Bear of a Cowboy

Prologue

**** Ring, ring, ring.

**** Gwynevere groaned as she rolled over and lifted the bedside phone to her ear, "Bonjour?" (Hello?) She mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

A familiar male chuckle vibrated on the other end of the line. His deeply accented cajun voice brought her fully awake. "Well, good mornin', petite soeur." (Little sister.)

She sat bolt up right. "Nicodemus! How are you, chère?!" (Dear)

"I'm fine, chère." A short silence and he cleared his throat. "How's de job hunt comin' along, ma chère?" (My dear)

Gwyn rolled her eyes with a grin, "You're so cute, Nico! I'm jus' fine in case you want ta know." She ruined it by laughing into the phone. "The job huntin's not goin' anywhere." She moaned and lay back down.

"No one wants ta hire a CNA with no experience jus' out o' school. They're all lookin' fo' someone dat already has experience. But how am I s'posed ta get experience when no one will hire me?"

The phone line was quiet for a minute. "Have you thought o' lookin' outside de city limits or....maybe even in another state?"

"Well....no, not so far anyway. But, I may not ha'e a choice. Motha Hubbard's cubbard is gettin' mighty bare, an' no' I won't ask péré fo' help. Why?"

"Well, chère, Genny told me 'bout a job openin' on de ranch in Montana. She says it would be a challenge fo' an experienced CNA, but with all de volunteer work I've bragged 'bout yoa doin' at de VA, an' your personality, chère. She an' I both t'ink you would be perfect."

"Really? Montana? Whew! Dat's certainly outside de city limits." 'He thinks I can do it.' High praise from the big brother she had always idolized and hugged the knowledge to herself.

"Ya gotta get outa de bayou sometime, bébé." (Baby) "It's not de swamp, ma Belle," (my beautiful) "b-u-u-t, I have ta admit de mountains, all dat space, dey speak ta yer heart'n soul sorta like de bayou does. I don' think ya would regret it, chère. Dis could be a great opportunity."

She was becoming more intrigued by the minute and the possibility of seeing her brother more often would be a gift in itself.

"Could ya email me an application?"

"Don' need one, chère. If yer in'trasted dey'll hire ya sight unseen. You'll have ta talk ta one o' dem 'bout de salary. Dese are great people an' dey do wonderful work with people o' all ages livin' wit' all kinds o' disabilities....accident victims, trauma an' a lot 'o veterans. It's where Genny, Beau an' Brett grew up, where she's one o' de Riding instructors."

He let that sink in for a minute, knowing her love of helping wounded veterans such as their father had been, would be a huge draw. But, he also knew that she would be ideal for the job and he would love having her closer. It was just the two now them now besides their uncle and he worried about her being alone, so often and so far away.

"Dis is dat ranch? Where you live when yer not on a case?"

"Yes mon amour," (my love) "It started out as a dude ranch, den Beau adopted a little girl wit' Spina bifida. He started teachin' her ta ride ta help strengthen her muscles an' improve her balance."

He chuckled, "Dat same li'le girl is eighteen now an' works in de clinic too. As Genny grew up she started learning more about equine therapy an' wanted ta be trained in it. Now she and Ava both work side by side wit' Beau's wife, Drina, she's de head Equine Therapist."