Texas Orchids (The Devil's Horn Ranch Series)

by Samantha Christy

  They laugh. Reece says, “It’s refreshing to run into someone who doesn’t recognize me. Makes me feel like a regular person, which I am. Now how about that tour?”

  I walk them out front so we have a good view of most of the buildings. “You’re familiar with the main house.” I point east. “There’s also a guesthouse. It’s currently vacant. There are two smaller houses over there, where Matteo and Miguel live.”

  “Miguel?” Maddox says.

  “He’s the barn manager.”

  “I thought Matteo was the barn manager.”

  “Matteo is the ranch manager. He pays the bills, orders supplies, and makes sure the buildings and equipment are maintained. He’s basically the boss of everyone. Although there’s a lot of administration, he does get his hands dirty. He even assists with minor vet duties. Miguel, on the other hand, oversees the hay and grain deliveries and supervises the workers who clean the stalls, turn out the horses, and mend the fences.”

  Maddox shakes his head. “There is so much I don’t know.”

  “It’s not your job to know things, Connecticut.” I scrunch my brow. “What is your job, if you don’t mind my asking.”

  “Bartender.”

  “He means bar manager,” Reece says proudly.

  “For my aunt’s restaurant,” he explains, as if he’s not proud.

  “She must really trust you if she made you manager,” I say.

  “It’s not something I plan to do forever.”

  “What do you plan on doing?”

  “I have absolutely no idea, but I know it’s not working at a gym, a production company, a photography studio, or a restaurant.”

  “Miguel is looking for another barn worker. You ever mucked out a horse stall?”

  “I’d probably get kicked in the head.”

  “Nah. You just need to understand how to act around horses. If they think you’re afraid of them, they’ll get scared. If you are comfortable around them, they sense it.”

  “I am afraid of them,” he says, rubbing his temple again.

  “We’ll have to see what we can do about that.” I’m smiling like a smitten schoolgirl. Victor, the man I’m seeing, would not be amused. I think the reason I’m drawn to Maddox is because of his connection with Viv. Oh, how I miss her. “To finish out the accommodations, there’s a log cabin a ways in that direction. Owen, the assistant ranch manager, lives there. There’s another small cabin near the cattle pens.”

  “Nana has cows?”

  “About two hundred head. They are mostly used to train the horses.” I point back at the main stable. “There are a few apartments behind the arena and a bunkhouse where some of the ranch hands and barn workers stay.”

  “Wow,” Reece says. “Just how many employees work here?”

  “Let me see.” I do the calculation in my head. “Twenty or twenty-one, not counting me.”

  Maddox’s jaw drops. “This place makes enough money to pay twenty-one people?”

  “It does, and then some. Vivian wasn’t only a great rancher, she was an incredible businesswoman.” I see what’s about to happen and pull Maddox aside. “Watch your step, cowboy.”

  He glances at the pile of manure he almost squished, then looks at my hand still on him. I quickly pull away, not knowing what has come over me.

  “First rule of ranch life—walk looking down.”

  I don’t miss how Reece’s eyes dart back and forth between us. She thinks I’m flirting, but I’m not. At least I don’t think I am, and I shouldn’t be. Because of Victor and all.

  Reece pulls out her phone. “Garrett’s calling. Sorry, but husband trumps tour. See ya.” She hurries away.

  Maddox looks embarrassed. She didn’t really get a call. “Sorry,” he says. “She can be… she’s always trying to… never mind. You were saying?”

  Merle, one of the assistant horse trainers, appears from the stable. “Dr. Shaw, can you please take a look at June Bug’s eye? I’m not sure the infection has cleared.”

  “Be right there.”

  Maddox has a strange look on his face. “You’re a doctor.” He chuckles. “I have a hard time picturing you as anyone other than the girl in the pink cowboy hat, riding a horse.”

  My insides tingle. He pictures me?

  “I suppose I should call you Dr. Shaw.”

  “Don’t you dare. I ask them to call me Andie, but some of them are set in their ways. At least Dr. Shaw is better than ma’am. I mean, I’m only twenty-five.” I gesture to the stable. “I’d better go. Duty calls.”

  “Maybe we can pick it up later?”

  I shrug like it doesn’t matter to me. “If we’re both still here, sure.”

  “I’d like that.”

  I trot to the stable and turn before entering. He’s watching me. He tips his hat, and my insides melt. I turn and bump right into Victor. “Hey, uh, what are you doing here?”

  “Most yards are still too wet to mow because of all the rain. Figured I’d take advantage and come take my girl to lunch.” He eyes Maddox. “Who’s he?”

  “Viv’s grandson. The family came for the funeral.”

  “They staying on?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Want to go to lunch?”

  “I have to check on a horse first. Can you wait a few minutes?”

  “I’ll wait in the truck.”

  As I work on June Bug, it dawns on me that Victor called me his girl. He’s never said anything like that before. We’ve only been dating a month. He’s my best friend’s landscaper. Christina told me he saw a picture of me and insisted she introduce us. It’s still new. He’s nice. Not from the south but a true gentleman.

  After I join Victor in his truck, I see Maddox sitting on the front porch with Reece and his sisters. When they wave, I wave back. Victor leans over to kiss my cheek, something else he has never done before. I smile at him as we drive away.

  Chapter Three

  Maddox

  “That was a short tour,” Reece says, looking disappointed.

  “She had to check on a horse. It looks like she had other plans anyway. Suave exit, by the way.”

  She sighs. “Looks like my matchmaking attempt was all for naught.”

  I watch the dust being kicked up from the guy’s truck as they pull away.

  “Who’s she?” Jordan asks. “She was at the funeral, right?”

  “Andie Shaw. She’s the horse vet.”

  “Cool job.”

  “I suppose.”

  Mom pops her head out the screen door. “Lunch.” Her eyes linger on me. “Who was the attractive woman out front?”

  “Horse vet.”

  “Oh, that sounds like a fun job.”

  Reece and Jordan snicker.

  “What am I missing?” Mom asks.

  “You’re missing nothing. Let’s eat.”

  After lunch, Mom contemplatively washes a plate. “I’m going to miss this place.”

  “We haven’t been here in forever,” I say.

  “I know, and I regret it now.” She addresses all of us. “Never take anything in life for granted. Your father and I spoke of the ranch on many occasions, and we intended to visit more often, but life always seemed to get in the way.” She sits at the table, slumping in her chair. “You can never get back time with people you love once they’re gone. I hope you all learn how to seize the day and do what you desire, despite life telling you otherwise. Okay? Promise me.”

  “We promise, Mom,” Jordan says.

  She gives us quick hugs before leaving the room.

  Caitlyn retrieves Nana’s old cowboy hat, hanging by the back door, and runs a finger along the rim. “I miss her.”

  “Cool hat,” Reece says, taking it from Caitlyn and putting it on.

  I quickly take it off. “Not this one.” I put it back on the peg. “This one stays right here. It was her favorite.”

  Reece frowns, looking guilty. “Oh, gosh. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s fine. She wore the o
ld thing everywhere. The only pictures we have of her without it are from when she came to Connecticut to visit, and only after we asked her to remove it. She’d come at least once a year, sometimes twice. She always showed up wearing it. I can’t remember her any other way.”

  “You can take the girl out of the country…” Reece says.

  I chortle. “Yeah.”

  We sit on the front porch, watching a horse trainer in action. He stands in the center of a circular pen with a horse on a long line, snapping his rope on the ground as it gallops around him.

  “Do you think it’s easy to train a horse?” Reece asks. “It’s obviously not like training a dog. No ‘sit’ and ‘stay’.”

  “Dunno.”

  “You really don’t know anything about horses, do you?”

  I shake my head. “Now I wish I had learned more.”

  “There’s always time.”

  “We leave tomorrow.”

  She puts a hand on mine. “I’m sorry.”

  A truck pulls up. It’s the one Andie left in before. It stops next to the house instead of the stables. The man leans over and kisses her. She looks embarrassed when she sees us watching.

  “Later, babe,” he shouts as she walks away. He turns the truck around and barrels out of the driveway like a bat out of hell.

  “Boyfriend?” Reece asks.

  “Not really.”

  Reece’s eyebrows shoot up. “But he called you babe.”

  Andie scrunches her brows. “That’s a new development. I guess we’re dating. Uh, we’ve gone on a few dates. I only met Victor a month ago.”

  Victor. Why do I suddenly hate that name?

  “Do you have more horses to tend to?” I ask.

  “No, but my truck is here, and I wondered if you wanted the rest of the tour.”

  I stand. “Sounds good.” I can see Reece smiling out of the corner of my eye. “You coming?”

  “No. I have to pack.”

  “But you’re not leaving until tomorrow.”

  “I have a lot of shit, Maddox. Now go ahead, and don’t take anything for granted.”

  I shoot her a look. She smiles big, spins on her heels, and goes into the house.

  “She’s nice,” Andie says.

  “She is. She’s not some rock star diva, like a lot of musicians.”

  “I’m still embarrassed I didn’t recognize her. We don’t listen to a lot of pop or rock down here.”

  “Where did we leave off?”

  “Go get on your boots and hat, and I’ll show you.”

  I go to the tack room and do what she says. When I look back at her, she’s looking up, warming her face in the sun. I haven’t seen a lot of women in cowboy hats, so I don’t know what they normally look like. I wonder if they all look this good. She catches me staring, and I can’t look away. Her blue eyes are stunning. They remind me of something. “Do you still have that horse… what did you call her? Baby Blue?”

  “I do. Want to meet her?”

  “She’s here?”

  “These are the best stables around. I’ve always boarded her here.”

  “The best ones, huh?”

  She nods. “It will be a shame if the new owners aren’t like Viv.”

  “Do you have any idea who they’ll be?”

  “No, but there’s been talk. Hugh Jenkins owns a ranch nearby. He’d probably be the best. I know he’s interested. I doubt he can afford it though. Then there’s Dillon Patlinger. He’s an old rodeo star, but he has no idea how to run a good horse ranch. I’m not sure I would keep Baby Blue here if he bought it. But it’s the Thompsons who scare me the most.”

  “My dad used to be married to Karen Thompson.”

  “So I’ve heard. They have the money and the means, but they’d most likely mow it down and use the land for oil, if it’s rich enough, or break it up and sell it off in bits and pieces. Maybe even put condos on it. Who knows? They do what makes them the most money regardless of whether or not it’s best for the community.”

  We pass several people in the stable. Andie greets all of them by name and tells me which horses they board here.

  She stops in front of a stall. “Here she is, my pride and joy.” She opens the gate and we walk in. “Go ahead, you can touch her. Do it with confidence. Run your hand down her like this.”

  I do it exactly the way she did. The horse paws the ground. “Oh, man, she’s not going to kick me, is she?”

  Andie laughs. “Quite the opposite. That means she’s happy.”

  “Good. So did you name her after yourself, because your eyes are so blue?”

  She turns pink. “Her papered name is Caribbean Blue. It’s too formal, so I gave her a barn name when I got her.”

  “How long have you had her?”

  “Fifteen years. My granddad bought her for me for my tenth birthday. She always loved Viv. All the horses loved Viv. Sometimes I wonder if they know she’s gone.”

  “You call her Viv. Nobody else did. Why?”

  “Your grandmother was like a mother to me. My mom was a single parent. She died when I was eight. Cancer. Granddad raised me after that. He called her Viv, so I did, too. She took a special interest in me when I started coming around. At first I think she felt sorry for me, but then we became friends. Family. She even paid my way through vet school. I owe her everything.”

  “I’m sorry about your mom.”

  “Thanks. Hey, do you want to go riding? It’ll make the tour easier. There’s a lot of ground to cover.”

  “You should know I suck at it.”

  “Duly noted, but if this is the last day you’ll ever be on a horse ranch, you should spend it on a horse, don’t you think?”

  “Which one?”

  She steps back and looks around, appraising the dozens of horses in the stalls. “Tadpole,” she says, approaching a brownish horse.

  “Why him?”

  “He’s a gelding, which means he’s gentler than a stallion, but he’s big, like you. He’s also good with beginners.”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m a beginner.”

  “When’s the last time you were on a horse?”

  I touch my scar. “Ten years ago?”

  She looks shocked. “Ten years ago when I saw you? You were hurt. Is that why you haven’t been back? It wasn’t the horse’s fault, you know. Horses are gentle animals. They’re flight animals, which means they won’t fight, they flee. He was afraid of the snake and took a bad step.”

  “You remember an awful lot about that day.”

  “It was the day that shaped my entire future.”

  I narrow my eyes in curiosity.

  “I felt helpless when they shot the horse. I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. That was the day I knew I wanted to become an equine vet.”

  I laugh incredulously.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You knew at age fifteen what you wanted to do with your life, and here I am still trying to figure it out.”

  “Maybe it’ll come to you when you least expect it.”

  She calls to a barn worker to saddle up Tadpole, then she guides Baby Blue to the tack room and saddles her up so quickly, my eyes can’t keep up.

  Tadpole is led over to me. My heart pounds. What if I screw up trying to mount and fall on my face? It’s been a while.

  Andie takes the reins. “You remember how to do this?”

  “Will you hold it against me if I fall off and cry like a baby?”

  She laughs. “You won’t fall. Throw your weight up and over as you swing your leg across.”

  “Like riding a bike, huh?” I joke.

  “Well, no, but…”

  Thank God I’m successful on my first attempt.

  “Remember, horses respond to pressure. If you squeeze your legs too tightly, he’ll go. Release and he’ll slow down. Say the word if you need help. We’ll take it slow.”

  We exit the stable. I don’t do much to guide Tadpole; he’s good followin
g Baby Blue. I can hardly blame him.

  “What do you want to know about the ranch?” she asks.

  “Tell me everything you know.”

  “Okay, but I know a lot. Stop me if you get bored. Devil’s Horn Ranch is about ten thousand acres, which is fifteen square miles.”

  “Jesus, that’s big, isn’t it?”

  “To give you some perspective, a football field, minus the end zones, is about an acre.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “This is nothing compared to some ranches in Texas. DHR is barely considered a mid-sized ranch. The largest one I know of is over eight hundred thousand acres.”

  “Wow.”

  “There are almost two hundred horses here. Fifty of them are owned by your grandma’s estate, some of which are elite broodmares and valuable Quarter Horse stallions. All the others are boarders, like Baby Blue. Three thousand acres of land are dedicated to the horses. That includes three stables, the hay barn, a large and small pavilion, indoor and outdoor riding arenas, four round training pens, thirty paddocks, six pastures, outbuildings for tractors, four-wheelers, and other large equipment, a hot walker and, let’s see, what am I forgetting?”

  I chuckle. “I’m going to pretend I understood half of what you said. What’s the rest of the land used for?”

  “There’s about two thousand acres of hunting ground, rich in deer, quail, elk, turkey, and antelope. It gets rented out to hunting clubs and for private parties. Another two thousand acres are leased to a local windmill contractor. Five hundred acres are dedicated to the cattle. The rest is undeveloped land used for riding trails. It’s beautiful and pristine, with rolling grassy hills. Oh, and there’s an airstrip by the far west fence, but it hasn’t been maintained, so I wouldn’t go landing a plane there. Rumor is teenagers sometimes break in and have motorcycle races there—but you never heard that from me.”

  “Is that so?” I shake my head in awe. “My grandmother did all this?”