Broken Cowboy
For my Mr. Wonderful!
Thanks for everything, sweetie! I love you!
Broken Cowboy
The Montana Men Series Book 1
Jamie Schulz
Chapter 1
Addison Malory let out an angry shout as she kicked the front tire of her old Ford pickup with the rounded tip of her cowboy boot. It hurt more than anything else, but she couldn’t have stopped herself from kicking something. She groaned at the painful throb that shot through her toes and into her foot. Resting her forehead against the chipped green paint, she took a deep breath and tried to calm the anger and frustration building up inside her.
How was she going to do her regular job and take care of the farm all by herself?
Anger flared again.
“Damn you, Ted Ballinger!” she shouted as she kicked the tire again, though less intensely. Slapping the green fender with her palms and letting out another frustrated, wordless growl, she pushed away from the truck, yanked open the driver’s door, and crawled inside. She pounded her fists against the steering wheel, then wrapped her fingers tightly around it and took a deep breath.
You’re acting like a child, Addie, she told herself sternly, then took another deep, steadying breath and released it slowly.
“I can do this,” she said into the empty cab of her old truck. “I’ll go down to Tri-Cities to find help, take out an ad, or do it all myself if I have to. I may lose half the crop, but I won’t let them win.”
She pulled the key from the pocket of her blue jeans and shoved it into the ignition. One turn and the old Ford’s engine roared to life. She threw it into gear and headed toward her long driveway.
A cloud of dust kicked up as her truck rolled over her dirt-pack dooryard, her mind returning to her troublesome ex-employees. She doubted Ted or his two buddies were around to bother her or her property, but she kept an eye out anyway as the events from an hour ago played through her mind.
Ted’s unwanted attentions had started small, a look, a hand on her shoulder, a word that said he knew better. All of it had simultaneously made her want to cringe and dig out her high-heeled boots for the extra height. Today was an all-new practice in frustration for her when Ted had presumed to crowd into her space and kiss her! When she’d pushed him away, he’d only grinned and stared at her ample chest.
“Come on, honey,” he’d said, dropping all pretense of professionalism, “you know you want it.”
“No, Mr. Ballinger,” she’d replied tartly as revulsion churned in her stomach, “I don’t want anything from you.”
He’d tried to coerce her by wrapping an arm around her waist and dragging her toward him. She’d used the momentum to drive her knee into his crotch and then, as he doubled over, she slammed her elbow into his jaw, dropping him to the ground.
Thank you, self-defense classes!
Glaring at her from the barn’s hay-littered floor, Ted had gritted his teeth as he crawled to his feet.
“You’re fired, Mr. Ballinger,” she’d said in a cold voice. “Get off my property, or I’ll call the authorities and have you removed.”
That made him chuckle, and she clenched her jaw. She and the sheriff’s department—well, one member of it anyway—were not on good terms, but she hoped they would, at least, do their job.
Ted cupped his groin as he glowered at her, clearly attempting to use his few extra inches of height to intimidate her. “You don’t want to do anything you’re going to regret.”
Fury bubbled to the surface—and a little fear, too—but Addie stood her ground. “Get out.”
“Sure, whatever. You’re a pity-fuck, anyway,” he said, and she blinked. “A fat girl should take what she can get.” He laughed at her soft gasp. “You sure as hell won’t do better than me.”
She’d frowned and hardened her expression. “Go. Now.”
Surprisingly, he left, chuckling to himself the whole time just to irritate her—though not before his last comments reinforced one of her biggest, and most secret, insecurities.
Nearly every man she’d ever met commented on her self-assurance and ‘pretty face,’ but she saw the truth in their eyes. They liked her, even admired her to one degree or another, but most of them never saw her as beautiful. She had smarts and a ton of confidence, but her weight—and how men often perceived her—had been a life-long struggle.
Addie knew she might be a little on the heavy side, with a lot of generous curves, but she wasn’t unattractive, and she wasn’t stupid, either. No matter how much she needed Ted and his friends’ physical strength for the farm, enough was enough. It had actually been a relief to kick him off her property.
The bad part was that his two coworkers went with him.
“We’re a package deal,” Ted had said, grinning at her as the three of them climbed into his truck outside the barn.
The youngest of the three, Jorje, hadn’t seemed to want to leave. His soft brown eyes had looked apologetic when the others grabbed his arms and hauled him into the truck. She wouldn’t have minded Jorje staying. He seemed different from the other two, but maybe that was just her wishful thinking.
“We’ll be back for our pay,” Ted said as he started his truck.
“You just got paid yesterday,” she replied and then waved a hand at the barn, “and it doesn’t look like you did anything that I asked you to do today. So, don’t plan to get paid for not working.”
He’d glowered at her and spun his tires in the dirt, throwing debris into the air as he sped out of her yard and down the long drive.
The whole incident could have been much worse, but it still left her with more work than she could successfully handle on her own and, among a myriad of other things, a leaky barn in need of repair.
Reaching the end of her mile-long dirt driveway, Addie took a moment to breathe and