.

The train whistle went off a ways down where the train yards were. Bren halted.
The cattle drive!
She wondered if she’d find Trev there. Then, she released a heavy breath. She didn’t have the courage to face him yet. She didn’t know what to do next. Yeah, she got him to notice her, well more than notice. Now though? She needed to figure out how to convince him all over again that he was the man she wanted.

Picking up her pace, she thought maybe she’d take a peek at the train platforms and see if Trev was actually there. She knew she shouldn’t, but she ached to just get another look at him. Somehow, she felt that if she did, she’d have more courage to get him back. Something like getting to see the trophy shining in the sun before you suited up for the big game. After all…what better motivation than to see him? She just needed to make sure he didn’t see her.

The yards came into view and Bren stayed back a ways, standing by the general store wall. She felt like she did before, all those times she spied on the yummy cowboy before deciding she would actually go after him. This wasn’t a good sign really, sneakin’ around and feeling stupid. She realized she was back to being the shy wallflower Bren, standing at the wall, waiting to be picked.

Kanda Kincade was dismounting her horse and shouting out orders.

Bren bit at her lip as she remembered what Kanda had said to her just the day before. ‘Don’t make me regret hiring you.’
Well, now she would probably fire me after the huge mistake I made.

Bren shook off the feeling.
I’m already giving up. I never did have what it took to get what I wanted.
She watched the curvy Kincade woman telling all those rough and rowdy men what to do and walking around with an air of confidence. This woman knew what she wanted in life and she didn’t care that she was a heavyset babe. She just seemed to command attention. She was built like Bren, but she was fit too.

Bren realized she was standing here and pathetically comparing herself to someone else and feeling the lack. This wasn’t gonna help the situation none. She was suddenly full of doubt and feeling like she’d been stupid to even try to get someone like Trevor Kincade.

Small is what ya feel inside, Bren, when the world gets too big.
She remembered the saying now, cuz she hadn’t felt as low as this since the end of high school. Her mamma had always known what to say to her. She remembered when she’d said that, it’d been prom week and Bren didn’t have a date, so she sulked in her room.

Her mom had some choice words about that all right.
You just gonna lie down like a leaf of lettuce and wilt away?
Her mom had been pretty darn mad.

She’d replied with something like, what do you want me to do, go stag?

Her mom had clicked her tongue and whipped out the phone book. “We’re gonna find you a date.”

Well, Bren sure as hell didn’t know what the yellow pages could do to change the fact that she was a plus size teen in a world where the skinny sticks with boobs won all the boy lotteries. What did she think would be in there? ‘Call a Date for the Chubby Girl’ service?

Then, her mom did something really weird…she called for a pizza delivery.

Bren just shook her head and stayed in her bed. She was thinking she would never eat again and maybe then she would be the right size to fit in with the cheerleaders and the ‘in’ crowd at school.

The next day, her ma pounded on Bren’s door and came in with the most beautiful dress. “We gotta find the shoes to match and that means we gotta drive all the way to Dallas.”

Bren sat up and stared at her mother as if she had two heads.

“I got the camera ready too and you’re going in a limo, no less!”

“What?” Was all that Bren could manage to say.

“You heard me.”

“Ma, I ain’t going. You need to face it, like I am.”

Her mother put her hands on her ample hips. “Jimmy Southerly is takin’ ya.”

Bren’s mouth popped open.

“And close your mouth, that ain’t ladylike.” Her mother had a twinkle in her eye. “Although, ladies never have any fun.” She shook her head with a laugh. “You know him, he lives in Shulenburg and his prom isn’t until next week.”

“The pizza guy?”

“Yep and don’t worry, he wants to take ya!”

“And why would he do that?” Bren got beady-eyed as she looked over at the very frilly pink dress hanging by the mirror over her dresser.

Her mom shrugged. “Let’s just say, I’m gonna be eating pizza till the world ends.”

Bren didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry.

“We ain’t gonna talk no more about it.” Her mother’s hands on hips stance remained while she spoke. “Now, get your butt outta bed, cause we gots details to get through.”

Bren ended up going to the prom. Jimmy had been sweet and never looked away from her. She ended high school on a high note and she never did know how her Mama had accomplished such a feat. She was just so grateful that she didn’t want to know really.

Did it bother her that her mom had pulled strings or spent a fortune on pizza, just so she could be seen with a date at her high school prom? Nope, it never did, because she at least could hold her head up after that. Being a teen had been hard enough and at the time? She did care what people thought. She even dated Jimmy a time or two afterward and he kissed great. So, all in all, it’d been a good thing.

Bren raised her shoulders. The memory somehow encouraged her. She had gone all the way out to that ranch and she’d gotten Trevor’s attention. More than that, she was in love with that sweet, troubled cowboy and she was gonna make it right, dammit. Her mom made miracles happen all of her life. Then, Bren had done the same with getting the man she dreamed of.

She lost her job in town, she’d lost her car and at the same time, she lost her fear. She became as big inside as she was out. She made it happen and she could do it again. She’d be dammed if she lost her chance with him because of a stupid misunderstanding. She was just a little worried because she wondered how many pizzas it was gonna take.

*~*~*~*

Flatonia Train Station

T
he drive had gone off without a hitch, which wasn’t a surprise as she’d done like thirty of them now. The real challenge woulda’ been goin’ the 100 miles across the range like her daddy done when he was alive. He was the old-fashioned type of cowboy. Marge always said that he rode hard and was easy to love. He was a big man, just like her twin brothers were; and between the two, it was Trevor that was more like him.

Them days were over and the time of the cow punchin’ was almost lost to the modern world. This short drive was just about over. The herd was loading to the train and all she needed to do was check in at the train office. She looked toward the cattle ramp and then spotted someone beyond it. Was that the new cook? She jumped up on her horse and rode toward the general store.

Miss Plush looked rattled as she watched Kanda approach. “Hey, have you seen—?”

“No way!” Kanda got down from her horse. “Don’t tell me you lost a whole cowboy!”

The troubled looking girl seemed to swallow heavily and shrugged. “Yeah, I did.”

Kanda felt herself getting mad, but decided it wasn’t any of her business. “I haven’t seen him today.”