by Denise Irwin
Danny was chuckling when he left. Garrett just might be right, Michal certainly does have a big ego, but he’s never been in horse country.
“What are you chuckling about, child?”
While she watched Michal walk to the barn, she told her Nana, “Nothing Nana, nothing at all.”
“Then let’s get Matt’s breakfast up to him before it gets cold.”
Danny took the breakfast tray to his room. He was sitting at the small table waiting for her. He chided her, “Most men could starve to death waiting on you women to feed us.” Then he chuckled. “Looking at your face, I got you on that one. Come sit with me and tell me about your first day.”
She kissed him on the cheek and went to sit across from him. “Oh, Grandpa I’m sure that Nana or Garrett has already told you about my first day, so there’s no need for me to tell you.”
Matt McPherson started to laugh, which led to his coughing. Danny jumped from her chair, to grab the fork from his hand. “Now you’ve gone and got yourself coughing so hard that the fork is now a lethal weapon.”
When he regained his composure, he told her, “I am so grateful for the time that we’ve spent together. I’ve missed you more than I can say. You always were an Irish spitfire. I think you take after your grandmother, God bless her soul. I’m alright, so back to your chair and tell me about your first day.”
“Gramps, it was awful. I had to drive that green monster of a truck to the store with Nana. I couldn’t get in and once I was in, I couldn’t get out.”
He chuckled, “So, I’ve heard. Betty doubled over with laughter when she told me that one of the employees from the store taught you how to get in and out of the truck. Don’t be hard on yourself this early. You’re on a long learning curve. You’ll do just fine. Now tell me about this young man who followed you to our ranch.”
Danny’s shock showed on her face. Nana had never before shared with Grandpa what Danny told her. “What did she tell you?”
“Ah, be careful what you assume in life, you may not always draw the correct answer. You know that your Nana would never betray your confidence. It was Garrett. It seems that my foreman has taken a dislike to him already.”
Danny laughed, “What did Garrett say about him?”
He was laughing so hard that he spewed his scrambled eggs onto the table. When he caught his breath, he told her, “Garrett said he was some pansy assed feller from Paris.”
She laughed as well. Compared to the ranch hands, which were virile and tanned, he must have looked like that to Garrett.
“Danny, Garrett also told me that this gentleman said the two of you were engaged. Is that true?”
She was gonna hog tie and beat the crap out of Garrett. He had no right to tell her grandfather this bullshit. “Yes sir, I was, but I’m not anymore.”
“When were you planning to tell me about this?”
Danny hung her head down staring at the table top, when she whispered, “I wasn’t going to tell you.”
“Tell me why you were not going to tell me? Did he abuse you?”
Her grandfather was earnestly looking into her eyes as if he were in search of her soul. “Gramps, it’s a bit complicated.”
“I’m old and I’m dying, but I am still quite capable of understanding complicated issues.”
Danny spent the next half-hour talking about her relationship with Michal. When she was done, he took her hand in his. “Danny, you are a bright, beautiful woman, I don’t ever want to see that shameful look on your face again.”
In a soft voice she responded to him, “Yes sir.”
“Now you go on. Tell Betty I’m ready for my exercises and that I plan to be at dinner this evening. I want the opportunity to assess this man who broke your heart.”
“Grandpa, I love you so much. I guess I was ashamed that I’d been snookered by some smooth talking Parisian.”
“You have nothing to be ashamed of. Many a woman has been in your spot, so don’t go thinking that you’re the first.”
Danny picked up his empty plate, pleased to see that he’d eaten all his breakfast.
Garrett was waiting for her in the kitchen. “Are you up to learning how we account for the money we earn?”
“I sure am.”
While they walked to the barn where Garrett built himself a small office, Danny asked him, “What did you tell my grandfather?”
“About what?”
“About Michal; what did you tell him?”
“I told him that Michal showed up unexpected, announcing that he was your fiancée. I also told him, that I thought Michal was a pansy assed fool. Is there a problem with what I said?”
“Yes, I think there is. You told him something personal about me, behind my back.”
Garrett had stopped walking. He stood in the middle of the path with his hands on his hips. “And just what did I tell him behind your back?”
Danny moved to stand in front of him. She too, put her hands on her hips and looked up to speak with him. “You told him that Michal said we were engaged, when in fact, we are not.”
Garrett tried to remain calm and put his own Irish temper in a box, but this little wild filly was making that a bit tough. “Michal strolled into the house claiming that he was your fiancée, so don’t you dare accuse me of talking behind your back.”
Danny kicked a stone with her shoe; she then looked down at the stone and told him, “I just wanted to tell him myself. I know I fucked up, but it was my fuck up, not yours. You just had no right to tell him my personal business without my knowledge.”
He looked into her eyes and shamefully told her, “You’re right. It wasn’t my place to tell Matt.”
Danny cocked her head to one side, “What, may I ask did you just say?”
He started to chuckle, “I said you were right.”
“Oh the sound of those words; say them to me one more time.”
“No, I’ve said them and now, get your skinny butt moving. We have a lot to cover before lunch.”
From the kitchen window, Nana had watched them talk. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked like they were having a small tiff, which delighted her. She rubbed her hands together. Her own little plan just might work. Her baby would not be going back to Paris to marry the buffoon, who professed to be her fiancée.
In Garrett’s office, Danny exclaimed, “Oh, we told Michal we would meet him on the back forty before lunch.”
“Do you wanna ride down?”
“You bet I do. I haven’t ridden since I left for school.”
“Well then, let’s get saddled up.”
“Let me just run back to the house to get my boots.”
“Don’t bother, since I’m sure we’ll have your size in the tack room.”
They rode side by side toward the back forty acres, where the ranch hands were checking the fencing. Danny had grown up riding horses and had forgotten just how much she missed the fresh air blowing through her hair. She wore it cropped short now, but as a child, she would let her long red curls blow in the breeze.
She urged her horse into a gallop, which brought back memories of racing her grandfather across the four hundred acre horse ranch, and remembering them put a smile on her face. She was so lost in her memories that she didn’t realize that Garrett was on her right side.
He called to her. “You’re riding that filly as if you rode all your life.”
Laughing, she called to him, “I did.”
When they reached the area where Garrett’s team was checking the fencing, one of the ranch hands tipped his hat to her, “Morning, Ms. McPherson. We haven’t been properly introduced, but my name is Randy.”
Danny leaned over in her saddle to shake his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Danny.”
“Thank you, Danny.”
Garrett rested his arm on the horn of his western saddle. “How’s the fence looking?”
Randy looked up and squinted at Garrett through the sun’s rays, “Not so g
ood. I’ve got a couple of guys measuring for materials now.”
“How not so good does it look?”
“Expensive not so good and we’re just getting started.”
“Well, it was a hard winter, so I’m not surprised. How’s our guest doing?”
“He hasn’t stopped complaining since Shane got him up in the saddle.”
Garrett chuckled, “Well, I can’t say that I’m surprised.”
When Randy walked away, Garrett told Danny, “Let’s go check on Michal and see if we need to release him from duty.”
When they reached him, Michal was holding a tape measure against a piece of fencing that needed replacing. In the cool spring breeze, Danny was overjoyed to find him sweating like the swine he was. His face was blood red, but Danny wasn’t sure if it were from the sun burning his skin, or the physical effort he was investing to hold the tape measure.
Danny remained seated in her saddle when she asked, “Isn’t this fresh air wonderful?”
He looked up at her with the sun in his eyes. He squinted when he answered her, “Daniella, it is just so wonderful. The sky is so blue. The air is fresh, and best of all, I have the opportunity to participate in a worthy project.”
“It makes me happy to see that you’re enjoying yourself.” Her insides jiggled with laughter to see a Paris fashion magazine editor standing in mud and horse shit.
Michal was not quite done with his phony theatrics. “Thank you for providing me this wonderful opportunity to work alongside real cowboys.”
“You are most welcome. Garrett and I need to return to the barn, so that I can help Nana with lunch.”
When she started to pull on her horse’s reins, Michal wanted desperately to ask if he could leave with her and Garrett, to help with lunch, but he knew that that would encourage her to believe he wasn’t man enough. She waved to him as she galloped away.
They made their way back to the barn as Garrett told her, “We have plenty of time for a little business training before you will be needed in the house.”
“I know that and you know that, but Michal doesn’t know that. Let’s go into your office and start my ranch operations training.”
Once the horses were unsaddled, brushed down and put into their stalls, Danny and Garrett went into his office. She was astonished to see how orderly everything was. The office contained a large pine desk with bins for incoming and outgoing mail. She recognized the large tan leather desk chair that once sat in her grandfather’s office. There were four lateral oak filing cabinets along one wall, the tops of which were covered with photographs of children.
“Are these photos of the handicapped children?”
“That, they are. I don’t know where I’m going to put this year’s photos.” He chuckled, “I may have to put shelves over the cabinets.”
Danny laughed, “They look so happy in these photos.”
“They are. Some of those children overcame huge challenges while they were here.”
“How long do they stay here?”
“It depends on which program they are participating in. We have a number of packages. Some stay for a week, some only a few days. Can I offer you a cup of coffee before we begin?”
“You have coffee in the barn?”
“Sure do.”
“Then yes, I’d love one. Don’t spoil me by telling that you have cream as well.”
“We do, how about sugar?”
“I just take cream, thank you.”
When Garrett returned with two steaming cups of coffee, he asked, “Are ya ready?”
“I am.”
“Good, let’s keep this on a very high level today, as we progress in your training, we’ll delve deeper into detail.”
“Don’t hesitate to interrupt me with questions. I can rattle this stuff off in my sleep, so if I start down a road you aren’t sure of, stop me.”
“While I grew up on the ranch, I never took the time to learn how it operated. That means, I’m gonna have a lot of questions.”
“Things have changed dramatically since you left, which is good, because I won’t have to deal with any preconceived notions.” He chuckled, “I embrace your lack of knowledge, so that I’ll be working with a clean slate.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been called a clean slate before.”
“Well, that’s what you are today. Let me start with the businesses. You know of course about working with handicapped children, but we also board horses for folks without stables on their property. We’ve added cattle to the ranch, some of which are dairy cows. We instituted a horse rescue program two years ago. We built a training ring which we use for a number of things. We need to train horses for the handicap program. We need to rehabilitate the rescue horses, and last, we use the ring to work with the children in an enclosed area. That way everyone stays safe.”
Hanging on every word Garrett said to her, she asked, “You mentioned that we now have dairy cows and steer. Can you tell me a little more about them?”
“When the price of beef rose, it became more economical for us to add steer to the ranch, along with hens and pigs. It’s early in the year, but Betty goes through a lot of food. Not only does she manage food for the ranch hands, but we feed the kids when they’re here. We use the milk from the cows, but we originally brought them onto the ranch for the children in the program to milk. You just wouldn’t believe the number of children who actually believe that milk comes from the grocery store.”
Danny laughed, “I was raised on a ranch, and that’s exactly what I believed. It’s just amazing what you’ve done.”
“This is what your grandfather wanted, so I just manage his dream. After lunch, we’ll start looking at the schedule and see who does what.”
They walked from the barn to the house as Danny told him, “You really do love your job, don’t you?”
“I can honestly tell you that I do. It took me a while to come to terms about what I wanted out of life, but when I fell into this job, I’m now doing exactly what I love doing.”
The ranch hands were already in the kitchen for lunch, when Danny and Garrett entered the house. Danny quickly apologized to her Nana, “I am so sorry. Garrett and I were meeting about the ranch’s operations and the time slipped away.”
“I’ve been feeding these hands without you being here, so I’m sure able to feed them now. Come take a seat before there’s none left. Garrett, take Matt his lunch tray. He said something about wanting to talk with you.”
Danny watched Garrett leave with her grandfather’s lunch and wondered why he wanted to talk to Garrett in the middle of the day. Then, she looked around the table for an open chair. It was her lucky day; the only seat available was next to Michal. Her insides smiled. After filling her plate, she sat next to him.
His face was sullen and he actually looked in pain. He hadn’t eaten much, so Danny couldn’t resist going in for the kill. “How was your morning?”
He tried to put on an award winning smile on his face, but to Danny, it looked more like a grimace from pain. “It was wonderful to work in the sunshine, doing manual labor. I am just so sorry that you were not able to stay longer to enjoy being out of doors.”
Danny smiled at him as she said, “I am sorry as well, but as the new owner, I have a lot to learn. Garrett is teaching me what I need to know.”
“Will you not be returning to Paris?”
“Yes I will. I will return to Paris, just long enough to close my shop.”
The look on his face said it all. “Daniella, vous fermera votre boutique à vivre dans cette partie de Dieu oubliée du monde ?”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. For the record, this is not a God forsaken part of the world. This ranch has been in my family for six generations.”
“What about your staff and your clients?”
“Trust me; I will make sure that they are taken care of.”
“I’m sure that you will. May I please ask for a few moments of your time this evening, so that
we may speak? All I am asking for is a few moments of your time. Surely you can grant me that.”
Danny looked into Michal’s eyes and found they were pleading with her to speak with him. She was as shocked as Michal looked, when she responded, “Yes, I’ll speak with you after dinner.”
When he left to join the ranch hands, to Danny, he looked as if he were about to do cartwheels all the way to the barn. While she watched him walk away, she wondered what lie he would tell her in an attempt to win her back. Garrett drew her out of her thoughts when he asked her, “Ready to take a walk around the property?”
“I sure am.”
It was a beautiful spring afternoon, so as they strolled along the walkway that led from one barn to the next, they had an opportunity to get to know one another. “Garrett, you know that I was raised here in Colorado. Where were you raised?”
He chuckled, “Manhattan, New York City; my father was a stock broker, so we lived close to the action.”
Danny stopped walking to laugh. “I would never in my life have believed that you grew up in New York City. Did you like it?”
“Hell no, that’s why I live here.”
Danny laughed, “I ran away from the place you ran to.”
“Why did you leave?”
“I hated it. I was overweight as a child. The bullies at school would chant, ‘Fat Fanny Danny’ at me. I promised myself that I would leave after high school and never come back.”
He could not believe that she was once heavy, “Well, that fat moth has transformed into a butterfly, you just ain’t heavy now. You could use a few extra pounds before the cold winter sets in. Ah, we’re here at the milking barn”
Garrett opened a side door, and let her go in first. “I see we made it in time to watch the cows being milked.”
Danny was baffled when she saw that the cows were munching on hay, while hooked up to some mechanical contraption. “Garrett, what are those cows connected to? Whatever it is looks painful to me.”
He laughed. “I assure you that no cow utters are at risk on this ranch. Typically they would have been milked this morning, but I asked Randy to hold a couple cows in the barn to show you the process.”