“Hi, Matt. Good to see you. We’re meeting in the morning down at the farm, right?”

  “Yes, sir,” Matt replied crisply. “Ten o’clock, if that suits you. I have t’ drop my boy off at eight for his trip home.”

  “That’s good. I’ll be over there early. How is. . .er. . .I’m not good with names . . .”

  “Charlie,” Matt offered.

  “Right. Seven isn’t he?” Matt nodded. “I have one that age too. All enthusiasm and curiosity. Here for the weekend?” Matt nodded again. “This is a great place for kids. Linda and the kids will be here for a month this summer.”

  “Here’s Steve now,” Tom said, and they all turned to see Steve Wilson approaching. Jimmy stepped away to greet him, followed by Tom. The three men drifted off into the crowd talking among themselves, and the women in the group turned back to their conversation, leaving Shel and Matt to themselves.

  “So, did I get noticed, ignored, or I’m just not interesting enough?” she asked.

  “Mr. Bell’s very intense, focused on work, and his social skills are limited. He’s actually a pretty nice guy, but he didn’t have any accounting questions so you got as much as he could muster.”

  “I’m already forgotten?”

  “Your name, probably. That you’re the new bookkeeper and looking good today”—she was in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, standing straight with her hair slightly windblown and her face animated by cheerfulness—“he’ll remember that. Names take a couple years.” He gave her a friendly smile as he admired her again. “How’s your weekend been?”

  “Pretty much a total loss Saturday as I didn’t get to go riding,” she said with a grin. “Actually, I went with some friends down to the Lewis and Clark Forest to go hiking. It was fun. Yesterday—cleaning the apartment, reading a book, taking the fresh air around town. How about you? Out on the range with Charlie?”

  “It was great. We went down by the river, hiked around, caught fish, explored caves—”

  “I thought you didn’t fish!” she interrupted.

  “I don’t fly-fish. I’m what the purists refer t’ contemptuously as a bait fisherman. Not even worth the time Mr. Bell gave you,” he replied with a smile. “If all else fails I’ve got a net and a spear.” She laughed. “But we did catch a few and had ’em for dinner, lunch, and dinner again. A lot of time invested in fishin.”

  “What kind were they?” she asked eagerly.

  “They were fish. From a crick.” He was only pulling her leg slightly, but she made a face at him.

  “I’ll have to ask around,” she said, “and see if I can find a real man to take me fishing, fly-fishing that is.”

  He was about to reply, but Ronnie walked up to them and said, “Matt, your turn in the ‘shoe draw. They’re waitin.”

  “Got t’ go, Shel. Want t’ watch? Come on.”

  “Yeah, Shel,” Ronnie added, “Matt’s pretty good.”

  Matt walked across the patio to the flat, untended area beyond. Prairie grasses were coming up green, six to eight inches tall, but an area twenty feet from the patio wall was trampled down by the dozen men plus a few women and children watching the horseshoe pitching contest. Matt greeted the other men, including his opponent, Will, and there were some cheers and lighthearted boos as he turned and walked toward the end of the pitch. He and Will were silent as one of the other ranch hands flipped a coin. Will called it, but it came up for Matt. He chose a pair of horseshoes from the pile and surveyed the length of the pitch for a moment, preparing himself.

  He looked to Ronnie and Shel at the other end with the group of watchers before he focused on the stake, took a breath, a step, and tossed the shoe.

  There was a loud clang as the shoe struck the stake, a round of applause, and several people called out, “Ringer!” The crowd fell silent again as Matt prepared and threw his second shoe. Another loud clang was followed by a disappointed “oh” from the crowd. The shoe had struck the stake and bounced away. Now Will threw his shoes, one landing inches from the stake and the other a foot away. There was a buzz of conversation as he and Will walked the length of the pitch to examine their results.

  The game continued back and forth. At one point when Matt was at the end where Ronnie was watching he heard a high-pitched shout of “Go Dad!” from the crowd and looked over to see Charlie standing with Evelyn and Shel. He smiled at Charlie, took an extra moment to refocus, and tossed. A few more tosses and the game ended with a win for Matt. He was pleased because he thought he had a chance at being ranch champion this year, but there would be two more tournaments—Fourth of July and Labor Day—to determine the winner.

  Matt walked over to Shel as the crowd dispersed. “What’d y’think?” he asked after the scores were announced.

  “It was like watching golf on video except I couldn’t turn it off.” He was taken aback momentarily, then she laughed. “No, really, it was interesting. I’ve never seen anyone except kids in a backyard throw horseshoes, but this was very precise, very intentional. Ronnie says you’re good, and I can see that. Oh, and I met Charlie too. He came to watch for a few minutes.”

  “I’m glad,” Matt said. “Want t’ find some dinner? I think they’re servin.”

  “Sure,” Shel replied.

  “Give me a couple minutes t’ round up Charlie.” When he came back with Charlie the three of them lined up, first for Jake’s barbecued bison and then on for salads and sides. They found space at a table with Dave, his wife Janelle, and their two teenaged sons. There was general conversation about the party, the ranch, and how Shel was acclimating to ranch life. Charlie gave them all an animated blow-by-blow of the camping trip that had Matt grinning with pride. At one lull in the conversation, Janelle turned to Matt.

  “What do y’think they’re going t’ do at the ant farm?” she asked. “You’re down there a lot.” Matt shrugged. They’re going to spend a lot of money in a hurry, he thought to himself. Janelle continued, “Steve asked me if I wanted a job there. Cookin.” Janelle worked as a sous chef in a restaurant in Great Falls.

  “Wow,” replied Matt. “News t’ me. I’m workin with some contractors on the outside. The housin down there’ll need t’ be cleaned up, maybe some paint or carpet inside, but the times I’ve been in there the last few years it’s looked OK. I know there’s a kitchen in the dinin hall, but I haven’t been in for while so don’t remember it all exactly. What’d Steve tell you?” The table was quiet, everyone listening except perhaps Charlie. Matt noticed Shel was looking intently at Janelle, awaiting her answer.

  “He says there are goin t’ be about a dozen people, some different ones comin and goin, but averagin twelve. He needs a breakfast and housekeepin person, and then he said he’d want me t’ do lunch, dinner, shoppin, and be in charge of the food for the people there.”

  “I’m sure the kitchen’s up t’ that, just needs some cleanup. Kind of a hike t’ go through Eden and Three Forks t’ get there, but it’d be faster than tryin t’ drive across the ranch. Think so, Dave?” he asked. Dave nodded. “Steve say for how long?”

  “Couple of years at least was what they told him. I guess he’s not really in the loop, just sort of helpin out when they ask. It’d pay more than what I get at the restaurant, and it’d be fun t’ be in charge of the menu.”

  After dinner Charlie went off to find the other kids, and Matt and Shel talked until Matt’s second game of horseshoes came up. Matt won, so he’d be in the semis. After the game he saw that Shel had gotten a chair for Charlie, who was starting to look sleepy. He took a quick run back to his prefab to get Charlie a few games and books while Shel watched him. Matt would have liked to take Charlie home, but the horseshoe tournament had some time to go.

  After dinner the party was winding down even though there were a few hours of daylight left. The off-ranch people were beginning to leave while some of the on-ranch people set up speakers and began to play music. Between his last two games, Matt invited Shel to dance as Charlie dozed in his chair where they could keep an eye on him. After a couple of dances, she took her leave to drive back to the city. She can dance, he thought, and she’s fun.

  Chapter 7

  Shel contemplated the spectacularly clear blue sky through the office window. Everything felt sharp edged and in focus. She took a sip of her coffee and shuffled some of the papers on her desk around, trying to pick up where she’d left work off on Friday. She wondered if Matt had won the horseshoe tournament. Somebody will know, she thought. She’d ask around. He was a good dancer, she knew that. Certainly a lot better than Reg from the Alliance—two left feet would be an improvement for him. Tonight she’d have to send Colin an update about meeting Jimmy Bell and Janelle’s story about cooking for the ant farm. He’ll probably want me to get advance copies of the menus.

  She thought again about her encounter with AstroGene security two weeks before. The ranch gossip had faded, what there had been of it. Everybody knows everything here, even when no one had been in the room but her and Steve. Colin’s guy had come last Monday night. Once he scanned the new tab, he said he couldn’t do anything with it because AstroGene had installed their own security app. He gave her a micro tab that looked like a bottle opener the size of a key ring and set it up to work with the eyeglass cameras.

  Another sip of coffee and she got on with the bookkeeping.

  **

  Ten days later, Friday afternoon after work, was the June ranch social. Shel was in a mood to sit in the evening sun—it wouldn’t be down until close to ten tonight—have some dinner, drink a few beers, and maybe have one of the guys show her how to pitch horseshoes. It had been a long and busy day. She wanted to just relax, forget Colin, forget bookkeeping, forget genetic augmentation, forget that she had filched the password of the former bookkeeper today so she could send it on to Colin.

  She was finished with setting up for the social, and now there was an hour until it began. With the warmth of the late-day sun on her, she slouched in a chair on the patio. She placed her beer on the floor beside her, pulled her wide-brim hat down on her forehead, and closed her eyes.

  “Howdy, stranger.” Matt’s quiet voice snapped her out of her reverie, and she looked up at him. He was smiling and dusty and rumpled, as if he had just come from working in some hole in the ground. He probably had. Here’s a handsome change from the office grind, she thought, and in her warm, relaxed state she felt her body tingle ever so slightly.

  “Howdy yourself,” she replied slowly, and smiled. It always amused her when the ranch people used phrases that sounded like movie clichés. “I thought you’d be out until dark tonight working on that well.”

  “Me and Eddy got it figured out and fixed early. You stayin for a while? I’m goin t’ shower and clean up now that we have water again. Dinner with me at seven?”

  Shel nodded and said, “I’d like that.” She settled back into her state of sun-drenched repose as Matt left. She looked forward to seeing him once or twice during the workweek and on weekends. What would dating be like, she wondered. She dismissed the thought but it kept coming back.

  Matt was back in time for dinner a little after seven. The turnout was not large, about twenty-five people in all, including a few children. The ranch provided food and beverages, the main course being cook-your-own burgers. Nothing fancy, just an opportunity for people to socialize outside of work hours.

  “Fine cooking, Shel,” Brad, one of the ranch hands, said to her midway through the meal. His tone was friendly, and a couple of others joined in with laughter. One of Shel’s duties was to shop for the social, solicit salads or side dishes from people on the ranch, and generally organize the event, which was one of the reasons today had been a busy one for her.

  “I was thinking of you at the store when I bought the frozen patties,” she answered back. Laughter came back from the guys.

  “What about me, Shel?” another ranch hand called out. “What were you buying when you thought about me?” More laughter.

  “Definitely the buns, Fred,” she replied. He actually was handsome and looked good in his jeans. That got louder laughter. Maybe I should watch my tongue, she thought, but, god, I’m tired of being careful.

  She and Matt were at a table with Arlen and Julia. He was the ranch electrician, one of the people Shel went out of her way to be friendly with since he was also working a couple of days a week at the ant farm. Julia, his partner, was a few years younger than Shel and they got along nicely. “Don’t encourage ’em,” Julia told her. “They’re just a bunch of horny guys. Give ’em an inch, they’ll take all they can get on top of that.”

  “You’ve had problems?” Shel asked, concerned. She had enough on her mind as it was. She really didn’t need to be fending off cowboys.

  “Not here, but I’ve lived on ranches most of my life, and things can get messy.” Shel nodded. She tried to take Julia’s advice in the spirit it was offered, but at the same time it felt like one more weight to carry.

  “Go ridin tomorrow?” Matt asked a few minutes later. “I thought we’d try some steep slopes.”

  “That’d be great,” she said, cheered by the prospect. “Regular time? You look tired, like it’s been a tough day.”

  “It has. I’m goin t’ turn in early, but I’ll be there at the barn in the mornin. Who did the pie tonight? It was really good.”

  “The cherry was Janelle, but the others I’m not sure. What do you hear from Charlie?” She had heard quite a bit in the last week and a half from Matt about his camping weekend with Charlie and wondered if the excitement had worn off yet.

  “He’s fine, still talkin about the caves.” Matt laughed. “Kids are funny. Those caves were barely big enough for me t’ stand in, much less have a bear livin inside. But it was an adventure. He’ll probably remember ’em for years as bigger than houses.” They went on talking for a few more minutes before he left. Shel found it easy to talk with Matt because of the calm, confident, openness she sensed in him.

  Jake and Estelle helped her clean up. They put away the extra food, stacked the load in the dishwasher, and washed a few bowls. She would be there in the morning anyway to go riding so she could finish up then. Estelle was helping her with the last of it after Jake left, and as they finished, she said, “I don’t like t’ pry, but you and Matt look pretty interested in each other.” Shel started to respond, but Estelle held up her hand and continued. “No, let me finish and I’ll say no more. You’ve seen him with that boy of his.” Shel nodded. “He seems t’ care the world for that boy so I imagine that if anybody were to have any sort of a thing going on with him, they’d be number two from the start.”

  “Nothing’s happening.”

  “If you say so,” Estelle said. “He should be fighting the women off, but I think the boy is more on his mind. Second—and then I’ll shut up—having a relationship on a ranch is practically like incest. Everybody’ll know. They’ll talk. Hell, you might as well do it in the road for all the privacy you’ll have. Matt’s a good man. He won’t talk, but this is a small community, and gossip is the life blood of small places. Just so you know.” And that was all she said on the subject. Shel thanked her politely for her thoughts.

  “He is good-looking, though,” Shel said as they finished. Estelle laughed and nodded in agreement.

  **

  In the morning Shel woke up at her normal work-day time to go to the ranch and finish the kitchen cleanup. As she walked across the road from the carport to the admin building she saw Matt and gave him a wave. She was just finishing when Matt came into the admin building kitchen. “You’re early today,” he said.

  “I wanted to get the mess taken care of,” she replied as she dried her hands with a dish towel, “I’m ready if you are.” Matt said he was, so they walked to the barn to get the horses ready. She saddled and bridled Spitfire. He recognized her now because she would always talk to him while getting him ready and he’d learned that she knew where the carrots were hidden. It was another glorious morning, temperature in the upper fifties at nine and promising to be up to the seventies in the afternoon. They walked down the ranch road, then off east to where Matt said there were some steep trails for the day’s ride.

  “I know you haven’t been told what the new project is,” Shel began after a few minutes, “but what would you think if it’s another resurrected animal like the ants? I don’t get why they’d want to do that. Seems like a better investment to improve the animals we’ve got instead of something completely different.”

  He looked at her for a moment. “Improvin stock and learning t’ manage the land properly have always been goals in ranchin,” he answered. “Mr. Bell’s company’s made a lot of improvements that’ve been good for everybody. I think the ants were a failure he’ll learn from. I don’t think he’ll throw that kind of money away again.”

  “So is it mostly cattle his company works on?” She actually knew that cattle were only one of several lines AstroGene pursued and that ag was only one of several industries they worked with.

  “No, I think they do work on sheep, and I’m not sure but maybe horses too. Improvin horses’ resistance t’ cold could be good.”

  “You make it sound like a new car model—let’s put in a bigger engine and some nicer seats.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Matt asked. “Cars today are safer and more efficient than they used t’ be. With our solar and wind power on the ranch we can make our own H2 fuel t’ run our vehicles.”

  “Once they make a genetic change, it’s out there and they can’t turn it off. If it doesn’t work the way the science guys expect, there’s nothing they can do. Maybe that’s more of a problem with plants than with animals. If the animals don’t work, you just go out and shoot ’em all.” She knew her voice was rising, and she tried to calm down. “Unless they’re bacteria, then you’d have no control. Or like rabbits in Australia. It’s all about unintended consequences.”