by Vivian Arend
Tucker unloaded his horse into the stall that had been arranged for her, then hurried back to the trailer.
Ginny and all of her things were missing.
A note lay on the table.
Tamara and Caleb moved me into the cottage already. Hope you had a good trip home. Watching movies with the girls tonight. I’ll try and catch you in the barn sometime tomorrow.
* * *
Operation Prove It now begins!
X, Ginny
Disappointment and exhaustion battled for top billing. Tucker decided to take advantage of the unexpected dose of quiet, made a simple meal and hit the sack early.
The next morning, he found himself swept into a meeting with Ashton and Caleb. Paperwork was signed, and they took a tour around the main ranch buildings. Not even a week ago when Tucker had first arrived, Ashton had showed him around, but the information hit a whole lot harder now.
Caleb rested a booted foot on the bottom railing as they stood by the arena, hands draped casually on the top bar as he, Ashton, and Tucker paused to watch Kelli and Luke work one of the new horses.
“She’s got a gift,” Caleb said.
“She does, and she’s not the only one,” Tucker agreed, casting an experienced eye at some of the other ranch hands. His brain was full to the brim, and in spite of Jack’s help narrowing down where to start, the moment still felt overwhelming.
Ashton folded his arms over his chest and sighed contentedly. “Things are good overall.”
“Even better than I expected,” Tucker confessed. He went for straight-up honest, because working with the man, it would be better to not tiptoe around issues. He met Caleb’s gaze straight on. “The only thing I don’t understand is your lack of focus.”
Caleb blinked. “Explain.”
Tucker shrugged. “You’ve branched out into a lot of areas. That’s not a bad way to put money on the table, but it’s not how Silver Stone becomes established as the best at what she does. You’ve got the breeding program, you train horses for everything from personal rides to rodeo stock. You raise cattle, you had a semi-commercial agricultural arm.”
“Only made sense,” Ashton said, a little more gruffly than usual. “Diversifying brought in money.”
“I’m not saying it’s wrong,” Tucker insisted. “But I am saying that it’s something you need to think about going forward. If you like what you’re doing, then we’ll carry on and find ways to make each part of the operation stronger and more lucrative. Or, if you don’t want to keep that many pots on the fire, you could pick the ones you like best and specialize. Since you’re no longer fighting to keep finances balanced.”
Caleb’s expression seemed stern, but he blinked more than usual, which Tucker recognized as a tell the man was considering brand-new thoughts. “You’re saying I need to take my own advice. The way I told everybody on Christmas Eve to dream about what they’d like to do.”
Tucker dipped his chin. “If you want to bounce ideas around, Ashton and I are more than willing to listen.”
“Huh.” Caleb stared at Luke and Kelli, but his gaze seemed far more distant. “I might take you up on that.”
Conversation shifted to other topics. Eventually Ashton hauled Tucker into the mess hall for lunch, the cook serving up an eclectic mix of classic ranch food and tasty, spicy Indian dishes that created a mouth-watering aroma that set Tucker damn near drooling.
He settled opposite his uncle and dug into his food, the empty hole in his stomach messing with his manners.
When he finally paused, he looked up and discovered Ashton sitting across from him, arms once again folded over his chest and a highly disapproving expression back in place. “Sorry. Didn’t realize I was that hungry.”
“Your lack of table manners isn’t the part I’m pissed about,” Ashton growled.
Yeah, Tucker had figured this was coming. And yet, same as he had with Caleb, he figured it was better to start as he meant to go on. Which had in fact, been one of the bits of advice that Jack had offered that made a hell of a lot of sense.
“You mean me asking Caleb to consider the overall direction of Silver Stone going forward?”
Ashton’s frown deepened. “I thought you planned to apprentice under me, not take over the first chance you got.”
Tucker put down his fork and wiped his mouth clean with his napkin, considering his words. “I absolutely want to apprentice, but what I said to Caleb goes for you as well. With the changes available to Silver Stone, plus me joining the mix, you need to think hard about what you want. There’s not much use in training me to do something that will be obsolete a year down the road.”
Ashton made a harrumphing noise.
The fact his uncle wasn’t tearing a strip off him at that moment was a positive thing. Tucker went on, allowing amusement to slide into his tone. “Plus, I figure you have no intention of retiring completely.”
“Damn right.”
“So tell me I was wrong to nudge the two men with the most influence to consider all their options.” Tucker leaned forward and winked at his uncle. “Nope. Thought not.”
“Ungrateful brat,” Ashton murmured, but he picked up his fork and went back to his plate instead of continuing to harass Tucker.
And so it began.
12
New Year’s came and went in a flash, and as they rolled into January, Ginny found herself retreating to the cottage at the end of each day far more exhausted than expected.
Finding a new path forward meant a lot to do, and all of it seemed to involve other people. There were her friends who felt they had years to catch up on, and rightly so. Her nieces and nephew wanted to spend time with her. Plus, sharing time with each of her new sisters-in-law—who were, thank God, nothing like Caleb’s first wife—was also high on Ginny’s daily activity list.
Thoughts of the cold-blooded creature still gave Ginny nightmares if she were being honest.
She quietly said something to that effect to Tamara while they were cleaning up after lunch on Monday. Emma’s happy laughter echoed in the room, simultaneously driving guilt and happiness into Ginny’s heart
Ginny eyed her niece. “I had no idea how much damage Wendy caused. I’m so glad you’re in their lives,” she admitted as she and Tamara worked quietly beside each other.
Tamara paused in the middle of washing and laid her hand on Ginny’s. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I lived right here,” Ginny said gruffly. “I should have seen that Wendy’s attitude was more than simply someone uncomfortable with her surroundings. When I heard she’d had been abusive, I kept thinking back for some sign that I missed. I wish with everything in me I had stopped it.”
Dishes forgotten, Tamara grabbed Ginny by the hand and tugged her until they were face to face. “It was not your fault,” she said clearly, still softly though, as the girls entertained their brother in the living room only feet away. “Caleb does this at times, as well. He beats himself up for not being perfect. And it’s useless, because it’s in the past. If you had seen, you would’ve changed things, but now things are different anyway. We move forward, we don’t look back.”
Which was usually Ginny’s way, but the thought still haunted her. “I was too tangled up in my own head,” she confessed.
Tamara stole the dishtowel from her hands, stepped back as she twirled it a couple of times, then applied a well delivered snap to Ginny’s thigh.
“Ouch,” Ginny exclaimed loud enough to draw the attention of small children playing nearby.
Tamara was winding up again. “If you don’t stop, I’ll give you something else to worry about.”
Ginny raised her hands, backing away. “Okay, okay. I’ll behave.”
Emma came rushing to her defense, which emphasized Tamara’s point even more. “Auntie Ginny, you need to be good,” she teased. “Mama only hits Papa with the dishtowel when he’s been naughty.”
“Very naughty,” Tamara said, totally amused. “Which means I don’t have to do
it very often.”
Sasha wandered up, Tyler on her hip. His little toddler arms were wrapped in a stranglehold around his big sister’s neck. “Tyler says he wants to go look for kittens.”
Tamara rested her fists on her hips and offered her oldest daughter a look.
Sasha opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking again. “Oops. Sorry, Mom. Tyler, tell Mommy what you want to do now.”
Tyler bared his little teeth and made a meowing sound.
“Then I guess that’s what we’re doing next.” Tamara slid over and gave Ginny a squeeze. “You’re a wonderful auntie, and wonderful sister. Never forget that,” she chided softly in Ginny’s ear.
Emma caught Ginny’s fingers. “Are you coming to the barn with us?” she asked
It would’ve been nice to try and catch a glimpse of Tucker, whom Ginny hadn’t seen since he got back, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. “I have to meet someone at the greenhouse,” she informed her niece.
Emma patted her hand sadly. “Don’t work too hard.”
Ginny was still snickering about the serious tone in the little girl’s voice as she made her way across the yard and into the warmth of the greenhouse.
Devjeet and Janae Singh were waiting for her, their concern clear even as they welcomed her back.
Ginny hurried to put them out of their misery as quickly as possible. “I have heard nothing but good things about how well you ran the CSA boxes the past years,” Ginny assured them. “I want to know if you’re interested in continuing to run it going forward.”
The couple exchanged glances before turning back with both excitement and confusion. “Don’t you need to run it now for your family?” Janae asked.
Ginny wiggled a hand from side to side. “I have an opportunity to make some changes. I thought maybe we can work together and come up with some new plans that will work for all of us. But I don’t want you to carry on unless it’s something you want.”
“We’re interested,” Devjeet said instantly.
“Very interested,” Janae echoed. “But what kind of changes are you talking about?”
“This conversation requires a pot of tea.” Ginny gestured them toward the small kitchen at the side of the building.
The one good thing about Tucker being buried in work was that Ginny had spent her past evenings coming up with ideas. Between her friends’ suggestions and everything that had percolated during her time away, she was ready to lay what she hoped were interesting options on the table.
Ginny dove in. “I still want CSA boxes available to Heart Falls and all the communities you’ve reached. I plan to focus more on growing herbs, both for the teas I used to make and possibly branching into skincare and bath products.”
Devjeet nodded slowly. “We’ve done limited herbs to include in the boxes. The perennials you established are still there, but not that well-tended, I’m afraid.”
“That’s okay, I’d like to do a bit of a revamp, but it means I will need some space in the exterior gardens until we have time to expand. Plus, I’ll need room for seedlings here in the greenhouse.”
“We’ve already ordered vegetable seeds for this year,” Janae told her. “The same way we have every year, based on how you set us up that first time. So you’ll need to order anything new. I have all the records for you.”
Ginny thought quickly. “We can go over them, but the idea isn’t for me to take over. You two still make the decisions, and I get to start brand new mischief.”
“But we can overlap a little, yes?” Devjeet suggested. “If you have enough herbs to include in the boxes?”
“We’ll discuss that.” Ginny promised. “Also, you know my sister-in-law, Ivy, assistant principal at the school?”
Janae nodded. “She teaches our daughter in Grade Two. Our son is in Grade Five.”
“I’d forgotten how big they are.” Ginny shook her head. “Anyway, she asked about starting a garden at the school this spring. I’ll line up some help from a few local organizations to build raised beds, but the school kids would get the garden started. We’ll open it up to the community to continue running over the summer.”
Devjeet look surprised but nodded. “That sounds like a good community builder.”
Ginny nodded. “It shouldn’t affect the sales of your boxes. In fact, you might possibly get more subscribers when the kids start asking for local carrots.”
“Local carrots taste better,” Janae recited in a childish voice, obviously imitating their daughter.
The three of them talked for over an hour, and the longer they brainstormed, the more ideas kept coming up. More adjustments were made to the plans as Devjeet and Janae caught some of her fire and got more and more excited about Ginny’s ideas.
In the end, Devjeet shook her hand and Janae outright hugged her before they left.
Ginny wandered back to her cottage, hands shoved into her pockets, whistling into the cold, her breath rising in puffs of white on the chilly air.
It was a plan barely started, but something deep inside said it was the right place. She might not get everything right, but this one might end up making a difference.
Down near the barns, two familiar outlines appeared on horseback. Tucker and Ashton returning from wherever they’d been working that afternoon. Ginny was getting anxious for a chance to see Tucker. To catch him up on where she was at with Operation Prove It…
Oh, who was she kidding. She just missed the guy. She wanted to talk to him and hold him and jump his bones.
She slipped into the cottage and topped up the wood in the stove, trying to beat back the winter chill that seeped through the little wooden walls far too easily.
She typed off a quick message.
Ginny: your evil overlords need to give you some time off.
The paperwork Janae had given her took up the rest of Ginny’s afternoon. She made up a new order for the additional herbs and the supplies for the community gardens.
She was washing up her dinner dishes when her phone buzzed, and she opened up Facetime to discover Tucker smouldering back at her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t accept video calls from total strangers,” she teased.
“Good to know. I’ll be sure to warn off all the total strangers who keep asking for your number.” He leaned back on the couch in the trailer and rolled his neck gently from side to side. “The evil overlords on this ranch have somehow added extra hours to the regular daily rotation.”
“Poor, baby.” Her fingers damn near twitched with the urge to head over there and give him a neck rub. “How’s it going, though?”
He drank half a bottle of water before responding. “Good, I think.” Tucker leaned forward on his elbows, considering hard. “Let’s see. You said for Operation Prove It we got to bitch about one thing and celebrate one thing, right?”
“Top points, Mr. Stewart,” Ginny said. “You bitching or cheering first?”
“Both at the same time. Silver Stone operations are set to run like clockwork. Which means there’s a lot of people who really know how to do their job well.”
Ginny made a face. “This sounds ominous.”
“Yeah. Part two, there’s a few people who don’t know how to do their job, but they’re pretty damn sure they do, so I’m anticipating a few fights in the future.”
Which was one of the things they’d talked about. “You’ll manage them.”
He shrugged. “I will. I would prefer they got their shit together instead of having to fire them.” He looked her over. “How about you? How are you conquering your project?”
She caught him up with her ideas for the greenhouse. “My thing to celebrate? I made a plan. I’m not going to be a garden goddess anymore.”
He blinked. “Really?”
“Really.” It had taken putting everything down on paper to see it clearly. “Not a kitchen garden goddess, at least. I’m diving into specialization. Herbs—for teas and cooking to begin with, then branching into bath and beauty prod
ucts.”
“Good for you,” he said with approval. “That’s a very clear business plan you’ve nailed down in a very short time. Well done.”
His compliment made her glow. She leaned in and grinned. “You’d have been so proud if you’d seen me, Tucker. I used at least ten pages and a big thick Sharpie to write out everything I needed to consider. And then I used up most of a roll of tape sticking them to the walls so I could order and reorder my goals until I figured it out.”
“Hmmm.” He waggled his brows. “Dirty girl, seducing me all over again with your talk about spreadsheets and checklists.”
“I know. Filthy, isn’t it? I even threw in a bunch of ‘I am…’ statements. Oh, and the Sharpies were all colour-coded.”
He groaned at that, deep and husky.
They grinned at each other.
It was good chatting with him like this, but also slightly annoying. “I miss you,” she said abruptly. “It kind of sucks that we’re less than a ten-minute walk away from each other, and we’re Facetiming.”
He crooked a finger. “Come on over.”
It was tempting. Oh so very tempting, and yet it hadn’t even been a week, dammit. Add in he’d just admitted the balancing act of making changes and earning the ranch hands’ respect had begun?
She had to be strong and stick to the plan for his sake.
Which meant a little distraction right now would be a good idea. “I was just complaining a little. But that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in a good time.”
Tucker chuckled. “I’m fairly well endowed, but this kind of distance is beyond me.”
Ginny hooted. “Nothing wrong with your ego.”
He flashed a brief smile and her heart flipped. Then she focused on blowing his mind. “Good thing we have the wonders of technology to bring us together.”
She slowly undid the buttons on her shirt then peeled the front apart to reveal a whole lot of cleavage.