Kevin hadn’t asked for much. A hundred acres that’d grow a crop. On the RHR, a forty-thousand-acre ranch, they oughta be able to do that. Kevin even said he’d pay rent or buy the place over time. He made it clear staying in the ramrod’s house felt like charity. But now that Win was back running the household, and Kevin was being called on to do what could be done to fill in for Wyatt around the ranch, he was more than earning his keep.

Wyatt felt a pang of worry over the RHR. He hoped Cheyenne had moved home. They always worked with a skeleton crew over the winter. So the hands that didn’t wander off were hard-pressed to get things done. Cheyenne could handle things. And maybe she’d encourage Falcon to find some cowboy skills. Rubin had trained Andy, and he had several cowpokes to help him. But Kevin was a raw beginner. Jesse, one of the newer hands, had seemed eager to work with Kevin. Wyatt sure hoped someone could teach Kevin to like ranching because he was probably going to be stuck doing it the rest of his life.

It made Wyatt grind his teeth in frustration to wonder how things were going at the RHR. He hadn’t heard a word from anyone at home since he’d come over here.

With satisfaction, Wyatt plunged his pitchfork back into the straw, enjoying the crunch of digging out the old to make way for the new. No reason this couldn’t be Kevin’s land. Wyatt intended to see Kevin and Win settled in here.

He worked out the day, keeping at it long after the rest of the hands turned in. He ate with them in the bunkhouse, returned to his work, then finally went to his cabin for the night and waited for the lights to go out in the big house.

“We have to wait until Molly and Wyatt get back.” Rachel was adamant.

And yes, Cheyenne had gotten to calling her Rachel. Truth was, Cheyenne liked the woman. Rachel was ruthless. She wanted to crush an evil man beneath her bootheels. She wanted to earn a living.

Cheyenne could not find anything in that to object to.