by Claire Adams
“I’m happy to help serve the guys, too, if you’d like.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t let the guys see you back here with me,” I said as it got close to breakfast time. “Go wash up and come in for breakfast with the rest of them. I don’t need help serving.”
Our short conversation had reminded me exactly why my mother had always told me to steer clear of the ranch hands; they never stayed long. When I was younger, I thought she didn’t like me hanging around them because they were older, or because they were poor. I even remembered getting into a huge argument about one young man who had arrived at our ranch suddenly in the middle of the night. My father had brought him and he looked scared to death to be there. He was quiet and I naturally reached out to him to make him feel more comfortable. After a couple of weeks on the ranch, we had grown close and we were laughing and flirting with each other every chance we got.
My mother warned me to stay away from him, she told me I had work to do and so did he. But we kept talking and flirting, then suddenly one morning the young man was gone. He had just up and left us in the middle of the night, just as suddenly as he had arrived. He never said goodbye to me, never told me he was thinking of leaving; I was so heartbroken that I hardly left my room for a week. It was then that I realized my mother had only been trying to prevent me from getting a broken heart.
Sure, there were good guys and bad guys who worked at our ranch. But they were all going to leave sooner or later and that meant I needed to guard my heart and keep it from getting broken. Even a good-looking, funny guy like Garrett wasn’t going to catch me off guard. I had already had my heart broken by the company I loved, there was no need to open it up and have it broken by a man in the same month.
“You’re afraid the other guys will get jealous of me?” Garrett joked.
“Just do what I tell you,” I said sternly.
I didn’t mean for my words to come out so bitchy, but I wasn’t going to take them back. The truth was, I was his boss and he was an employee of the farm. I wasn’t going to flirt with him and I didn’t need him flirting with me. If he couldn’t even be honest with me about little details of his life I wasn’t going to hold out hope that he was even going to be at the ranch for long.
Men who had lots of secrets to hide weren’t my type. I liked guys who were strong, handsome, caring, and honest. So far, I was beginning to wonder if Garrett was honest at all. He certainly seemed to be strong and handsome though. He was the kind of guy I could see myself marrying somewhere long down the road, but the one I finally settled on would have to be caring and honest, too. I wasn’t going to settle for anyone that didn’t have all four traits.
“You must have been a really good boss; you’re excellent at giving orders,” Garrett said.
“I wasn’t a boss.”
“In that picture I saw, you looked like a boss.”
“Why? Because I was dressed in a suit? I asked him.
Again, I noticed the stern tone in my voice, but I didn’t mean to argue with him, my work was just a bit of a sore subject. I had dedicated myself to my job since getting out of graduate school. I worked up to twenty hours a day sometimes, yet at the first sign of financial distress, the company chose to let me go. It wasn’t what I had expected. I certainly couldn’t have planned it or even prepared myself mentally for the news. But there I was, back home on my parents’ ranch at twenty-seven years of age.
It was hard not to feel like a failure and Garrett bringing that photo up just reminded me that I was no longer that person. Maybe I had never really been that woman at all. All I knew at that moment was I enjoyed being home and I was going to do everything possible to ensure my father could keep his farm. Maybe we would have to sell part of it, or maybe we would have to change how things were done, but I was home for a reason and that was to help my family.
“And the large corner office.”
“Well, in New York there are a lot of corner offices; I wasn’t anything special.”
“I doubt that,” Garrett said as he took a couple steps forward. “You’re special no matter what you’re doing for your job.”
He was only about a foot away from me as his large chest hovered near me. I looked up at him and felt my breath catch as my body reacted to him. Garrett had a delicious looking smile filled with confidence as he looked down at me. For a moment, I could have sworn he was going to kiss me from the look he had in his eye. I quickly took a step back and looked away. There would be no kissing going on in that kitchen on that morning. I appreciated a good man as much as the next woman, but Garrett needed to understand that I wasn’t interested in his charms.
Okay, maybe I was interested; but I wasn’t going to give in until I knew more about the man. He was going to have to show a little bit of honesty before I would be falling for his flirting. But I suspected Garrett wouldn’t be around all that long. From the way he was keeping secrets, he was probably going to be back on the road within the week.
“You better get out there so you can eat.”
Garrett nodded his head and gave me one last glance before he turned to leave the kitchen. Every muscle in my body relaxed when he had finally left and I shook my whole body in a big shiver. The way Garrett made me feel was unsettling in a way a man hadn’t made me feel in a really long time.
I hated it, but liked it all at the same time. I felt energized and ready to take on the day like I had just finished a whole pot of coffee. I wouldn’t give up on him totally, not just yet. There was always the possibility he would come around.
I wasn’t the type of woman who had one night stands, or even relationships that I knew wouldn’t go anywhere. But if I was that sort of woman, the idea of sleeping with Garrett even if he was only at the ranch for a short time, well, that didn’t sound all that horrible.
“No, no, no; you stay away from that one,” my mother said as she walked into the kitchen. She was smiling as she looked at me and I knew right away that she was joking.
“What are you talking about? He was just helping me with breakfast.”
“Oh, I saw how you looked at him. Just remember, we know nothing about these men and any one of them could have a past that is dangerous. He could be a murderer.”
“Mom, any man could have a past he’s not telling a woman about. You can’t tell me to stay away from every man on the planet. Anyways, why are you up? I told you I could handle breakfasts. There’s no reason you can’t sleep in.”
My mother had already started unloading the plates and piling them up near the front of the kitchen. It felt like when I was a teenager and I was helping her out; she was instantly in charge of everything. I knew she just wanted what was best for me and I wasn’t going to argue with her logic. It was true: Garrett could be hiding a lot from me. I felt like he was hiding something, but I certainly didn’t think he was a murderer.
“I’ve been getting up before dawn for over twenty years. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“So what do you know about Garrett?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Do you know something about him that I should know?”
We continued setting up the line for breakfast as we talked. The men were going to start arriving shortly and I liked to have everything ready for them before the first one entered the hall. They worked hard and a good meal was the least we could do for them. I actually really enjoyed helping with the meals on the ranch; it was more fun than dealing with the pigs — that was my least favorite job on the farm. Those damn things always ran from me and I inevitably ended up injuring myself in some way.
“I thought you weren’t interested? Hmmm?”
“I’m not. But Dad wants me to teach him about the horses so I was just wondering if you knew anything about him.”
“You probably know more than I do. I’ve only had a couple conversations with him. He seems like a good kid, from Wyoming, I think. Not sure how your father found him or how he ended up working here. I can see you too
k care of his blistered hands for him.”
“Oh, yeah, they were the worst I have ever seen. But the strange thing was that he wasn’t even complaining about them. He was going to just keep working. It actually was pretty impressive. Remember that one guy who got blisters and stopped working by noon each day? Oh man, that was hilarious.”
My mother stopped to think for a moment as she looked up into the air. My mother was a beautiful and kind woman. Over the years, we had taken in many men who just weren’t cut out for working on a ranch. But she was always kind to them and always did her best to help them out. Even my father would pull the men aside and work with them to teach them what they needed to know to get by. It had always been strange to me that some men would just show up at our ranch and think that the work was going to be easy. Within a day or two, they were obviously in over their heads; it was quite funny to watch.
“Oh, yes, that poor guy. I remember father ended up teaching him how to use the tractor mower and having him mow for us and feed the animals.”
“That guy certainly didn’t earn his paycheck. I remember he’d always be reading books before anyone else had even finished their jobs. Why did father let him stay for so long?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he felt bad for the guy. You know your father; he’s always trying to help people out.”
“Yeah, he needs to start being a little more selfish.”
As the men started to line up for their plates, I noticed Garrett as he walked into the building. Damn he was a good-looking guy. His chiseled jaw and brilliant, blue eyes were embedded into my mind and I couldn’t get them out of it. Garrett Reynolds was much too good-looking to be a ranch hand.
I could see Garrett as a model or business man, certainly not a ranch hand. I was going to have to work hard to get his story out of him though, because he wasn’t willingly going to share it.
“He is handsome, I’ll give him that,” my mother said as she noticed me looking at Garrett. “But you need to stay away from him. Let him do his job and you do yours. You said you wanted to come home to get your mind straight, I don’t think anything about that man will help you plan for your future.”
“I know.”
“Do you really?”
“Yes, mother. I’ll stay away from him.”
“Your father said one of the guys he’s hired just got out of prison. I don’t know which one it is, but you need to keep your wits about you. A handsome man can still be a bad one.”
My mother cracked me up. She was so kind to everyone who came through our doors yet she was trying to warn me away from Garrett. I knew that she wasn’t afraid of him anymore than I was. She had a good eye for people just like my father did, even the ones who recently got out of prison.
That was a big lesson I had learned at a young age; just because people did something bad in their past didn’t mean they were bad people. And just because they didn’t have a criminal record didn’t mean people were automatically good either. People were complicated characters and I felt like I was constantly learning and trying to understand them.
“Mom, I seriously doubt Garrett is a killer. The man looks like a fraternity boy who got lost on a camping trip.”
We both laughed as Garrett stood in front of us with his plate held out for his breakfast. He grinned and looked between my mother and me before moving down the line. I swear I held my breath every moment he was standing there.
Garrett had charisma and I liked that. His thick muscles made him a joy to look at and that was all I planned on doing. Like the fancy merchandise in the stores, I was going to look and not touch. Well, I might touch a little, but I wasn’t going to fall in love with the guy. A quick, summer fling before he took off on the road, that’s the most I would do: nothing more. I had to think about my own future and the plans I wanted to start working on for Garrett and myself would certainly distract me from those plans.
“You know, you two could be sisters,” he as he walked back past us and just before heading to his table.
“Mr. Reynolds, it’s nice to see that you were able to wake up this morning and eat some breakfast. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow morning,” my mother said.
She was horrible at taking a compliment and Garrett was a little too cheesy with his. Although, I had heard people say my mother and I looked a lot alike and some had even tried the sisters line before. But my mother had aged a lot over the last few years. The sun, work, and money stressors were taking their toll on her.
“I will be here tomorrow morning,” Garrett responded confidently as he sat down next to Forest.
“Do you think Forest has told him how everyone manages to wake up in the mornings?” I asked my mother.
“Well, he was up this morning, so maybe.”
I wasn’t about to tell my mother that I had woken Garrett up on my own. She certainly wouldn’t have been happy with me and I liked when my mother was happy. My mom could get pretty wild when she was angry. There had only been a few times in my life that I had witness her truly upset with me and I didn’t plan on repeating that experience anytime soon.
“Yeah, he must have told him.”
Chapter Five
Garrett
I knew I liked Forest. After telling him that I couldn’t go into town, he still brought me back a wristwatch with an alarm on it. I instantly noticed it was the same one all the other guys were wearing.
Luckily for me, Forest had taken a liking to me because Sid had been very clear that I wasn’t to go into town. Agent Walker threatened to place me on a fishing boat in Alaska if he found out I was causing any trouble. So, when Forest handed me the wristwatch, I was extremely grateful.
“It’s got a vibrate function on it, you can set alarms for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the watch will vibrate to notify you.”
His broken, toothy smile was smug yet playful and I knew their little game with me was finally over. It had only taken me a couple of weeks to figure it out, but I was grateful to finally have a way of making it to breakfast in the morning. I couldn’t exactly expect Sarah to sneak into the bunkhouse and wake me up, although I certainly would appreciate it if she wanted to.
I had gone to college and been through the horror of hazing as I joined my fraternity; my theory of holding out and not complaining had finally paid off. It was a huge relief and I finally felt like I was one of the guys.
It was odd to be placed at the ranch through the witness protection program. I had seen the movie and television shows about the program and always assumed people were hidden away in cabins where no one could find them. It was a bit of a relief that I did get to work on the ranch and interact with people each day because I was sure I would have gone crazy if I had been stuck in a cabin all alone.
Free-time had never been something I liked. From the time I was in high school up to my current work, I always packed my days as full as possible. If I wasn’t at the gym or at the office, I was likely out with friends or visiting potential clients. I couldn’t sit still very well and that had served me greatly as I grew my business. I strongly believed that anyone who was willing to work hard and hustle would make something of themselves eventually. Although, it was hard for me to meet quality women when I was always hustling around.
Sarah was the kind of woman I had never really met up close. In the business world, she was aloof and not really the sort of woman I was looking for when I was out with my friends at a bar. To be honest, I figured a woman like Sarah probably didn’t go out to the bars much. She was serious about life and I could see that. Even at home at her family farm, Sarah kept a serious nature about her that could drive men away. But the more I talked to her and the closer I got to her, I was realizing that her serious nature was just her armor to make it in this man’s world. Sarah was actually very sweet and kind and tried to hide it behind everything else that she portrayed.
The touch of her hands on mine wasn’t something I could forget though. Even though for the next several weeks she seemed to be a
voiding getting close enough to touch me. Something about our interaction during that morning of making breakfast had scared her, or perhaps her parents had told her to stay away; Sarah was very obviously avoiding me.
She had promised to teach me more about the horses and yet had totally avoided me since that morning we made breakfast. There were some quick glances as we worked, a smile and nod, or even a quick hello as I walked by, but Sarah was avoiding me.
At first I thought she was just trying to play hard to get. Or maybe she was proving her point that she was the supervisor and I was an employee. But the way her eyes lit up when we did look at each other, I felt like she was for sure interested in me. I understood she didn’t want her parents to think something was going on between the two of us — hell, I didn’t want that either. But there was no use in totally ignoring each other if we were going to work together; we could certainly decide to do that and just be friends if that was what she wanted.
“Can you show me how to saddle the horse?” I asked one late afternoon after I had finished all my other jobs.
She looked around nervously as she stood at the end of the barn. I wasn’t sure why I was suddenly making her so nervous, but as a man I knew not to move forward until she allowed it. As men, we had to be in tuned to thing like the way a woman felt when alone with us; there were too many shady men in the world and they had ruined it for all the good guys.
Even thought I was clearly a good guy and I knew it, I wasn’t sure that Sarah was one hundred percent convinced of my good guy status. She wanted to like me, I could see that in her eyes; but she had some trepidation about giving in to her gut feeling about me.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure that I would trust the guy I was at that moment in my life. The story I had been given when I was placed at the ranch seemed a little shady to me and I probably hadn’t done it justice with my unconvincing lying. A guy traveling to Wyoming to Washington for a job opportunity wouldn’t actually stop to work at a ranch. If he had a job opportunity, he would want to get to that damn job and not sit for weeks on a ranch. But I tried to avoid the realities of the story I had been telling about my past and move forward. I just had to make the best of it and hope that Sarah could see through the lies and see that I was a decent guy.