She got up early, making sure she brewed two full pots of coffee and had enough mugs ready for every cowboy she knew existed on the ranch, even Rex.

He was the first one to show up for a cup. The other cowboys had begun to stir with their alarms. Some chose to get up and head to the bathroom, others pulling on their boots lazily.

Rex walked to the counter where she stood, and she quickly poured him some coffee in a black mug.

He stared at her over the brim of the mug but never spoke as he took a long sip. 
She felt naked under his blue stare. Like he saw through her.

"Morning, Darling," Roy called, walking into the room.

"Good morning."

Roy began pouring his own coffee as he took a seat at the table.

"You, Grady,Ned, and  Colby take the east pasture today. I'm going to take James and Todd and check the South. Crew and Tom can check the North." Rex said.

"Sounds good."

"What about me?" Flora asked.

Rex scoffed and shook his head. Setting his mug down, he started for the door.

"I can work," she insisted.

"Fine... clean the bunkhouse, do some laundry, make us a dinner, and if you have time... some lunch for tomorrow would be fine. We're gonna be out all day."

"Okay."

The cowboys slowly filtered out of the bunkhouse, each one giving her a tip of their hat as they passed by, and then she was alone.

***********************************

After scrubbing every inch of the small kitchen, including all the cupboards, she started dinner. Once it was in the oven, she made sandwiches for the next day and put them in the refrigerator.

Soaked in sweat, she decided to get some fresh air. After pulling on her boots over the baggy jeans that were too long for her, she stepped outside.

She walked from the bunkhouse up the small embankment to the barn. A few horses were in a wooden fence, completely uninterested in her.

She leaned on the fence a few long minutes breathing in the scent of horses and hay, the fresh mountain air.

She glanced to her left, and by the tall mansion like house, she saw a woman, the first woman she had seen on this property.

She watched the woman a minute and then started towards the house. She didn't like meeting new people, but the prospect of having someone to talk to was just too tempting.

She approached the house, the woman was hanging sheets on a tall clothesline humming a county song.
She was petite and had red curly hair to her shoulders. She had on blue jeans, boots a turquoise shirt, and a denim jacket. She guessed her to bed well into her sixties, but she was beautiful.

"Hello," Flora ventured softly.

The woman turned and smiled warmly at her as she shook out a pillowcase and pinned it to the clothesline.

"Hello there, you must be the new cowboy."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"My name is Ruby, I'm the live in Chef and maid for Mr. Wilder. He needs it done in the main house. I'm the one seeing to it."

Flora smiled, moving closer, deciding she liked Ruby.

"So, where are you from?" Ruby asked, hanging up a dress shirt.

"Oh, uhm, outside of the other end of town."

"Near the reservation?"

"Yes."

Ruby glanced at her, no doubt, taking in her waist length blonde curls and blue eyes. She didn't show any of her watered-down  bloodline.

"Well, I'm sure you get lonely down there in the bunkhouse all day. Why don't you come on in and have some lunch with me?" Ruby asked, balancing the empty laundry basket on one hip.

"Mr. Wilder won't mind?"

"Hell no, he won't mind, and if he does, I'll set him straight."

Flora bit her lip, looking up at the house big enough that she could get lost in it.

"It's intimidating at first, but you get used to it."

"Okay," Flora said with a small laugh following Ruby across the yard.

"While we are in here, maybe I'll find you some clothes that fit, yeah?"

They went in a door that led to the larger and most luxurious kitchen Flora had ever seen she stopped and immediately began tugging her boots off.

"Honey, don't worry about your shoes," Ruby said.

"Oh... they're all mud and..."

"And I clean the floors, so it's my call." Ruby interrupted.

Flora left her boots on and stepped further into the kitchen, doing a slow spin. The counter wound the entire way around, and the fridge was at least three times the size her one at home had been.

"Does...he live here alone?" She asked.

"Who?"

"Mr. Wilder."

"Yeah, his wife and kids they passed away about twenty years ago in a car accident. He's been alone ever since, except for me. He'd kick me out, too, if I wasn't too damned stubborn to go."

Flora laughed as Ruby set aside the aundry basket and then washed her hands before moving to the refrigerator.

"How are you fitting in down at the bunkhouse?" Ruby asked.

"Okay, I guess. The guys are nice. Roy watches out for me."

"He's a great man. What about Rex?"

"Oh, I don't think he likes me much."

"He doesn't like anyone except his damned horse, and Roy. He's always been that way since he came here as a boy."

She came back to an island and began laying out vegetables. She motioned to a stool on the other 6 Flora sat on it.

"You know, once you're more settled and get a pay or two stowed away, we could go into the city. Have a girls' day and buy you some new clothes."

"A girls' day?"

"Yeah, you know shopping, hair, nails if you want, lunch. Just cause we live on a farm doesn't mean we gotta look like it. A girls' day."

Ruby smiled at her as she finished chopping the vegetables and began arranging a salad.

Flora looked down at her nails. They were short because she chewed them. One was crooked because it was tore out a child.

"Honey, ain't you ever had a girls' day?" Ruby asked.

"No."

"Well...what about your mama?"

"I.. I don't have one. I mean, I did, but she died when I was three."

"Well shoot, pumpkin, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Ruby said honestly.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. My mouth just runs and runs, and sometimes it runs me right up the creek without a paddle. I didn't mean anything by it. You're a pretty girl, just as you are, but pants that aren't three sizes too big would be easier to move in."

"I would enjoy a girls' day."

Ruby smiled, and she tossed the salad in a large wooden bowl before serving each of them.

"How about a big glass of sweet tea?" She asked

"That would be wonderful."

They enjoyed a nice lunch making small talk, and Ruby never once asked about her father, Flora was grateful for that.

After lunch, Flora began the dishes, and Ruby instantly shooed her away.

"I'll get to those later. Mr Wilder doesn't mind a few dirty dishes when he gets home. Come on,"

She exited the kitchen, and Flora silently followed her. They passed a giant open concept living room and a dining room before reaching the stairs.

At the top of the steps, she could see a large master bedroom with a king-size bed. They made a left snd slipped into a smaller bedroom.

This room was more feminine than the rest, clearly a woman loved here. There was also an adjoining bathroom.

Ruby knelt before a large trunk and flipped it open, pulling out various jeans, t-shirts and flannels, and even a light brown jacket.

"If any of these old clothes fit you, you're welcome to them."

"Thank you."

"Oh, honey, they're just old clothes." Ruby said with a wave.

"Not to me."

Ruby gave her a tender smile and then held up a blue flannel to her slight frame.

***********************************

When she returned to the bunkhouse, she saw Rex. He was outside the barn petting a large black horse.

She slowed as she approached. She even debated going back to the main house, but she knew she had to check dinner.

She was walking past with her head down when he spoke.

"Do you need a hand with those?" He asked, not turning to face her.

She glanced down at the large duffle bag of clothes she had been carrying as he started towards her.

"Oh, I..."

He lifted the bag onto his shoulder, cutting off her response.

He walked into the bunkhouse and followed. She was wary of being alone with him, or any man for that matter in a small space, so she left the door open behind them.

He dropped the bag next to her bunk, and she turned to stare in the oven at dinner.

He exited the bunkhouse without a word, and she breathed a sigh of relief to be alone. She turned to move towards her bunk to slide the duffle bag underneath and paused when she grasped the strap.

Blood. Thick, red, and wet covered her fingers and the strap of her duffle bag. Looking down, she noticed it was also dripped onto the floor.

She turned around, seeing a small trail across the floor to her bunk, then back out. Rex, he was bleeding.

She followed the blood trail, put the door to the barn, in the sawdust if started to slow down, and she was quickly following it as she rounded a corner.

A low groan had her stopping. Slipping on the saw dust and barn floor before ducking behind a tall beam that supported the roof.

In a back stall was a clean wood floor, some rugs, a mini fridge, coat rack, a narrow bed with some blankets and a chest.

Rex stood with his back to her, slowly stopping off his button-up shirt. His jacket lay on his bed, hat on the coat rack. Every time he moved his right arm, he would since and stop taking a minute.

He moved to a small end table and opened the top drawer. Pulling out scissors, he tried to cut the sleeve off the right arm of his shirt. She could see now how it stuck to his skin.

He let the shirt fall off his left arm and back to try and get a better angle, his back like a wall of tanned muscle. He twisted and struggled more with the shirt sleeve.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she moved forward, clearing her throat as she stepped into the stall.

"You're hurt."

"I'm fine. Get back in the bunkhouse," He said, glancing only once over his shoulder.

"Let me help you with that, at least."

He turned, offering her the scissors. She hesitated, she had to get close to cut the sleeve, and that frightened her.
She took a timid step and then the scissors from his hand, gripping his wrist she pulled her arm closer.

"What happened?"

"I got tangled up in some barbed wire, it's not a big deal."

She unbuttoned the cuff of the shirt and slowly started cutting away the material. Keeping her eyes on his arm and trying not to shake at how close he was standing, how much bigger he was than her.

She got to the top of the sleep and snipped the seam, holding it onto the shirt. She had to add more pressure, and when it came free, she jerked involuntary.

He groaned and raised his left hand at the motion in his arm, pushing his hand through his hair.

She dropped the scissors scrambling away, and she tripped over a bucket and stumbled into the aisle or the barn.

"What the fuck?" He asked walking closer.

She backed up more, her blue eyes pinned to his body, the way he moved, trying to anticipate his next move.

"I ain't gonna hit ya," He said roughly.

She turned before he said another word and sprinted from the barn, leaving him alone to deal with the dozens of small cuts lacing his forearm, shoulder, and bicep.