“You’ll have to take care of it when you come home on Thursday. Neither of us know how to do anything with it.” Brittney clicked on her phone.
It reminded Nell that she hadn’t taken any books to read. She didn’t want to hold everyone up. Maybe she’d be busy working and wouldn’t have any time to read anyway. She walked out without going back for them.
It was a long ride to Sweet Water Ranch. The men talked in the front about ranching and beef prices until Ryder got a call. Something about imports and tariffs and warehouses. There was something relaxing about the timbre of his voice. Nell fell asleep.
She woke as they were pulling into the ranch house beside a van with lettering indicating it belonged to a landscaper. She’d assumed she’d be staying at the cabins which were over past the barn, but Preacher parked in front of the house and shut the truck off.
“They didn’t have too much luggage. If you can handle it, I’m heading over to my cabin. Have a few things I want to do before it gets any later.” Clay spoke low, like he didn’t know Nell was awake and Vinton and Gina were stirring beside her.
“I’m good. Thanks for making the trip today.”
Clay’s face broke into a smile. “I’ve got a feeling this is a turning point. Maybe for both of you.” He didn’t give Ryder a chance to answer but opened the door, Gina hopped out and they disappeared.
Ryder didn’t follow him right away, and Nell waited for a few moments before saying, “We’re awake back here. I assumed we were staying in the cabins.” She was almost sure that had been the plan, but Ryder wouldn’t have the authority to change it. Would he?
“No.”
Ryder didn’t elaborate, and Nell didn’t push it. She wasn’t sure what he was on the ranch, but his arrogant bearing seemed to indicate he was used to being in charge. He hadn’t usurped Clay’s authority, though, so he must be slightly lower than foreman. Except for the tutor thing...she just wasn’t sure.
“Vinton’s waking up too. We can carry our things in.” She opened her door.
“I’ll show you where to go.”
Suddenly a man came speed-walking around the house. A woman with long, wavy hair jogged after him, yelling. Nell missed the gist of what she was upset about, although a few salty words were quite clear. The woman’s opinion about the man and his abilities was not open to interpretation, either.
It was never comfortable witnessing a private fight, and Nell’s first instinct was to duck behind the truck.
Ryder strode out and met the fleeing man head-on. The woman with long hair didn’t stop her tirade until she’d caught up to where the man stopped in front of Ryder.
“This man is fired. I will have the landscaping I want, and I will not accept no for an answer. If he doesn’t think my ideas will work, then he needs to go work for someone else.”
The woman seemed to have run out of four-letter words. Nell was grateful for that, at least, since Vinton had gotten out of the car by this time. His eyes were big, and he glanced over at Nell as though assuring himself that she was close by. He wasn’t used to adults yelling at each other.
“Now, Roxie...”
“Shut up, Ryder. I won’t be placated on this. The man is leaving, and we will find someone else to take his place.”
“If she hadn’t fired me, I was quitting.” The man stepped around Ryder. “I took a Sunday afternoon to come over here because it was an emergency, out of the goodness of my heart, and this is the treatment I get. There’s no way what she wants done is going to happen, and I’m not going to be abused for saying the truth.”
Ryder’s lips pressed together, and he didn’t stop the man from walking away.
The guy tipped his hat to Nell as he climbed into his van and backed out of the parking area before gunning the motor and flying down the driveway.
“Really, Roxie?” Ryder said, his voice somehow conveying affection and exasperation.
“Yes. Really. I know exactly what I want, and if I’m paying someone to work for me, they’d better be willing to move heaven and earth to make my plans reality. He wasn’t.” She tossed her hair. Her voice had enough snobbery in it to make Nell think she’d come from out east recently.
“This isn’t New York. There aren’t an indefinite number of businesses we can comb through until we find exactly what you’re looking for. Not to mention you’re running out of time. You might have to settle.”
“I will not ‘settle.’” Roxie used her fingers to do air quotes around “settle.” “It’s not too much to ask to find a reputable company that can perform to my expectations.”
“I don’t know anything about landscaping, but I do know you can’t make plants grow in snow.” Ryder’s mouth tilted.
“It’s not going to be snowing when we have the ball. And what I’m asking is difficult, I’ll admit, but not impossible. Especially when I tell them that money is not an object.” Roxie flipped her hair over her shoulder. Her eyes settled on Nell. “Is this the serving girl you went to get?” The up and down look Roxie gave her made Nell feel like her clothes had fallen off. She actually looked down to make sure it wasn’t so.
An annoyed-sounding grunt came from Ryder’s direction. “This is Nell. And that’s her brother, Vinton. Vinton is Spencer’s age.”
“Right. I remember you mentioning that. They’re supposed to share a tutor.” She stepped closer. “What grade are you in, Vinton?”
“Fourth,” Vinton whispered, his eyes unsure.
“My son is at the top of his class. He is quite intelligent.” Roxie’s sharp eyes snapped to Nell. “If Vinton is slow, or if he holds Spencer back, he will not be staying here.”
Nell lifted her chin. The smile that never seemed far from her lips settled on her face. “Vinton is brilliant. He’s great in school, and he knows a good bit about ranch life. He’s a good worker. I think you’ll find he’ll be a great influence on Spencer.”
Roxie’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say your name was?”
“It’s Nell.” She took two steps and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Roxie.”
Roxie’s eyes widened. She looked from Nell’s face to her hand and back again. Then her eyes slipped to Ryder as though seeking direction from him.
Finally her hand came up, cool and slender, and clasped Nell’s. “In New York, we do not shake hands with the hired help.”
Nell grinned. Roxie was abrasive and commanding, but as long as she wasn’t physically violent, Nell would be able to get along with her. “I guess we do things a little differently here in North Dakota. We quit with royalty a long time ago and believe that everyone was created equal.”
Roxie’s eyes narrowed, like she was trying to figure out if Nell was making fun of her. “I’m not your equal, I’m your boss.”
“You’ll get respect, not worship.”
Behind her, Ryder snorted.
“Shut up, Ry,” Roxie muttered. Her intelligent eyes moved back to Nell’s face. “There’s something about you that makes me feel like I can trust you. Which is odd, since there are very few people whom I trust, and never anyone I just met.”
Nell’s smile widened. She shrugged. “I get the feeling that you don’t just hold everyone else to a higher standard, but you demand it out of yourself, too. I like that.”
Roxie’s lips pursed together, and her brows lifted like she was impressed, but she didn’t respond to Nell. Instead she looked beyond her at Ryder.
“I don’t know where you found her, but I like her. I believe she was a good choice.” She gave him a regal tilt of her head before she looked back at Nell. “Get your things and come along. There’s been a change of plans and you’re staying in the house, apparently. I’ll show you where your rooms are. You start tomorrow.”
Nell grabbed her bags out of the trunk and handed Vinton’s to him. They followed Roxie who had already disappeared around the corner of the house.
Roxie was definitely a woman who was used to being in charge and getting her way, but she didn
’t seem like she bossed Ryder. Which made Ryder’s position even more of a mystery to Nell.
Not one that affected her in any way, and not one that she needed to know about. She tried to put him out of her mind as Vinton grabbed the door and held it for her to walk through. At least he’d picked up a few of the manners she’d been teaching him. Her mother had been so much more gentle and patient than Nell was. Her mother had always been cheerful, too. That one was a little easier for Nell.
“Normally Mrs. Stryker is in charge of everything that happens in the house, but today is Sunday, and it’s her day off.” Roxie’s upper-crust voice echoed off the polished hardwood floors and high ceilings.
“Mrs. Stryker? Is she the secretary, too?” She thought that was Ryder’s mother. But there could be two. He could be married.
“Yes. The secretary position is only part-time, and so is the housekeeping one. No one lives here year-round, although Ryder will be taking up residence for the next year.”
Nell tucked that information away. Odd that he was moving in for a year only. She decided to take a wild stab at what she had begun to strongly suspect.
“Ryder is your brother. And you own Sweet Water Ranch?”
“Partly right. Ryder is my brother. He will own Sweet Water Ranch, just as soon as he picks a bride at the ball.”
Nell was following Roxie so Roxie couldn’t see her jaw drop. Her world tilted crazily, and she wobbled before she caught her balance again. She didn’t know exactly what that meant, but it definitely fueled her imagination.
But it also meant that Ryder was extremely rich, which she’d already assumed, possibly a millionaire. Not someone who would ever be on her level.
A part of her was disappointed about that. She refused to acknowledge that part.
Spacious rooms, perfect décor, and glistening woodwork passed by as Nell and Vinton hurried after Roxie, who didn’t seem to have any speed except “go fast” in a graceful, long-legged stride.
She turned and started up the stairs. “Spencer is in the room beside mine. I’m putting you two directly across the hall from us. The boys will be able to play if they want.”
Turning left at the top of the stairs, Roxie stopped at the first door. “This is your room, Nell.” She pointed to the door beside it. “And that’s Vinton’s.”
Swiveling on her heel, she indicated the rooms directly across the hall. “Those are Spencer’s and my rooms. When Vinton is done putting his things away, he can rap on Spencer’s door, and I’m sure they can find something to do together.” She eyed their small amount of luggage. “Tomorrow morning at seven, Mrs. Stryker will be in the office. I’ll make sure she knows you’ll be there to go over your duties and everything that will be expected of you.”
She didn’t ask if there were any questions, not that Nell had thought of any.
“Give me your phone number. That way I can get ahold of you if I need to.”
Nell shifted uncomfortably. This was the grandest house she’d ever seen. These people had more money than she’d probably ever see in her lifetime.
Lots of things and lots of money didn’t make a person. Nell knew it to be true. But she couldn’t stop herself from being intimidated.
“I don’t have a phone,” she said. It came out as a whisper.
Roxie’s brows lowered and she tilted her regal head. “What?”
“I don’t have a phone.” Her voice was louder that time, and she met Roxie’s eyes.
Roxie’s mouth opened and closed. It was the first time since Nell had met her twenty minutes ago that she looked anything less than completely confident, as though finding out something so completely shocking had rocked her belief in what the world actually was.
Finally, Roxie seemed to gather herself enough to form words slowly. “A phone will be a necessity here.”
Nell swallowed hard. Had she lost the job before she even began it? Clay would probably come to her rescue. For some reason, the harder lines of Ryder’s face crowded into her vision. She could hardly believe he’d care one way or the other whether she stayed or went.
Roxie’s lips pressed together, and she sniffed delicately. “We’ll work with it.”
Nell jerked her head down.
Roxie held up her own sparkling gold phone. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some messages I need to answer.”
“Of course,” Nell murmured, but Roxie had already strode across the hall and disappeared into her room.
“Wow,” Vinton whispered. “She’s even more scary than Beth.”
The shock and awe in his voice caused Nell to giggle. “I think she’s very nice. She just hides it with the commando personality, because she’s afraid people won’t take her seriously if she’s too kind.”
Vinton wrinkled his nose. “I want to check out my room.”
“Let’s do it.” Nell almost set her bag down in front of her door but decided instead to carry it. Not that there was anything valuable in it. But this wasn’t her house, and there wasn’t anything out of place. A bag sitting in the hall where it didn’t belong would be noticeable to everyone. With a last glance down the hall and a little thought wondering what all those rooms were for, Nell followed Vinton into his room.
Chapter 7
Ryder fielded two calls from his Newark office and one from Brandon, the man who was going to be his temporary co-CEO for the next year and was based in his Manhattan office. He had to admit it felt good to know that Brandon was in the office on a Sunday evening.
After discussing various high-dollar leads and several new eastern shore lanes for potentially moving goods through different channels, along with checking on the latest shipments and manufacturer schedules, he clicked his phone off and ducked into the barn where Clay was feeding the horses and the cattle that were being kept close to the barn for some reason or another.
He was supposed to be learning the ropes from Clay—the first of which was that the foreman didn’t give any job to an underling that he wasn’t willing to do himself, including taking his turn for the feeding on Sunday evening.
“Sorry.” He grabbed the extra pitchfork that leaned against the wall. Not that he’d used one since high school.
Another man might have been annoyed, but Clay wasn’t just anyone. “Not a problem. We’re feeding hay, not solving Tibet’s infrastructure problems.”
“Tibet has infrastructure issues?”
Clay shrugged. “I don’t know. Just seemed like it would be harder to deal with that than feed a few cows.”
Ryder snorted. Clay’s face had morphed into the lines that said he was smiling. Ryder wondered what it would be like to be perpetually happy. Clay never seemed to be bothered by anything. Not when they were in high school, not any time when he’d ever spoken to him in the years since.
Another smiling face trotted across his mind. Nell’s default expression seemed to be a big, wide smile. Apparently she hadn’t gotten the memo that sarcasm, pouting, or downright annoyance were supposed to be the dominant expressions in most people’s lives. Jadedness even. Definitely not the sweet smile that continually graced her face. Made her seem young, bordering childish.
He pushed it aside, needing to focus on learning what made this ranch run. Preacher wasn’t going to be around much longer.
“How do you know how much hay to give these animals?”
Clay launched into a discussion about protein and crude fiber and percentages in different kinds of hay. Who knew feeding cattle could be so complicated? At one point, Clay even made Ryder get his phone out and pull the calculator app up.
Much later, they were down at the horse corral and had been working silently checking the horses’ hooves when Ryder’s lips opened themselves and asked a question he’d been wondering since he saw Nell along the road.
“Why is Nell still in North Dakota?”
If Preacher thought his question was odd, he didn’t say. He never stopped working. “Her mom was real sick for a while, and Nell took care of her.”
&n
bsp; “I didn’t see her mom.”
“She passed away at the end of last year.”
“That’s too bad.” Funny that Nell was still so happy. “I suppose Nell will be leaving now?”
“I doubt it. That ranch she’s living on was her mother’s. I figure her stepfather owns it now, but Nell probably won’t leave it unless she has to.”
“Why?”
Preacher did stop at this question. “I guess if you have to ask that, you’ve never felt like you belonged somewhere so strong and hard that you were a part of it or it was a part of you. Like you couldn’t separate yourself from it or you’d die if you tried.”
Ryder considered his words. Preacher was probably right—he’d never really felt that way about anywhere he’d been.
“I suppose marriage is meant to be the same way, although it pretty much isn’t anymore.” Preacher lifted a shoulder before bending back over his horse’s foot.
Ryder couldn’t stop the sarcastic grunt that escaped his lips. He didn’t know anyone who felt that way about their spouse. A spouse was pretty much someone one put up with, until they didn’t anymore.
“Maybe money really does ruin everything,” Preacher said with a grin that showed he wasn’t knocking Ryder’s money. If anyone knew how hard Ryder had worked to prove himself, it was Preacher. He’d been privy to all of Ryder’s big teenaged dreams.
“Maybe I feel that way about money—that I don’t want to be separated from it.” Ryder was being flippant. Kind of.
Preacher laughed. “Yeah. You definitely don’t know what I’m talking about.” He patted the palomino whose feet he’d just checked before unhooking the lead from its halter and feeding it an apple chunk from his pocket.
He looked up at the big North Dakota sky then over at Ryder. “I guess I can’t look up without getting a thrill right here.” He slapped his chest. “It stirs my soul and gives me bone-deep satisfaction at the same time.”
Ryder grunted, dropping the last hoof on the buckskin gelding he was checking. “That’s why you’re heading out to Texas next month.”
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