Dodge the Bullet Read Free

agent in
town. He’s a friend of mine. Apparently your friend Senator
Burwick asked him to check on you, Mrs. Woodward.”
    “I’d hardly call Senator Burwick a friend.
While I do need some help around here, I can’t say I’d trust anyone
who came at his request.”
    “I couldn’t agree more. I wouldn’t trust
Burwick any farther than I could throw the man.”
    “Are you interested in the ranch hand
job?”
    Dodge laughed. “I’m afraid I’ve got a full
plate running my own ranch right now, but thanks.”
    She eyed him under the cover of thick
lashes. “So if Senator Burwick asked Mr. Thornton to check on me,
then why are you here, Mr. Dodge?”
    “Just Dodge, ok? I’m not that much older
than you, sweetheart.”
    “I doubt you’re older than me, period.” She
furrowed her brow and her hands flew to her hips. “And don’t call
me sweetheart. So why are you here, Dodge? ”
    “I’m here because I owe my friend Tommy a
favor.”
    “Must be a big one.”
    The hairs on his neck started prickling
again and he wondered what to take of the prickly Mrs. Woodward.
Dodge found it best to place women in one of a series of categories
he’d come up with in his thirty-eight years of dealing with the
opposite sex. The fact that each of his six sisters and every woman
he’d ever dated fit neatly into one of his categories proved that
he was smarter than the average male.
    Sarah Woodward was pretty enough to be in
the “eye candy” category, but she downplayed her looks too much.
She hardly wore any makeup and dressed in old jeans and a t-shirt.
But thanks to the wind, Dodge was able to appreciate every
delectable curve of her body.
    He didn’t know her enough to know if she
belonged in the “never satisfied” category. She obviously wasn’t
“low class” because she had enough common sense to recognize
Senator Burwick as a dickhead. He didn’t think she was his least
favorite, a “man hater”--her eyes were too gentle. But the only
other choice, the “I’ll make you want to touch me but you never
will” category didn’t fit either because she wasn’t showing off her
assets: a great body, full lips, beautiful green eyes and thick
brown hair that called out for a man to run fingers run through.
Dodge realized that he’d let his thoughts wander away from the
conversation and he couldn’t remember what they were talking
about.
    “Why would slick Be --er, Senator Burwick
want to make sure I was doing okay? Sarah asked. “And if you
already have a ranch of your own to run, it doesn’t sound like you
have the time to help me even if you wanted to.”
    “I’m just here because of Tommy,” he said,
looking around. “So, what can I do for you?”
    “Short of finding someone to teach me the
business, I don’t know.”
    “You’re the one with friends in high places,
Mrs. Woodward. Why don’t you get someone to run the ranch for
you?”
    “I don’t want someone to run the ranch for
me. I’m looking for someone to teach me the business.”
    Dodge tried not to smile at her naivety.
“Mrs. Woodward---”
    “Sarah.”
    “Okay, Sarah. Anyone who knows anything
about ranching is too busy trying to make ends meet with his own
business to bother helping another future competitor. I realize the
South is known for its friendliness, but around here it’s pretty
much every man for himself.”
    “I’m willing to pay someone for their
help.”
    “That’s good, because the only kind of help
you’ll find around here is the hired kind. But the kind of help you
need can’t be bought.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Dodge tried to think of a way to explain
with a certain political correctness the nuances of life in a small
southern Colorado town. But he couldn’t think of a single p.c. way
to do it. “You can hire a helper, but he’ll need instructions and
pretty regular supervision. And a working knowledge of Spanish
wouldn’t hurt.”
    Sarah kicked loose a potato rock with the
toe of her shoe. “I hate