“I’ll say. He’s hot,” Alice Gilbert added. She sat directly across from Natalie and had been watching Aaron along with her mother. “Did you see him in those magazine ads? Whew! Made me want to buy vet supplies and I don’t even own a horse.”
“And what about that cable-TV show he was on for a while?” Deana elbowed Natalie’s father. “You used to watch it.”
“Rodeo Week in Review,” he mumbled.
“That’s it.” Deana quit trying to be subtle and openly studied Aaron. “No one could blame Hailey falling for him. How much younger than her was he?” She answered her own question before someone else could. “Four years, right? No, five. Which, of course, is no big deal these days.”
Natalie remembered the age difference really bothering Jake. But then, everything about his little sister’s marriage bothered him.
“How much money do you think he has?”
“Mom!”
“Did you see that silver belt buckle he’s wearing? The thing has to be worth a couple thousand dollars. I bet he has a whole drawer full of them.”
“His truck isn’t worth much more than that belt buckle,” Natalie’s father commented. “Whatever money he made rodeoing must be spent.”
“If he ever made any money at it to begin with,” Alice added with a knowing look. “I heard Jake say once that Aaron Reyes only married his sister for her money and the family connection.”
Natalie had her doubts. While certainly comfortable, the Tuckers weren’t as rich as they looked. And an ex-national rodeo champion who regularly appeared in magazine ads and on television wasn’t someone who needed the clout of the Tucker name. In her opinion, her boss had been looking for reasons to dislike Aaron.
“Maybe he blew all his money,” Deana offered.
“Or lost it on bad investments,” Alice suggested.
“Stop it, all of you.” Natalie frowned at her tablemates. Though she secretly agreed with her father’s assessment of Aaron’s financial situation, she refused to gossip about him. “You’re as bad as everyone else here.”
Deana rushed to their defense. “Naturally, we’re curious. Who wouldn’t be?”
“Aren’t you the least bit curious, too?” her father asked. A slight smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
Natalie tried to muster up some annoyance and failed. He knew her too well, better even than her mother and sister. “A little,” she admitted out loud. A lot, she admitted to herself. “But I won’t gossip about him.”
She herself had been the subject of countless dinner-table discussions when her flash-in-the-pan romance with Shiloh’s father ended.
Natalie met Shiloh’s father at the Payson rodeo last year when Jake’s cousin, Carolina, coerced her into going. For all her twenty-seven years, Natalie didn’t have much experience with men. Fraternizing with the guests was strictly prohibited. Guests were pretty much the only men Natalie met. As a result, she didn’t date much. Okay, hardly at all.
Like Aaron Reyes, Shiloh’s father made his living as a professional rodeo rider, though he wasn’t nearly as successful. He’d swept Natalie off her feet with his easy charm and heart-stopping sexy smile. She succumbed quickly, and when he didn’t leave right away for the next rodeo, she started hoping he’d stay on and that maybe her father would give him a job on the ranch.
The positive home-pregnancy test panicked him. It had panicked her, too. He might have done the right thing eventually, given the time and the chance. Married her, stayed on the ranch, paid monthly child support. But Natalie sent him packing the second she realized how much he didn’t want a child. She’d justified her actions, saying she deserved more than an irresponsible drifter for a husband and that Shiloh deserved a father who wanted her. But there were nights when she lay in bed awake, wondering if she’d been wrong to act so hastily.
Aaron Reyes reminded her too much of Shiloh’s father. No matter how interesting he might be, how “fine-looking” he was, how pleasant he seemed, Natalie had dated her last rodeo rider. More importantly, her boss didn’t like Aaron, and she refused to go against the Tuckers. Not voluntarily.
Shiloh began crying. Natalie unbuckled the straps holding her daughter in the carrier and lifted her out, automatically checking her diaper. It was dry. A few soothing words whispered in her ear helped to settle her.
“He can’t be that broke.” Deana wasn’t ready to abandon the topic of Aaron Reyes. “Not with the money he gets from the family trust.”
“Depends on annual profits,” Alice said. “We had a few lean years there, though things are picking up.”
Based on advance bookings, the ranch was in for the busiest season they’d had in a long while.
“And a lot of Jake Tucker’s wealth comes from his business investments outside of the ranch.” Her father gave her mother a very pointed stare.
“True.” Deana had the decency to look chagrined.
When she’d retired from Natalie’s job, it was to pursue a longtime dream of owning and running her own business. With Jake Tucker’s financial backing, she and Millie Sweetwater, Jake’s aunt, opened an antique shop in Payson that was so far operating in the black and showed promise of really taking off. Jake, Natalie knew, was satisfied with the return on his investment.
Yet one more reason for Natalie to steer clear of Aaron Reyes. It was unlikely Jake would withdraw his support of the business because of his aunt. But if he did, Natalie’s mother would suffer. Possibly lose the business. Jake and his aunt could withstand the financial hit. Not Deana.
Shiloh finally had enough and was now crying in earnest.
“I think this is my cue to go home.” Natalie returned Shiloh to the carrier and refastened the straps, then stood. “I’ll see you all in the morning.” She went around the table to the other side and gave each of her parents a kiss on the cheek.
“Night, baby girl.” Deana reached out and tickled Shiloh’s sock-covered foot. “I hope she doesn’t keep you up all hours of the night.”
“She’ll be fine once we get home.” Shiloh usually went to sleep quickly and often as not, didn’t wake up until morning. “I might walk around a bit first. Fresh air makes her sleepy.”
“You sure? It’s getting cold out there.”
Natalie tucked a blanket around the baby. “We won’t be long.”
She noticed Aaron still sitting and chatting as she wove between the tables and headed toward the kitchen. Apparently, he’d yet to grow weary of hearing his name on every person’s lips. Good for him.
Taking a shortcut through the kitchen, she stopped at the walk-in refrigerator and grabbed a bottled water before going outside. The instant they hit the cool evening air, Shiloh stopped crying and started looking around.
The peace and quiet was a welcome relief. Natalie paused a moment to enjoy the silence before cutting across a small strip of lawn that ran between the dining hall and the main lodge. She’d driven her compact car from her bunkhouse, not wanting to take Shiloh in the golf cart.
Light spilled from a window in the laundry room behind the kitchen, catching Natalie’s attention. She sighed and changed direction. This was hardly the first time she had to follow behind careless employees, shutting off lights they left on or picking up their discarded trash.
An empty bag sat atop one of the washers. Natalie looked around and when she saw nothing else amiss, switched off the light. She turned to leave…only to shop short when she came face-to-face with Aaron Reyes.
“Oh!” Her heart suddenly beat faster. “You startled me.”
“Sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was here.” He moved aside to let her pass.
She stepped around him, carefully maneuvering Shiloh’s carrier. “I’m always shutting lights off.” She flicked the switch, turning the light back on.
“My fault. I’ll be more careful next time.”
He flashed her a smile. Not threatening or predatory or even sexy like Shiloh’s father. Just nice.
Although Natalie should have left—did
her long talk with herself at dinner mean nothing?—she lingered. “How are you getting on with your bunkmates?”
“Great.”
“I should have warned you about Teresa.”
“What? And take all the fun out of it?” He pulled wet clothes from the washer and tossed them in the dryer.
“I really didn’t have any choice but to put you with them. Our employee contracts limit the number of people we can assign to a bunkhouse.”
“I like sleeping on the couch.”
Natalie winced. “I’m pretty sure we have a cot in one of the storage rooms. I’ll check on it tomorrow.”
“I’m fine,” he said, pushing a button on the dryer. With a squeaky groan, the drum started spinning.
“You say that now. But after eight weeks—”
“I’ll still be fine. Really.”
A moment passed with neither of them moving. Even Shiloh quieted, her little arms no longer wiggling.
Natalie broke the silence. “Can I at least give you a ride to your bunkhouse?”
“No, thanks. I’ll walk back with my new roomies after my clothes are dry.”
“Okay.”
Her estimation of Aaron rose another notch. No one would think much of her giving one of the owners a ride. They would think a whole lot more of that owner if he walked.
Natalie took a step toward the door. There really was no reason to stay. So why didn’t she leave? “You going back to the dining hall?”
Aaron leaned a hip on the washing machine. “In a few minutes. I have some calls to make.”
Her eyes automatically went to the cell phone clipped to his belt. “You can’t get a signal everywhere on the ranch. It’s best near the main lodge and only when the weather’s not overcast.”
His expression warmed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Natalie wanted to bite her tongue. The line she delivered ten times a day to guests had sounded like an invitation to walk with her. It was all the incentive she needed to finally get a move on.
“Good night, then.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Stepping outside, she decided it would be for the best if she avoided Aaron as much as possible in the coming weeks. Technically, she worked for him, and it was her duty, her responsibility, to be helpful. But helpful didn’t include chitchatting in the laundry room. The last thing she wanted was for him to get the wrong idea.
Leaving him behind, she backtracked the way she’d come, her gaze focused on the uneven ground ahead. A shadow entered her line of vision. For the second time that night, she stopped short just before colliding with someone. Only this someone was her boss. Jake Tucker.
She didn’t need to see his face to know he wasn’t happy.
Chapter Three
Natalie skipped her usual sit-down breakfast the next morning. She had a hundred and one things to do and only two hours of uninterrupted work time while her mother watched Shiloh. After that, Deana would leave for the antique shop in Payson, an easy twenty-minute drive south on the highway.
Entering the dining hall, Natalie headed straight for the coffee station and filled her jumbo travel mug. On her way to the kitchen, she stopped by one of the tables and grabbed an English muffin, wrapping it in a napkin.
“Morning, honey,” her father called from the opposite table.
“Hey, Dad.”
Any other day, Natalie would have rushed over to give her father a quick hug or peck on the cheek. But this morning, he sat with Aaron Reyes, and they looked rather chummy with their heads bent, going over papers and maps and handwritten lists.
It wasn’t just their obvious involvement in whatever they were discussing that gave Natalie pause. Jake’s warning from the previous night still rang in her ears. He hadn’t told her not to talk to Aaron ever again, but he didn’t have to. She’d worked for Jake in some capacity since she was fourteen and long ago learned to read between his spoken lines.
“Gotta run.” She waved a hand at her father and smiled brightly, hoping neither he nor Aaron realized they were being snubbed. “See you later.” Sipping her coffee, she hurried toward the kitchen.
Natalie had her own list to go over with Olivia Barraza, supervisor of the kitchen crew and indisputable queen of her domain.
“Buenos días, chiquita,” she said to Natalie upon seeing her come into the kitchen. Though it had been a good many years since Natalie was a little girl, Olivia still used the endearment.
When Natalie took over her mother’s position, she’d worried that some of the staff, particularly those employees like Olivia who’d watched Natalie grow up and, on occasion, supervised her, wouldn’t accept her once they were on equal footing.
In Olivia’s case, Natalie’s worries were for nothing. They worked well together. When they weren’t on duty, Olivia treated Natalie like a beloved niece and Shiloh like one of her numerous grandchildren.
“I’ve got the most recent advance-booking numbers to go over with you.” Natalie pulled a stool up to the counter and took a seat. Weekly menus varied, depending on the number of guests staying at the ranch. To ensure the food served was the freshest possible, orders weren’t placed until the last minute.
Olivia dried her hands on a dish towel and came over to join Natalie. She was followed by one of her helpers, who, like Olivia, had been cleaning up after breakfast. The dishwasher, a young man barely into his twenties, remained at the sink, scrubbing a pot.
No sooner would the last fork be washed and dried and put away than the staff would start preparing lunch. When the new season started and there was an army of hungry guests to feed, twice the current staff would run the kitchen sixteen hours a day, operating with the precision and efficiency of a factory assembly line. Olivia tolerated nothing less.
“Before you get into that—” she settled herself onto the stool beside Natalie with a grace that belied her generous size “—there’s something we want to talk to you about.”
“We?”
She nodded at her helper. “Gerrie and I. Lucia and Pat, too,” she said, referring to her other two helpers who weren’t there.
“About what?” Natalie asked, a tad uneasy. Olivia was so rarely somber.
“Shiloh.”
“Shiloh?”
“Yes.” Olivia inched closer. So did Gerrie.
Natalie felt surrounded. “I don’t understand.”
“We know you need a babysitter and can’t find one.”
“That’s true. But—”
“We’ll do it.” Olivia and Gerrie exchanged nods.
Natalie’s glance went from one woman to the next. “You two?”
“We four. Lucia and Pat want to help, too.”
“Don’t look at me,” the dishwasher said from the sink when Natalie turned in his direction. “Kids are scared of me.”
With his piercings, scraggly goatee and full-sleeve tatts, Natalie believed him.
“But your days off,” she sputtered, still struggling to absorb everything Olivia had said. “You’d give them up?”
“Not all of them. We would rotate.” Olivia pulled a folded sheet of paper from her apron pocket and handed it to Natalie. “I’ve already talked to your mother and Briana. We need everyone to make this work.”
Natalie scanned the paper. On it was a seven-day grid with names penciled inside the squares, including her own. Olivia had gone though a lot of work to put it together.
“I don’t know what to say.” Natalie’s throat tightened.
“You say okay and thank you.”
“I’m really touched.” She tried to hand the paper back to Olivia. “But it’s too much to ask of you.”
“This is temporary,” Olivia assured Natalie, patting her arm. “Until you make other arrangements.”
“I’ll pay you,” Natalie insisted. “It’s only fair.”
“All right.” Olivia conceded with a shrug.
Natalie would have refused their plan unless they’d agreed to accept payment, and Olivia knew it.
<
br /> “You sure, too?” Natalie looked inquiringly at Gerrie.
“Hey, I can use the extra money.”
“What about your boyfriend?”
Gerrie giggled. “Why do you think I need the extra money?”
“Only until I hire a regular nanny,” Natalie reiterated over a catch in her throat.
“Of course.” Olivia beamed.
Natalie drew in a breath, composed herself, then said, “Okay and thank you.”
The three woman hugged. Natalie wasn’t sure what she’d done to deserve such good friends. She’d have to find a way besides money to return their kindness.
For the next ten minutes, Natalie and Olivia went over the bookings and discussed food orders. Afterward, Natalie left through the dining area on her way next door to the main lodge. Her father and Aaron were gone, much to her relief. She wouldn’t have to find an excuse for avoiding Aaron.
Olivia and Gerrie had reminded her of what she already knew in her heart. The employees of Bear Creek Ranch weren’t just coworkers or even friends. They were family.
And Natalie would be a fool to jeopardize her place here by having anything other than a strictly professional relationship with Aaron.
THE CLINK, CLINK of a hammer against an iron anvil resounded through the crisp morning air. Seven horses stood tied to the hitching rail beside the barn entrance, their tails swishing and ears flicking. Six awaited their turn with the farrier. The seventh one belonged to Aaron.
Teresa and another ranch hand Aaron just met that morning helped the farrier. With forty head of riding stock to shoe, they had their work cut out for them.
Aaron’s lone female bunkmate had yet to warm to him, though he was pretty sure he sensed a slight crumbling of her hard exterior. The couch was about as comfortable as a sack of potatoes, and too short for his six-one frame. But, sad to say, he’d slept on worse. Not, however, for eight straight weeks. He rolled his shoulders to loosen some of the knots, thinking he might take Natalie up on her offer of a cot.
She’d avoided him at breakfast, and he was surprised at the depth of his disappointment. Until she abruptly escaped into the kitchen, he hadn’t known how much he was hoping she’d sit with him and her father. Did Jake talk to her? Warn her away as he had Aaron? He wouldn’t put it past the man.
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