Roy Wortham is a spoiled rancher’s son who’s never done a day’s work in his life. When his father decides it’s time Roy grew up, he’s sent on a cattle drive with the ranch’s best hands.<br><br>Joe Gibbs expects Roy to demand special treatment on the drive, but to his surprise, Roy asks to be treated just like one of the hands. He wants to learn the ropes so he can take over his father’s empire.<br><br>Joe’s grudging respect for the boss’s son slowly turns into friendship. Is Roy interested in being friends -- or could he be after something more?

Hard Day's Ride

Not all of the hands were easy to convince. Most of them merely grunted a version of “We’ll see” and went back to eating. The younger hands were more ready to give Roy a chance. A couple of the older cowboys frowned and shook their heads, clearly not wanting to believe that Mama’s Boy Roy could change.


Joe cleaned his plate and mounted back up as Cookie drove off in the wagon. Roy might have a long, hard job ahead of him—and not just on the drive.


Roy settled onto his bedroll with a weary sigh. He still wasn’t used to riding such long hours, and he’d volunteered to take part of the night shift along with the rest of the cowboys. Turns out they split the duty between them, each of them taking a two-hour shift to ride guard, keeping the cattle quiet and watching for any trouble. His shift was in the early morning, so he’d have a pretty good night’s sleep before he had to get up.


Chapter 6