Cowboy Up

July, present day

The stallion's scream of sexual frustration ricocheted off the walls of a shed that smelled like fresh lumber and honest sweat, both human and horse. The Last Chance Ranch baked under a sun that shone with uncharacteristic ferocity. Clay Whitaker, who'd recently been put in charge of the ranch's stud program, wiped his face on his sleeve.

The new shed could use an air-conditioning unit-- humans would appreciate it, at least. The horses probably wouldn't care, judging from the ardor of Bandit, the black-and-white paint that claimed a higher stud fee than any other stallion in the Last Chance Ranch.

Despite the heat, Bandit seemed desperate to mount the mare contained in a small pen only a few feet away. He would never get the chance. The pretty little chocolate-and-white paint named Cookie Dough was a decoy. Instead of mating the old-fashioned way, Bandit would have to make do with a padded dummy so that Clay could collect the semen, freeze it and ship it to a customer in Texas. Shipping frozen horse semen promised to add an increased revenue stream to the ranch operation, or so Clay projected it would.

Nick Chance, middle son of the family that operated the ranch, was on hand to help. A large-animal vet, Nick, co-owned the Last Chance along with his older brother, Jack, his younger brother, Gabe, and their mother, Sarah. Clay had known all of them for ten years.

Theoretically, sperm collection was a simple task. Nick would keep a firm grip on Bandit's lead rope as the stallion mounted the dummy, and Clay would move in with a collection tube. Instead, Bandit seemed determined to get to the mare, and both men's yoked Western shirts were stained dark with sweat.

Nick glanced around the small shed. "We need to get us some air-conditioning in here."

"That's exactly what I--" The rest of Clay's response was drowned out by another scream from Bandit, right before he did exactly as he was supposed to and mounted the dummy. Grasping the tube, a twenty-five-pound piece of equipment designed to keep the semen at an even temperature, Clay moved in for the crucial part of the operation.

When Bandit was finished, both men stood back to let the stallion rest on the dummy for a moment.

Nick glanced over at Clay. "Shall I offer him a cigarette?"

"Very funny."

"I invited Jack to watch, but he declined."

"I'm not surprised." In fact, Clay would have been amazed if Jack had shown up for Bandit's session. Jack didn't much like the idea of collecting and shipping frozen semen, but he recognized times had changed and had agreed to let Clay put his animal science degree to good use.

Still, Bandit was Jack's horse, and Jack thought the collection process was completely undignified. Maybe so, but Jack couldn't argue with the income it would generate. Being in charge of this new operation meant Clay had an important job at the ranch he loved so dearly, but it also allowed him to give something back to the only real family he'd ever had.

Orphaned at three, he'd been shuffled through a series of foster homes until turning eighteen. Then he'd come to work at the Last Chance, where Sarah and her husband, Jonathan, had treated him more like one of their sons than a hired hand. But he'd formed the strongest bond with Emmett Sterling, ranch foreman and the closest thing to a father Clay had ever had. Emmett had recognized that Clay had a brain, and encouraged him to save for college.

Working while he attended school had meant taking six years to complete a four-year program, but now he was back. Jonathan Chance's death from a truck rollover almost...