by Hope Navarre
When she got back into the truck, Ellie gave him a quick once-over. “Are you all right?”
He was surprised at the question, which smacked of personal interest. “Long night. I got in late from practice.”
“From what I’ve read, guys who hold down full-time jobs have a hard time competing in professional rodeo.”
“Which is why it’s good that I have an employer who allows me to work flex time.”
Ellie took hold of the armrest as the truck lurched forward over the worst of the ruts. “I was thinking more about the amount of time it takes to both practice and compete.”
“That’s probably why I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Ellie flashed him a quick look, then directed her eyes straight ahead. “I’m surprised at that. You do seem like a catch,” she said matter-of-factly.
“I own my truck.”
“You’re a bit of a local celebrity.” Ryan snorted. “No, really,” she said.
“How much research have you done?”
“Enough,” she said lightly.
Ryan rolled his eyes and started to drive, realizing that just having Ellie there helped stop the vicious cycle of his thoughts, which had been bouncing from Charles to the mystery of the meeting and back to Charles again. And there was something to be said for that.
* * *
A WEEK AGO Ellie wouldn’t have believed that she’d be something of an expert on fence-post setting, but after twenty-five posts, she’d say she qualified.
“Why are all of these posts wood,” she asked as Ryan pulled up to the last gate, “while those are skinny and metal?”
“Those are T-posts. Walt wanted to use wood on the property boundary, because that was what was there before.”
“He’s not big on change, is he?”
“He’s a traditionalist,” Ryan replied.
Ellie let the remark pass, seeing no sense in arguing a case with Ryan that Walt essentially needed to win himself. Besides, she wasn’t in the mood for arguing. She wanted to get outside, enjoy the sun. Watch Ryan work under the guise of professional interest, and damned if she was going to feel guilty about that. She had enough to worry about without adding guilt to the plate.
When they got to the fence line, they started on the first post without speaking, following the process they’d worked out the previous day. Ryan put his hand on the finished post, testing it.
“I think we set a record on this one.”
“Have I been slowing you down?” Ellie asked, brushing the hair back from her forehead with the back of her wrist.
“Even if you were, it wouldn’t matter.”
“Why?” she asked, realizing that she cared about his reply more than she probably should.
“It’s nice having some company out here. Usually I work alone.” He held out his hand and Ellie gave him the post-hole diggers instead of insisting on doing it herself. He stabbed them into the hole, pulling out about double the amount of dirt she usually removed. “I don’t mind being alone, but not all the time. You know?”
She knew.
Ryan tipped the post into the hole and they both started scraping in dirt with their boots, working on opposite sides while Ryan held the post vertical with one hand. “Can I ask a personal question?”
“Okay...” Ellie said even as alarms went off inside her.
“How is it that you’re able to be here?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Are you independently wealthy? On vacation? Sabbatical?”
Maybe it was because he was so matter-of-fact and down-to-earth and didn’t seem to have a thing to hide himself that Ellie was able to answer with as much truth as she felt comfortable telling. “I’m out of work.”
He stopped pushing dirt. “Unexpected?”
“About as unexpected as you can imagine.”
He frowned before reaching for the tamping bar. “That bites.” He appeared to mean it.
“It’s good to see the other side of the coin,” she said philosophically. “I’ve been responsible for layoffs and now I know what it’s like.”
“Do you really mean that?”
She smirked at him. “It’s the most positive spin I can put on it.”
He smiled at her, seeming to like the candidness of her reply. “You’re different than you first come off, Ellie.”
“Yeah?” she asked, again feeling warmth curling inside her.
“I think you know that.”
“All right. I do.” She paused thoughtfully, then added, “In my line of work, it doesn’t pay to become too attached to those you work with. So I don’t.”
“Makes sense.” He tamped dirt around the post, his muscles flexing under his light cotton shirt in a rather spectacular way. “In my line of work, the rodeo line, I do make friends. I have to beat them, of course, but I still like them.”
“How about Matt Montoya?”
Ryan’s head came up, and there was something about his expression that told Ellie to tread lightly. “What about him?” he asked slowly.
“I read a few articles where you talked some major smack about him.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t like him,” Ryan said as he walked to the next post.
“If that’s how you talk about people you like, then I don’t want to think about what you say about people you don’t like.”
“All part of the game.”
“Rough game,” she murmured.
“Rodeo ain’t for sissies.”
No doubt. But Ryan’s demeanor had changed when she’d brought up Montoya, which made her believe that the smack talk hadn’t entirely been fun and games.
“This’ll be our last post for today,” Ryan said. “Want to save some fun for tomorrow.” He started dropping tools into the bucket.
It was early, but Ellie couldn’t say she was sorry to stop fencing. She absently rubbed one of her shoulders as they walked back to the truck. “What now?”
“I thought we could drive up onto the mountain. I can show you the grazing area we use in the spring and see if we can spot those four lost cows.”
“How many man hours have been tied up in those four cows?”
Ryan dropped the bucket on the tailgate, making the tools inside rattle. “More than should have been. However, considering the market value of the animals, not enough to make it a waste of money.”
Ellie had no idea what the market value of the four cows was and she wasn’t going to ask. She’d look it up. “Just checking,” she said.
“We kind of know what we’re doing,” Ryan replied as he lifted the tool bucket into the back of the truck.
“And I’m kind of here to learn.” The quiet camaraderie that had been growing between them as they worked had started to fade, and Ellie felt a stab of disappointment as they slipped back into their roles. She was there to evaluate on behalf of her uncle; Ryan was there to try to sway her thinking. They weren’t friends.
As they drove onto the mountain, Ryan tossed out grazing facts and figures while maneuvering the truck up the narrow dirt road, negotiating switchbacks and easing around deep ruts.
When they finally cleared the tree line, he parked and got out of the truck. Ellie did the same, coming to stand next to him near the front of the truck as he pointed out fence lines and boundaries. When he was done, Ellie simply drank in the incredible vista for a moment—the forested mountains surrounding lush valley meadows. In the distance she could see a town—Glennan, no doubt, where she’d soon be going for her first baby appointment. And for once the thought didn’t seize her up. Her pregnancy was a fact of life and she would deal with it.
She took in a breath and lifted her chin so that the crisp breeze blew the escaped wisps of hair back from her forehead. What would it be like to live an
d work in an environment like this every day of your professional life? She’d read about the land shaping the men that worked it, but had never really thought about what it meant. But she knew without a doubt that Ryan was shaped by this land, as was Walt, most probably. These guys dealt with issues totally foreign to her, foreign to Milo and Angela.
Which was where the ranch consultant came into the picture. An expert in the field. Milo and Angela weren’t the first people in the area to buy a retirement/investment ranch, and they’d learn.
She glanced over at Ryan, who continued to stare off into the distance, deep in thought. “Looking for your cows?” Ellie asked.
“Always,” he said, smiling a little as he turned toward her. “We should probably get back.”
“I assume you’re practicing tonight?” While she, no doubt, would be soaking her sore muscles in a hot tub.
“Actually, I’m going to Jessie and Francisco’s for posole.”
“What’s ‘posole’?” Ellie asked as they started for the truck, walking side by side, neither in a great hurry to leave.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Ellie shook her head. “Sounds like a card game.”
Ryan laughed as he opened the truck door. “It’s pork-and-hominy soup. Amazing stuff when Jessie makes it.”
“Ah,” Ellie said politely. She’d never had hominy, either. Her education, it seemed, was lacking in certain foodstuffs.
Ryan started the truck and put it in Reverse, Ellie automatically steadying herself with a hand on the seat as the vehicle lurched backward over a rut. The movement had become second nature and that realization gave Ellie a vague sense of satisfaction. She was adapting, feeling more comfortable in her environment. More comfortable with the people she was essentially living with. She glanced sideways at Ryan. No, comfortable wasn’t the word. In some ways comfortable was the opposite of what she felt around Ryan. Edgy was a better description.
Ellie was slowly becoming a fan of edgy.
* * *
AFTER OPENING THE last gate to allow Ryan to drive through, Ellie walked across the drive to the main house. She was inside by the time Ryan had parked the truck and walked around the barn. He stood for a moment, debating, then went into his own house to shower before dinner.
It hadn’t been a half-bad day despite the matter of his father’s lawyers continually shoving itself into his thoughts. Ellie wasn’t afraid to put in a day’s work and when she let herself relax, she was actually kind of fun and easy to talk to. He smiled to himself as he opened his door, recalling how she’d thought posole sounded like a card game. How could anyone not know what posole was?
But something else she’d said had stuck with him—that bit about not letting herself get too close to the people she worked with because of what she might have to do later. But she was allowing herself get to know him. Hell, she’d researched him on the internet. He still wasn’t quite sure how to take that, but it showed interest in him as a person and she’d even consented to answer what had to be a difficult personal question: why she was able to be there. Being out of work had to be rough on Ellie, whom he suspected judged herself by professional success, but she’d confessed. That showed a level of trust. Now he just needed to give Ellie the opportunity to get to know the rest of the crew under pleasant circumstances.... Ellie, who’d never had posole.
He picked up the phone and called Jessie. “Hey,” he said when she answered, “is it all right if I bring Ellie to dinner with me?” Jessie always made enough dinner to feed a crew and then froze whatever was left over for Walt to eat later.
“Ellie?”
“The boss.”
“I know who you mean,” Jessie said with a touch of exasperation. “I’m just wondering why.”
“The more familiar she is with us before George comes, the better for all of us.”
There was a brief silence before Jessie said grudgingly, “Sure. She can come...but I still think she’s going to fire us all.”
“Thanks, Jessie. And try to keep an open mind, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.” A squeal sounded in the background. “Emmie! No! I gotta go.” She hung up without a goodbye.
Well, that part was done. Now to see if Ellie was tired of spending her nights alone.
She didn’t answer the door immediately, and when she did, she was wearing a robe and her hair was down, falling in soft waves around her shoulders, making him wish she’d stop pulling it back.
“Hi,” she said uncertainly as if wondering why he was there after the workday had officially ended.
“Hi,” he replied before diving in. “I called Jessie, and if you’d like to come to dinner, you’re invited.”
She looked startled. “Why would you do that?”
“I thought you might be tired of spending all your nights alone. You don’t have to come.”
“It wouldn’t look too good if I didn’t go now.”
“You could have a previous engagement.”
“But I don’t.” One corner of her mouth tilted up wryly. “And I appreciate the invitation. Give me a few minutes to dress and I’ll be right with you.”
Ryan waited for Ellie in the truck wondering how much she really did appreciate the invite, since something akin to alarm had crossed her face when he’d made it. Her hair was pinned up again when she let herself out of the house, but she was wearing white jeans and a pale blue sweatshirt, which was a change from the expensively casual clothing she’d worn the first few days she’d been on the ranch. But he wondered how familiar she was with both posole and kids if she was wearing white to a family dinner....
The kids charged him as soon as he opened the door and almost instantly he had a twin in each arm happily chattering at him while Jeff jumped up and down in front of him. “Good to see you guys, too,” he said on a laugh. He turned toward Ellie, who’d taken a step back at the charge and was now eyeing the kids in a way that confirmed his suspicion that she hadn’t spent much time around young children.
“Ellie, this is Emmie and Bella—” he nodded to the twins in turn “—and this kangaroo in front of me is Jeff.”
“Hi,” Ellie said cautiously.
Emmie drew back against him, clutching his collar with one chubby fist as she stared at Ellie, but Bella reached out to Ellie. She looked startled as the twin leaned toward her, then awkwardly reached out to take the girl in her arms before she toppled.
“Oh, you’re heavy,” Ellie said with a self-conscious laugh as she hefted the little girl higher in her arms and then awkwardly balanced her on her hip.
“They’re growing fast,” Jessie said, wiping her hands on the dish towel tucked in the waistband of her jeans as she walked into the room. “If my mom didn’t sew, I’d have a hard time keeping them dressed.”
“They’re adorable,” Ellie said, moving closer to Jessie as Bella reached for her mother. “And handsome,” she added, nodding at Jeff.
“Just like his daddy,” Jessie said with a smile as she took Bella from Ellie. “Who should be here any minute,” she said to Ryan, before setting Bella down, ignoring the girl’s upstretched arms. “Your feet will be fine on the floor while Mama cooks,” Jessie said firmly. “Come on into the kitchen. You can stir for me.” Bella brightened and Emmie immediately struggled to get out of Ryan’s arms to join her sister.
“Come on in and talk while I finish up,” Jessie called to Ellie as she followed the giggling twins into the kitchen.
Ryan had to give Jessie credit for doing her best to treat Ellie like just another casual guest instead of the boss or enemy, which was how he knew she thought of her.
“Thanks,” Ellie said, following the girls into the kitchen, leaving Ryan to entertain Jeff, who was now digging through his pile of toys to show him his new car. She cast him an uneasy look, almost as if seeking reassurance, before
disappearing through the kitchen door. Ellie was as nervous as she’d been the first time they’d worked together. Maybe more so.... And in a way, that made Ryan like her better.
“Dad!” Jeff shouted as the front door rattled. He dropped the car and headed for the door.
“Hey-a, big guy,” Francisco said, swinging his son up into his arms. “Were you good today?”
“I was, but Emmie wasn’t.”
“I’ll let Mama tell me about that,” Francisco said before meeting Ryan’s eyes. “So you survived another day with the boss?”
“Who’s with Jessie right now,” Ryan said, jerking his head toward the kitchen. The change in Francisco’s demeanor was almost comical. “I thought she might like to get to know us all a little better before George gets here.”
“Ah. Not a bad idea.”
But he still looked as though he’d just tasted something nasty.
“She’s not that bad,” Ryan said.
“You should know.” The girls stampeded out of the kitchen then for their hello hugs. Francisco swept them up laughing as they kissed his cheeks and simultaneously told him the many events of the day. While his friend was busy with his offspring, Ryan ambled into the kitchen, where Ellie sat at the table as Jessie stirred a pot on the stove.
“Damn, that smells good,” Ryan said. “Too bad Walt’s not here.”
“I invited him, but you know he won’t miss that poker game for anything,” Jessie said.
“Thursday-night poker at the Crescent Bar,” Ryan said to Ellie. “Walt never misses.” Then, in case she thought Walt had a nasty gambling habit on top of his other faults, he added, “Penny poker.”
“I think he has a lady friend,” Jessie said absently.
Francisco came in carrying the girls. Jessie smiled and offered her cheek. He took her lips instead, making the girls giggle.
“Down you go,” he said to the girls.
“Could you get them their juice?” Jessie asked her husband as she started taking bowls down from the cupboard. Ryan automatically took them from her and started setting the table.