Once Hitched Twice Shy (Unlikely Cowgirl) Read online

  Once Hitched Twice Shy

  Kimberly Krey

  Copyright © 2018 by Kimberly Krey

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Also by Kimberly Krey

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Mia opened her polka-dot binder and rested a finger on the lined page. She needed to go over a few details for today’s shoot before she and Karen got to their destination, which wouldn’t take much longer if Karen kept up her pace. Her otherwise law-abiding friend often regarded speed limits as mere suggestions.

  Mia tugged the seat belt away from her neck as she spoke. “This place has been in business for over seventy years. Can you believe that?”

  Karen eyed the rearview mirror as she flicked on the blinker. “Yeah, my grandfather has pictures of him and his brothers eating ice cream cones in front of their downtown location when they were just teenagers.” She switched lanes and sped up once more.

  “That’s cool,” Mia said. “Don’t let me forget to mention that.”

  “I won’t. Can’t believe we have so much sunlight today. It’s the perfect day to film at an ice cream shop.”

  Mia skimmed over her notes once more, enjoying the warmth herself. “I know. People will probably think we’re shooting outside of Portland.”

  “No doubt,” Karen agreed. It wasn’t that the gorgeous city was all clouds and gloom. On the contrary, Portland offered some of the most beautiful skies in the country. But this year had brought record rain and low temps, the month more typical of April than June. Today, however, was a beautiful, cloudless blue, and Mia planned to enjoy it.

  She flipped the page to look over some of their prospective job sites. There were a few she wanted to run past Karen. “So I was thinking of calling these guys back. A subscriber who goes by the name Burried_in_Diapers says she’d like us to come try her life as a daycare provider. She works with the one- and two-year-olds.”

  “Sounds like a real joy,” Karen said wryly. “I’ll call Eddie and ask him about liability—other people’s kids and all.”

  “Good idea.” Mia skimmed over a few others, knowing one had caught her interest earlier. “Oh,” she said, “have you heard of CobaltBlue52?”

  Karen tilted her head. “He’s a viewer, right? Leaves comments on the shows?”

  “Yeah. He wants us to try his life as a rancher. Says we can stay with him for a week if we’d like.”

  “Nice,” Karen said. “So what’s the problem?”

  “The fact that he said we could stay with him for a week.” The two burst into laughter. “What kind of stranger throws that out there?”

  Karen shrugged. “Is he in Portland?”

  “I don’t know.” Mia eyed the time. “We’d better get some on-the-way footage real quick.” She grabbed her phone, then swiped and tapped until the camera came up.

  In the sunlight, Karen’s brown hair captured hints of red, while Mia’s took on a lighter shade, looking more platinum than blonde on the phone’s screen. Of course, selfie footage never measured up to the stuff Karen filmed with her superior equipment, but it served its purpose.

  “Okay,” Mia said, brushing a flake of dried mascara off her cheek. “Here we go.” She pressed the record button and grinned. “Hey, guys, welcome to Try My Life, the place where you tell us what it’s like to be in your shoes. If we’re intrigued by your day-to-day forte, we might come try it out for size.

  “Today we’re headed to a place that knows how to please. We’ll be reaching into freezing temperatures, working our biceps, triceps, and brachioradialis, which is this stretch of muscle just below the elbow.” She lifted her arm and flexed. “And the coolest part is, we’ll put great big smiles on a whole lot of faces along the way.” She glanced at Karen, AKA queen of the comic book fans, who was sleekly dressed in a Catwoman shirt and matching ears. “So Kare-bear—or should I say Kare-cat?—tell everyone where we’re shooting today.”

  “Fair’s Ice Cream!” Karen managed an enthusiastic tone despite her aversion to speaking on film.

  Mia grinned. “I know you guys are jealous right now, and you’re probably thinking, how bad can a day scooping ice cream really be?” She paused there, cueing Karen to come in on the segment’s closing line.

  “Guess we’ll find out,” the two sang.

  Mia stopped recording. “That should do it.” Her gaze veered to the left as the car slowed, a gasp pulling from her throat. “Holy line around the building …”

  A mass of people snaked around the entrance, along the side of the small place, where it disappeared behind the structure. Parents and teens, kids on bikes, and babies in strollers … who knew how far back it went.

  “This is going to be a long day,” Karen said, shock coating the words.

  There had been a steady increase in the amount of visitors that showed up to each job they took on. But this was the largest gathering yet. A colorful banner hung from the shop that read, Welcome Try My Life Crew! 99¢ a Scoop Special.

  “Wow,” Mia said under her breath. If Daniel was still watching the show, this was sure to impress him. The smile fell off her face. Who cared about Daniel? Not her. “This is totally going to make my head swell,” she warned Karen.

  “Too late for that.”

  Mia laughed. She had built up a lot of confidence over the last year. Especially once they started gaining sponsors and actually making money. Enough to pay rent on their shared apartment. Of course, she wished she could somehow show the impossible guy from her past that she’d started more than a half-baked MyChannel show. But more than that, Mia wished she could stop caring about him at all.

  Karen pulled into a stall in a nearby parking area. While Mia took one last glance in the mirror, Karen grabbed the filming equipment from the back.

  A soft breeze poured over Mia as she stepped out of the car, sunlight warming her skin. She was so ready for more days like this.

  Her phone rang, and just as Mia prepared to send it to voicemail, the area code caught her eye. “I think this is my granddad. I’ll hurry.” She pressed the button. “Gramps?”

  “How are you, doll face?”

  “Great! I’m just about to film, though. Is it all right if I call you once we’re done?”

  “Sure, sure. Hoping to get you to film out here one day.”

  “You are? In Montana?” Already the idea had Mia wanting to saddle up Cherry, her favorite bay, and take her riding over the open land.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’ve been writing you for weeks now. Said y’all are welcome to come stay here with me and everything.”

  Mia gasped. “Gramps!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you
CobaltBlue52?”

  “I sure am, hon. And I’d say it’s about time you come on out and record a segment here on the Reynolds Ranch. What do you say?”

  Chapter 2

  Hunter Coleman wiped the sweat from his brow as he brought Jax to a stop. The ranch horse was ornery today; perhaps his own grouchy disposition was the cause for it. Heck, the ranch hands had gone missing. Not one of the three amigos was tending to the broken fence. They weren’t out at the east pasture, and he hadn’t spotted them in the field either. Just what was it that had those boys slacking?

  After leaving Jax in the corral, Hunter strode across the yard, stomped up the back patio, and jerked open the sliding glass door.

  A small crowd of ranch hands huddled around some device like bees at a hive. They didn’t so much as flinch at the sound of his boots on the hardwood floor. The familiar face on the screen told Hunter exactly why they were too caught up in what they were watching to care about their jobs. It was that darned video blogger Wayne was always talking about. Again. How often did the man’s granddaughter put out a video?

  “Wayne said he’s going to get her to come to Reynolds Ranch,” Skinny Alex said, flicking the tab of his Monster drink.

  Bill, who fancied himself a ladies’ man, chuckled under his breath. “I bet I could teach her a few things.” The comment earned him a round of whistles and cheers.

  “I’d like to warm up to the other one,” Connor said.

  “She’s engaged, Connor,” Skinny Alex hissed.

  “So what? We have a lot in common. She films a vlog, I film rodeos. We both dig comics … Besides, it’s not like they’ve walked down the aisle yet.”

  Hunter cleared his throat. “Is it lunchtime already?”

  Heads turned. A few shoulders jolted in surprise.

  “Uh, Alex got a notification on his phone that said Try My Life added a new video. We thought we’d come watch it on the laptop since the screen’s bigger than our phones.”

  This was another reason it didn’t work to assign the boys a task and then walk away. This crew couldn’t stay on a job if they were taped to it. His gaze shot to the screen again. Wayne’s granddaughter was elbow deep in an ice cream bucket, a wide smile on her face and a smear of green guck on her cheek. Even still, the camera loved her. She was easy on the eyes, he’d give her that much.

  “I tell ya,” she said with a laugh, “I am feeling the burn already.” She handed a double-scoop ice cream cone to a grinning girl in pigtails, then flexed for the camera. “Does this baby look bigger yet?”

  “I’m going to have to say no,” the gal holding the camera said.

  Skinny Alex tipped his head back, guzzled the rest of his drink, then belched. “Looks bigger to me.”

  Hunter rolled his eyes. “Feeling the burn from scooping ice cream? What a joke.”

  The energy in the room shifted—the dampening of a good time. He didn’t like being the rain on the ranch hands’ parade, but somebody had to keep them straight. And he’d been the man asked to do it.

  He turned back to the sliding door, further aggravated when a pesky fly darted inside. “Count this as your lunch,” he hissed, and slammed the sliding door closed behind him.

  As Hunter stomped back down the patio steps, a vision of Wayne’s granddaughter floated back into his mind. Flexing her arm after scooping. That messy ice cream smudge on her face. Absurd. Yet he’d be danged if a smile didn’t form at his lips. If she ever did show up there at the ranch, he’d teach her a thing or two about real work.

  Chapter 3

  Hunter paced back and forth, the hardwood floors creaking beneath his boots. He was so angry he could barely get a word out. Wayne’s face came into view as he spun back around and strode the length of the kitchen floor.

  He walked to the far wall again and stared at the sunlit land through the window. “I don’t see why you’re insisting I pick her up. There are three other guys here who would drop everything to drive two hours and sit on their butts for who knows how long it takes her to get her bags. They’re the ones who can’t get enough of her.”

  Wayne coughed and shook his head. “That’s precisely why I don’t want them to do it.” He chuckled. “Besides, I don’t like those guys as much as I like you, and you know it.”

  Hunter groaned. What crummy timing for Wayne to get a cold. At the beginning of summer, no less. “What if this is more than a twenty-four-hour bug? What if it hangs on all week long and I’m stuck showing her around?”

  Wayne shot him a well-earned scowl. “She’s a very nice young lady, Hunter. Stop looking at it like a job.”

  Hunter spun around, eyeing the man who’d employed him for the last three-plus years. Strong jaw, neatly trimmed beard, and silver hair he’d managed to keep in his old age. He’d been good to Hunter. Heck, Wayne was like a second father to him. On came the guilt. Wayne wanted nothing more than to feel well enough to pick up his granddaughter. Least Hunter could do was cooperate without putting up a fight.

  “You know,” Wayne added, “you might actually enjoy showing her around the ranch.” A glint of mischief gleamed in his pale blue eyes.

  Hunter’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t have time to enjoy it, Wayne, you know that. We’re too busy.”

  Wayne waved a dismissive hand. “It’s not like it’s springtime or anything. Calves have been birthed, branded, and immunized. We’ve got the cattle in their proper pastures. Just have her help with some of the daily upkeep.”

  “Like what, shoveling manure out in the corral?”

  Wayne chuckled. “Exactly! You’ve seen her shows, haven’t you? The more difficult and disgusting, the better. It makes for great TV. Or internet, I guess.”

  Wayne’s words triggered a memory of another woman who loved her airtime—one Hunter would be happy to forget. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to show this gal what a day on the ranch really looked like. Could be therapeutic, even.

  “Hmm,” he mumbled, warming up to the idea. “I guess I could do that.” But even as he said it, a dose of dread sank into his chest. “There’s just one problem.” Or, make that three.

  “And what’s that?” Wayne asked, his usual half-smile drooping slightly.

  Hunter recalled the sight of the three amigos huddled around the laptop like a pack of lovesick wolves. He shook his head, knowing they’d be in for disaster as soon as the women arrived. “The ranch hands.”

  Mia hoisted her bag over one shoulder and leaned to the side, trying to see past the bustling crowd.

  “Do you see your grandpa anywhere?” Karen asked from behind.

  “No,” Mia mumbled as she smoothed her hair behind her shoulders. “Not yet. Maybe we should record real quick.”

  Karen gave her a disapproving look. “With all this noise?”

  “Yeah,” Mia said. “Airports are exciting. I think it’d be the perfect intro. Fresh off the plane …”

  “That’s true.” Karen took Mia’s purse and carry-on luggage from her, then unclipped her camera bag and retrieved the recorder.

  Mia took a few deep breaths, getting herself in the zone. She cast her eyes to the floor, a dull white with dark scuff marks. The sight out the nearby window was much better: a gorgeous sunset of pink and lavender shining beyond the glass. She grinned, connecting to the fun, free side she liked to present to her viewers.

  “Ready when you are,” Karen said from behind the lens.

  Mia nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. The light flashed, and Mia began. “Hey, guys! I’m coming to you from a soon-to-be revealed location after taking a request to try a week in the life of a very special person. Now, before I tell you what we’ll be doing here, let’s take a walk this way.” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder, motioning toward the wall of glass doors. She weaved through a young couple and their stroller, a group of teens in matching sports gear, and barely dodged an older gentleman walking with a cane.

  When the coast was clear, Mia stopped a few feet in front of the entrance and turned to the
camera once more. “What’s that you see behind me? A beautiful, cloudless sunset over a large span of land? Well, we’re in my father’s hometown—in the majestic state of Montana. Where cattle roam and hay fields grow and cowboys … well, they do whatever it is cowboys do. Which leads to one very important question: Do I have what it takes to live the life of a cowboy? Or should I say cowgirl?” She lifted her chin the slightest bit, indicating that it was time for Karen to join in.

  “Guess we’ll find out,” they chimed in unison.

  “Now,” Mia said, “let’s see if we can find CobaltBlue— ” She took a few backwards steps as she spoke, intending to look for her grandpa out front and perform a seamless introduction. Instead, she slammed into a wall.

  A moving wall. Wearing a cowboy hat?

  “Ouch.” Mia rubbed at her forehead, squinting against the setting sun beyond the glass. How had she managed to stay upright?

  “Are you okay?” Karen asked. The concerned look on her friend’s face made Mia flush with embarrassed heat. She’d make sure Karen cut that part out.

  “Of course. Who did I hit?”

  A slow grin spread over Karen’s face. She gave the slightest nod, directing Mia’s attention behind her.

  Mia’s eyes widened. Oh no. The smell of aftershave hovered in the air. She spun on one heel and saw a man hunched down, retrieving something off the ground. The cowboy hat.

  “I am so sorry,” she blurted. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  The stranger grew impressively tall as he straightened and ran a hand through his dark hair. He grumbled something under his breath while placing the hat back on his head.