Once the daughter of a prominent dentist in Philadelphia, Natalie Allen wasn’t happy with the life she was expected to lead, so she left society behind and headed west. Now, in the little town of Junction, she’s known as Nat, a cowboy working on Boss Daddy’s cattle ranch. She keeps to herself, renting a room in a local boarding house instead of staying in the bunk house, and with her dungarees and short hair, no one realizes she’s living as a man. But Boss Daddy’s pretty daughter Miss Lucille takes a notice to “Mr. Nat,” and the closer the two become, the more conflicted Nat grows. She likes Miss Lucille a lot more than she knows she should, and it’s easy to forget who she’s pretending to be around the boss’s daughter. Then Miss Lucille surprises everyone, Nat included, by announcing their engagement. Nat knows they can’t marry, and if she tells Miss Lucille why, her ruse will be up. Her only choice is to leave Junction behind, even if it means breaking Miss Lucille’s heart. But will Miss Lucille let Nat go so easily?

The Boss's Daughter

Past the boarding house, where I rent a room upstairs, is the general store, then the post office, then the sheriff’s. Stubs’ is on the opposite side of the street, along with the stables, the smithy’s, and the whitewashed boards of the Junction church. A smattering of homes stretch out beyond where the boardwalk ends on either side of the street, a cushion between the town and the small railroad depot straddling the road at the farthest edge.


I head for Stubs’. It’s early, and as usual, I’m the only customer. When I push through the swinging doors, Maddy turns on her barstool with a hopeful gleam in her eyes that dies when she sees me. She wears a faded petticoat and not much else. One strap slips off her shoulder, and she pushes it back into place as she sort of grimaces at me. Her henna-dyed hair is piled on top of her head in a messy array of corkscrew curls, and the kohl around her eyes looks smudged.


“Hey there, Nat,” she calls. Then she turns back around, dismissing me.


Chapter 3