Love on the Ranch (loneiysong & Yep)

Hunter woke up well before his alarm clock sounded that morning. It was the same thing every day: get up, go through his morning routine, then start his duties for the day. And he had been waking up at six o'clock every morning for the past several years. His body was well used to it by now.

The nineteen-year-old groaned as he rubbed the dirt from his eyes before looking over at his digital alarm clock. It was a few minutes til six. He wished he could go back to sleep, but it would've been pointless to try. He went ahead and turned the alarm off and got out of his bed, stepping over to his dresser to get dressed. It didn't take long to pick out something to wear. He pretty much wore the same thing every day, and it wasn't like it mattered what he wore when only cows would be looking at him. He slipped on a pair of jeans and then buttoned up the short-sleeved plaid shirt. This one was the typical red and white color.

Now that he was all set, he went downstairs, not surprised to see the house empty. His dad usually started working well before Hunter got up, and his mom always went shopping on Mondays. He had a brother--his name was Danny--but he left a year ago, when he was nineteen, during the night while everyone else slept. They awoke to a letter that said nothing more than "Im leavin, goodby." And they never heard from him again. Their mom was upset, and she still talked about how she wished he would write or call so they would know he was all right. Their dad, on the other hand, apparently never had anything to say. He just looked at the whole matter with stoicism, like most things.

Hunter went to the kitchen, where he would finish up his morning routine: eat a bowl of cereal and drink a cup of coffee. When all of that was taken care of, it was time to start his work for the day. On his way out the front door, he grabbed his black cowboy hat off the nearby rack and put it on his head.

It wasn't too bad outside, but Hunter knew that would change within the next couple hours. Haskell County, Oklahoma was going to be experiencing another scorcher on this sunny day in late June.

The few steps on the wooden porch creaked as Hunter descended them. As he made his way to the barn, he remembered something: a new guy was supposed to be starting today. It was that Logan guy--the grandson of their old ranch hand who retired. He could've sworn he remembered hearing how the guy had went to school to get himself a higher edumacation to become a vet. Hunter couldn't do anything like that. No way his family could afford it. Not that he had the smarts, anyway. He graduated high school and that was it for him. And when his dad became more of an old fart than he already was, Hunter would be taking over the farm. Since his brother went AWOL, it was all up to him.

And speaking of his old man, he saw him over by the coop with a bag of feed in his hands. He looked up, and Hunter waved a good morning at him. He could see the gray hair that his dad's cowboy hat didn't cover, and he could see his beady brown eyes behind his glasses. Thanks to all the ranch work he had done over the years, he looked a little younger than his age of forty-one.

"Mornin', son," his dad called out to him, the country accent strong in his voice. "Remember ya gotta clean out the stalls today."

Hunter frowned, but nodded.

"And there's a calf in the barn with a broken leg."

Looked like Logan would get to show off his vet skills on the first day.

Hunter finished his trek to the barn, which was empty except for that single calf that lay on a bed of hay. Going over to a corner, he grabbed one of the shovels that were hanging up and the wheelbarrow, taking both over to the first stall to get started on what he needed to do.

Logan Pierce had woken up with the sun. He had seen the ranch when he helped his grandpa move and he had fallen in love instantly. The ranch was beautiful. He had asked the ranch owner if he had replaced the spot of his grandfather. When he had heard the answer, he had moved quickly and got his resume into the hands of his now boss. He packed up what few belongings he had. He put on his brown cowboy hat and his old cowboy boots, and had set out in his truck. Yes he was a cowboy at heart. His grandpa had been one, his father had been one, and now he was one.

He was dressed in simple jeans and a black shirt. His beard was stubble, and he always tried to shave it to the skin, but it seemed that whenever he got outside, his stubble seemed to pop up instantly, which always derived a roll of his eyebrows. Getting into his old red Ford truck, he started the engine and began to ride down the road.

In what seemed like a long time, he finally pulled into the parking space of the ranch. He got out and smiled. The sun had been up for a while. He winced, he hoped that it would not reflect poorly on him for being late. Leaving his bags in the truck bed, he walked up to his employer and smiled a bit.

"Sir, sorry I am late. It took me longer than I expected." He chuckled good naturedly. He listened to his chores of the day and nodded slowly and looked up squinting at the barn when he heard that there was a calf with a broken leg. He began to ask simple questions about the calf like "how old is it", "when did it break its leg", "what do you think happened", and "has he been eating regularly". He nodded and without second word, he set out for the calf.

He knelt when he found the calf. He perched his hat further back on his forehead. He smiled and stroked the little calf. He took its leg and stroked its broken leg. With a sigh he pressed his knee on the calf to keep it down, but knew it was struggling hard. He would need another. Looking around the barn, he looked up and smiled seeing the young boy. He struggled for a name, what was it? Henry, Hanz, No definitely not! He smiled and it dawned on him.

"Hey Hunter? That's your name right? Look I might need some help holding this calf down to set and wrap its leg. I was curious if you could help me?" He asked stroking the calf's face and neck gently cooing to it.

Hunter had seen who had walked into the barn. Yep, that was the new guy. He remembered seeing him around when their old ranch hand was packing up his things to leave. He didn't bother giving a greeting, but he glanced at him a few times as he continued doing what he was doing. And when Logan called him, he finally looked over for more than just a second. Hunter nodded when the man asked him if he had his name right as he listened to the rest of what he had to say.

"Sure," he responded. He propped his shovel against the side of the stall he was working on before walking over there to kneel down on the other side of the calf. Placing both hands and a knee on it to keep it down, Hunter allowed himself to look at the man in front of him. "Guess it's a good thing you started today." Like what was to be expected of a guy who grew up in the country, his voice held a strong accent.

As he had spoken, Hunter had gotten a good look at Logan. His passing thought was that the guy didn't look too bad, but he didn't think about it any more than that. His focus was more on what he was doing currently.

Logan smiled and looked at him. He nodded and then chuckled. He bit his lip and waited until he was sure that Hunter was ready. He grabbed the calf's leg and reset it. At that the calf reared up, but Logan had a firm hold. He put splints on either side of the calf's leg and secured it. He smiled and nodded.

"Alright, I think that should do it." He stood up and looked at the other. He grinned and stood up the calf and the calf walked off a bit awkwardly but fine. He smiled. He knew that the little one was going to get sustenance from its mother. He wiped his forehead and looked at teh shovel then the stall. "Need any help cleaning out the stables?" He asked, smiling widely.

He walked to the wall without an answer. He picked his shovel and moved over and began to help Hunter. Soon he tore off his shirt and rested on one of the small stall walls. He grinned his muscles and body sweating. He worked hard and that was saying something. He loved working and Hunter was hot, so he had to keep his body busy to keep from staring at the other.

The calf cried and squirmed while Logan worked on the broken leg, but Hunter kept it held down firmly until the vet had it all taken care of. When he did, Hunter stood up and watched the calf walk off. He glanced at Logan and then at the stall he had been working on almost at the same time the other man did. He looked back at him, though, when he heard the question. "Yeah, that'll work," he replied.

While Logan went to fetch his own shovel, Hunter walked over to the stall, picking up the one he had gotten and resumed his work. They pretty much worked in silence, the only sound being that of the hay rustling as they shoveled. It didn't seem long until Logan took off his shirt, and Hunter's gaze naturally drifted over his way. He figured the guy had some muscle--you needed it for this kind of work--but he was still pretty impressed with what he saw. He didn't give himself enough time to soak it all up, though, not wanting to get caught staring. Still, Hunter wasn't going to let the man show him up. He set the shovel down long enough to unbutton his shirt and he hung it over one of the stall walls. Okay, maybe to a lot of people he couldn't compare himself to Logan. He had muscle, but it wasn't as toned as Logan's, especially his abs--they were noticeable, but they weren't tight. But in Hunter's mind, he was a hot piece of ass that both the girls and the fags wanted to get at.

Hunter let the silence linger between them for a few moments longer before it became too unbearable for him. As he continued to work, he looked at Logan. "So that old geezer's your grandpa, right? What made you wanna take over for him?"