Cary was right.
Melissa was happy to admit the man knew his business. He’d turned twenty acres of his own land to mandarins three years ago, right after he’d helped her plant hers. The market for them was hot, and they’d been a solid investment for her.
In another year, she’d be able to pay off the balance of the loan she’d had to take from Calvin’s parents, and then she’d be completely in the black. It was a good feeling. Even though Greg and Bev had never let the note hang between them, she still felt the pressure of owing money to Calvin’s family.
She parked her truck on the edge of the road and walked through the groves for a bit, looking at the insect-monitoring stations. She breathed in the scent of the trees and felt the ground under her boots.
It was good. What she was doing was good. It would be more stable than the cattle, though she never wanted to give the ranch up completely. But diversity was good. If the U-Pick operation went well, then maybe they’d do the pumpkin patch her mom had been talking about. Heck, maybe she’d let Abby get more goats and open a petting zoo in the fall.
Okay, maybe not more goats.
She walked back to the truck and headed home. The horses had to be fed and exercised. She was late checking the herd too.
She needed to hire another hand to keep track of the cattle, but she’d been running on the tightest budget possible while she still owed her in-laws. Once the loan was paid off, then she’d be able to hire someone full time. She had feelers out already, touching base with some of her grandfather’s friends in Northern California, Idaho, and Texas. Most cowboys were looking to leave the state with its high cost of living, but Melissa was hoping a few might be looking for warm weather and minimal snow.
She’d barely opened the gate when she saw an unfamiliar truck parked by the house.
Melissa immediately went on alert. She pulled up next to the truck, which was an old Ford F-250, clearly meant for hauling a trailer, and hopped out.
“Hey, Mom?” She walked around the unfamiliar truck once. Idaho plates. Current tags. Big hitch. “Joan?”
She walked up to the porch and heard laughter coming from inside.
Melissa opened the door and heard her mom’s voice coming from the kitchen. “Hello?”
“Hey, sweetie! Come on back!”
She knew her mother was a trusting person, but Melissa was not. She hoped these were old friends and not random people stopping by. She hung up her purse and walked into the kitchen.
She immediately saw an older man in his midfifties and a woman around the same age sitting at the kitchen table, cups of coffee in their hands. The man had a long handlebar mustache that was reddish-grey. His face and posture said cowboy, and Melissa spotted a hat sitting on the chair next to him.
“Hey there.” She tossed her truck keys on the counter.
The man rose and nodded. “Ma’am.”
The unfamiliar woman turned and smiled. “Good morning.”
Joan rose and walked to Melissa. “Honey, this is Stu and Leigh Hagman, and they’ve just come from the Brady Ranch outside Twin Falls. I’ve known Leigh for ages. We worked in Monterey together when we were younger.”
“Oh cool. Welcome to the ranch. Garret Brady?” Melissa smiled. “How’s he doing?” Old Mr. Brady had been a good friend of her grandfather’s. “I haven’t seen any of the Bradys in ages.”
“Well, Old Man Brady passed last year,” Stu said, his voice a deep baritone that indicated a lifelong smoking habit. “But he’d been ill for a while, so it wasn’t a surprise or anything. His daughter’s running the ranch now.”
Joan sat back down. “That’d be Carla?”
Leigh said, “Yep. And she’d doing great. She and her husband have three kids. Real nice people.” Leigh turned to Stu and nodded. “In fact, Carla’s the reason we’re here.” She smiled at Joan. “Other than wanting to catch up with Joan.”
“It’s so nice to see you.” Her mother patted Leigh’s hand. “I can’t believe it’s been twenty years.”
Stu rose and reached in his back pocket. “Used to work for Carla. She didn’t have any work for us at the ranch.” He pulled out a folded envelope. “But she mentioned she’d heard from the Tanner Ranch that y’all might be looking for some help. Leigh and I are both experienced, and we’re looking for a fresh start if you need help.”
Melissa let out a long breath. “Oh man. I wish—”
“We’re definitely looking,” Joan said.
Melissa sighed. “Mom, we can’t afford it.”
Stu jumped in. “We work cheap. I’m even happy to give you a few weeks free to see if we suit the place. All we need is a place to park our motor home and pasture for our horses.”
Leigh smiled. “We don’t need much. We just like working.”
“I can’t not pay you.” Melissa took the letter Stu handed her. “It’s not right, and I don’t think it’s even legal.” She scanned the letter from Carla Brady, which offered a glowing recommendation for both Stu and Leigh.
One of the hardest-working couples I know.
…package deal.
…great cook.
…way with horses.
…twenty years’ experience, at least.
I’m tempted to lay off a couple of my younger guys to hire them back, but that’s not really fair. If you’re looking for good people you can trust with your herd, I can’t recommend them enough.
Melissa was crushed. Why couldn’t Leigh and Stu have shown up six months from now? She looked up from the letter. “Oh you guys, I wish I could, but until the mandarin harvest—”
“Melissa, can I talk to you?” Joan stood, her mouth in a flat line, walked over to Melissa, and pulled her out the kitchen door and into the hallway.
“Mom,” she whispered, “we can’t.”
“We can afford it,” Joan said. “And you need the help. I read that letter from Carla Brady. The two of them could run that entire herd. It is not that big. They’re looking for work. You need help. God sent them to us.”
“I can’t make money magically appear!”
“I’ll pay them,” she said. “I can help. I’ve got Social Security and Medicare now, and what else do I have to spend money on? Nothing.”
“Even if I pay them minimum wage—which is just insulting for an experienced guy—that’s nearly two thousand a month for one of them to work. There’s no way we can pay for both.”
Joan sighed. “You know, once upon a time if a man wanted to work with his wife and wasn’t asking for much, you just let him.”
“Well, when you were growing up, Grandpa didn’t have be afraid of the labor board.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. These people are looking for work and a place to get away from the snow now that they’re older. They’re not gonna take you to the labor board.”
Melissa bit her lip. It was tempting. So, so tempting. With two trusted employees, she could take a vacation. She hadn’t done that in eight years. She could take Abby to the beach. Or call the friends who’d probably forgotten she existed. She could have a life outside the ranch and the orchard.
She suspected her mom was right. This couple probably didn’t need four grand in monthly income, especially if she could give them rent free parking and use of the pastures and barn. “What if we hired one and let the other one… contract as needed?”
Joan nodded slowly. “That could work.”
“Honestly, I’m still going to be working. If I hired Stu to take on some of the ranch day to day, then Leigh could work with you around the garden and help with the house and just bill us for her time.”
“That’s fair! And if you could pay Stu, then I’ll pay Leigh. It’ll be between her and me.”
“But if she’s an independent contractor, then that means she can take other jobs too. You can’t give her a schedule she’s got to keep to. Nothing like that. She’s in charge of her own schedule.”
“Rumi might have things she needs help with,” Joan said. “That’s likely
to work out fine.” Joan nodded. “Let’s see what they say.”
Melissa had a knot in the pit of her stomach. “I still don’t know about this. It’s a lot of money for us and not that much for them.”
“We’re doing fine. You’re just manic about getting that loan paid off, and you shouldn’t be. You’ve got three more years. If we keep things tight, then by next year’s harvest, you’ll be done with them.”
“They’re Abby’s grandparents,” she muttered. “I’ll never be done with them. But the sooner I get out from under that loan, the better.”
Melissa came to a decision and pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen. “Okay, Stu and Leigh, here’s the deal. I can hire one of you full time—minimum wages is all I can afford right now, but that’s twelve bucks an hour here in California—and we can probably take on the other on a contract basis for filling in.”
Stu and Leigh exchanged smiles. “And our motor home?”
“Job comes with free rent. You’re welcome to park here. There’s room in the pasture behind the barn—there’s even hookups my grandpa put in—and you’ll have space to stable your horses. We’ve got four empty stalls right now, so that’s not an issue. You have your own trailer?”
“Sure do,” Leigh said.
The couple looked like they’d won the lottery.
“You won’t be sorry,” Stu said. “This suits us perfect. It’s exactly what we’ve been hoping for, a family place where we can feel at home. Honest work.” He swallowed hard. “You won’t be sorry, Ms. Rhodes.”
“Just Melissa, please.” She felt bad she couldn’t pay them more, but if you had few expenses, then you didn’t need much. “So you’ve got free rent and stable here, and we’ve got a big kitchen garden. You’re welcome to help yourself to anything you need from that.”
“I love gardening,” Leigh said. “I can get my hands dirty with Joan.”
Joan beamed. “That would be great.”
“There’s always beef in the freezer,” Melissa said. “And eggs. Lots of eggs.”
Stu reached his hand across the table. “All sounds good to me. When can I start?”
“Today,” Joan said. “Why don’t you borrow my horse and Melissa can show you around the place. I’ll help Leigh get you guys settled.”
Stu’s face was red and he looked close to tears. Melissa looked away and led the man out to the porch. She cleared her throat and pointed to the stables. “The horses are probably about ready to murder me. I was late waking up this morning.”
“You’ll be able to take a few more mornings off from now on.” Stu cleared his throat. “Take a vacation with your girl even. You can depend on me and Leigh.”
Melissa nodded and walked out to the barn with Stu, hoping the man was right. If the two of them worked out, they could change her whole life.
Chapter Six
Cary turned from the row of potted citrus trees he’d been experimenting with. “You did what?”
“I hired someone,” Melissa said, staring at the tree. “I think you need to prune that lemon back more. It’s a Eureka and they’ll take over the world if you let them.”
“Forget the lemon. You hired someone? Who?”
“Couple out of Idaho. They used to work on the Brady Ranch. Oh! And you’ll never guess who had time to squeeze in a project.” She did a little dance. “Brian Montoya came through. I gave him a deposit for materials and he’s starting on the bunkhouse this week.”
“Is this someone you know?”
She frowned. “Brian?”
“No, this person you hired.”
“I don’t know them, but my mom knows the wife. And Old Man Brady and my grandpa were friends.”
“Did you check references?”
“They had a letter from the Bradys.” Melissa sidled next to the tree and held her hand out. “Give me those clippers. I want to try something.”
“Where are they living?” Cary handed over the clippers.
“On the ranch.” She began snipping branches. “You’ve got to be tougher or—”
“On the ranch? With you and your mom and your daughter?”
Melissa looked up. “No, over on the Allen ranch with all the rich retirees, Cary. Yes, my ranch. They’ve got a motor home, and you know Grandpa put in those hookups behind the barn. I can’t pay them much, so it’s a fair trade.” She left the tree he’d been working on and moved to the next. “What are you doing with these?”
Cary frowned, wondering how her brain moved from topic to topic so quickly. “Um, if I can perfect the grafting, then I’m going to sell them to backyard gardeners who don’t want three different trees. You’ll get a lemon, an orange, and a grapefruit all on one tree. You just have to be brutal about pruning so one type doesn’t dominate.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“But getting back to the mystery cowboy, can we talk about how you don’t know these people from Adam? I would agree what you worked out is a fair deal if you’d checked these people out.” He took the clippers from her. “Right now you don’t know them.”
“My mom knows Leigh. What’s the problem?”
“That you’re too trusting? Why did they leave Idaho?”
“Looking for warmer winters.”
“Is that what they said?”
“Not… exactly.” Melissa cleared her throat. “My mom mentioned avoiding snow, which was probably from something Leigh had told her. I didn’t hear it from them, but this is someone my mom knows, okay?”
And most murder victims know their killers. “Not okay. I think you should know why they left Idaho.”
“The letter from the Bradys just said that they were looking for a fresh start. It’s not any of my business why. And it’s really not any of yours! Carla Brady also said she’d hire them in a heartbeat if she had any jobs available.”
“That’s a real easy thing to say from thousands of miles away.” He started pruning again. “Why didn’t you check them out? Do a background check? Did you even make them fill out employment applications?”
“Stu helped me move the herd from Badger Hollow over to Christy Meadow,” she said. “Does that count as a job application? Because it took me a quarter of the time it takes me on my own. We also managed to fix three fence posts in the same afternoon. I got to eat dinner with my mom and Abby in the middle of the week. And they have a dog, Cary. A trained cattle dog. Do you know how much help that’s gonna be?”
Cary bit back a sarcastic retort. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her judgment, but Melissa could be overly trusting of anyone who could ride and rope well, as if cattle skills gave you inherent virtue. “I’m just saying that you have these people living on your ranch now. You’re not the least bit concerned that there’s something you should know that they might not have told you?”
“No, I’m really not.”
He cut two branches in quick succession. “You drive me absolutely crazy.”
Melissa examined the graft on the navel orange branch. “Why?”
“Because when it comes to me and you, you’re the picture of suspicion. You overthink everything.”
“Oh, so this isn’t about safety at all.” Her chin jutted out. “This is about the nonexistent relationship you insist—”
“This is about safety! Your safety and Abby’s.” He cut her off before she said something that would start a completely different fight. “You’re suspicious of me, whom you’ve known basically your entire life. But when it comes to hiring complete strangers who happen to know about horses, you’re fine. ‘No problem, Cary. They’re saints and angels, randomly showing up on my doorstep to make life easier. They even have a dog.’”
She glared at him. “They do have a dog. And you and me? We’re not a thing. I’ve been telling you that for months now. Just because we—”
Cary dropped the clippers, walked over to her, and kissed her just to shut her up. Her mouth was sweet. She’d been eating a nectarine in his office.
It only took a momen
t for her to respond. She went from stock-still to melting in seconds. A small sigh escaped her throat, and her fingers curled against his chest. She slid one hand around his waist, and her fingers spread against his back.
Her lips were urgent and soft. Her tongue tasted like sugar and coffee. He could feel the tension that lived in her vibrating under her skin. She was a volcano. Melissa had so much pent-up energy, touching her skin might light them both on fire.
Cary was willing to risk it.
Her body was pressed to his, her hips snug against his and her breasts tight against his chest. Before things went too far, Cary released her mouth and nibbled her lower lip, then drew back. “You were saying?”
Melissa blinked. “What?”
Was his smile smug? Maybe just a little. “You and me aren’t what?”
She looked away, her face guilty. “You have to stop doing this.”
“Why?” He played with a piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I like kissing you. And I’ve been waiting a while to do it.”
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
Shit. He shouldn’t have said anything. “Just… that we have chemistry. We’ve had it for a long time. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Did you think…?” Her face turned red. “Not when Calvin was alive, we didn’t. I would have never—”
“I’m not saying that.” He rubbed his temple and took a step back. “I’m not saying there was anything when Calvin… I didn’t think of you that way then. Not actively. Or intentionally, I mean. Even if I had been attracted to you in some way, you were his wife, and I would have never—”
“You know what?” She motioned between them. “You keep asking what I’m afraid of. Why I don’t just… I don’t know, let go and have a wild, crazy fling with you or something.”
His jaw clenched. “You think I’m interested in a fling?”
“It’s because of this, Cary. Because I’m always going to be Calvin’s widow. And you’re always going to be his friend. And he’s always going to be there, okay?” She swallowed hard. “He’s gone, but he’s never gone. Do you get that?”
Grit: A Love Story on 7th and Main Page 6