Learnin' The Ropes by Shanna Hatfield

with Lexi, he came back from a trip to the parts store in Burns to find a computer in the shop. In an empty spot between the workbench and refrigerator, a new desk with a chair now took up residence. A hard drive sat in an enclosed cupboard at the bottom of the desk along with a printer, to keep it away from dust and grime. A sliding drawer held the keyboard and the monitor was a large screen, nicer than anything Ty had ever seen.
    Profusely thanking Lexi that evening as she walked by on her way to the house from the barn, she accepted his gratitude with a smile and told him if he needed anything else to let her know.
    Now, three weeks later, he made great progress with his repair projects thanks to the time the computer saved him.
    Carefully backing his pickup into the second bay of the shop, he flagged down Cal and Keith as they walked by the open doors.
    “Hey, can you guys help me a minute?” Ty asked as they approached.
    “Sure, dude,” Cal teased, using the name they all called Ty. “What’d you need?”
    Ty opened his truck bed cover to reveal his collection of tools. He was ready to put them in the shop and get them out of his pickup. After making a place for them along one wall, he wanted to keep them separate from the ranch tools. From his days as a mechanic at the repair shop, all his tools had his initials etched onto them anyway, so they were easy to identify.
    Keith whistled as he looked over the side of the pickup at the impressive array of tools. Ty had two big rolling toolboxes that he laid down in the bed to make transporting them easier. Rather than take the time to empty all the drawers and move them, he figured with some help he could lift them out onto the rollers and be ready to go.
    Cal climbed into the pickup with Ty while Keith stayed on the floor. Between the three of them, they soon had all the tools unloaded.
    “Thanks. I appreciate the help,” Ty said as they finished. He opened the refrigerator and handed them each a cold soda from his stash. Grateful, they accepted the beverages and tipped the bottles toward him as they headed out the door. “Thanks again,” he said as they left.
    “Anytime, dude,” Cal called over his shoulder.
    Ty left the doors open to catch the morning breeze. The snow had melted and the mid-March day felt warm with a hint of spring in the air. Swede said the weather was fickle this time of year, but recommended he enjoy each day of sunshine that came along until spring finally arrived.
    Intent on doing just that, Ty looked out at a deep blue sky and the shoots of green struggling to push up through the brown dead grass of winter. Inhaling a deep breath, he filled his lungs and grinned. One thing he didn’t miss about Portland was the smog and pollution. At the ranch, the air was crisp and fresh and clean. He could take deep gulps of it and feel renewed — as long as he wasn’t standing too close to any fresh cowpies.
    Admittedly, Ty also liked the way he could see the sunrise and sunset, hear the birds and the cattle without the disrupting sounds of traffic and harried crowds. A certain peace and tranquility hovered around the Rockin’ R that he had never experienced but was quickly coming to appreciate.
    Lost in his musings about his new home, Ty didn’t notice Baby meander into the shop until she jumped against him, throwing him off balance. He had to take a quick side step to keep from falling over.
    “Baby, what are you doing?” Ty ruffled the dog’s ears. He had no idea animals could have such expressive facial features, but Baby certainly did. His hands delivered a good rub to the loveable canine when his phone rang. Since he had been listening to music, he left his phone attached to the speaker and heard his sister’s voice fill the shop.
    “Hey, Beth, how are you?” he asked, surprised she would call in the middle of a workday.
    “I’m really good, Ty. We just left the doctor’s office and she said the baby could come any time,” Beth