“Andy said you were looking for a full-time wrangler?” he said.
Clearing her throat, her hand pleasantly tingling, Val said, “Yes, I’m here to interview candidates.” She didn’t want this eye candy of a cowboy to think this was a done deal.
“Of course,” Griff said.
“Andy invited us to get a cup of coffee and go outside to talk.” Val gestured toward the coffee station.
Griff gave his a boss a quick look. “My break time?”
“Yep,” Andy said with a grin.
Val couldn’t get her heart to settle down. The man walked a respectful distance behind her. She strained to pour the hot coffee into an awaiting paper cup without spilling it. Mouth dry, she felt tongue-tied in front of this iconic-looking cowboy. She had to repeatedly warn herself he was a city slicker in disguise.
“I’ll meet you outside.” Val hastily opened the door. She saw him nod as he reached to pour himself a cup of coffee.
On the back porch, Val took a long, calming breath. The wrangler had rattled her. Her reaction wasn’t something she’d expected. Val tried to steady her heart and breathing. How could a stranger take away her breath? She knew she’d been too long without a relationship. The last man she had been with, Dan Bradley, was a Marine major who had gone to Afghanistan and been killed two years ago. He’d stolen her heart, infused her dreams and she had been looking forward to marrying him once his tour was over. She had yet to fully recover from the loss. The next year, her mother had died. Most recently, she’d had to walk away from her career to save the Bar H. Pressing a hand to her chest, Val tried not to dwell on all the loss and sadness she carried within her. Funny enough, Griff made her forget all of the baggage and scars life had given her. It was an amazing and shocking moment. Val had no answer as to why he could have affected her so.
“Miss Val?” Griff murmured, meeting her out on the platform. He settled his hat on his head as he approached her. He noticed she looked distracted and nervous and he wondered why. Griff remained a respectful distance from the woman. He silently appreciated her rosy cheeks and sparkling blue eyes that spoke of such life in their depths. Why hadn’t he seen her around Jackson Hole? Was she a stranger to the area? Had she just bought a ranch? Griff’s curiosity was piqued.
“Yes, Mr. McPherson. My grandmother, Gus, would like me to find a wrangler who can help us around the Bar H ranch.” She gulped inwardly and looked up to meet his narrowing green gaze. He had such large, black pupils and it made him look incredibly handsome. His mouth…oh, sweet Lord, his mouth was sinfully shaped, the lips neither too thin nor too thick. The corners were curved slightly upward. She wondered if he had a good sense of humor.
“The Bar H? Isn’t that a two-hundred-acre spread south of Jackson Hole?”
“Yes, it is.” Val moved uneasily and barely tolerated his interested gaze. Why did McPherson have to be so blatantly masculine? “Gus broke her hip recently. She can’t do the work as she did before and we need help. Good help.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Griff sipped his coffee. He liked the way Val’s slightly curled red hair lay across her shoulders. She stood with her back straight, her chin at an angle. She was a proud woman. “I’ve heard of Gus. My brother, Slade, said there were several matriarchs in the valley. Iris Mason is one and I’ve met her. And he also mentioned Gus. I don’t suppose there would be another Gus?”
“No, just the one.” She liked his low, mellow voice. It was the kind of voice that could soothe a fractious horse. Or a nervous female like herself. “I had to come home to help her. And even I can’t do it all alone.”
He bit back his questions. Val was tense, her shoulders locked. Was he affecting her that way? Griff hoped not, because if it was him he could kiss this job goodbye. “I see. You don’t have any wranglers at the Bar H right now?”
“No.” Val grimaced. “My mother didn’t hire any good ones. They left the place a wreck, took her money and disappeared into the night.”
Ouch. Griff nodded and frowned. She was probably tense because she wanted to hire someone with better morals and values. He hoped Andy had spoken well of him because his dream job was to become a full-time wrangler on a ranch. Andy knew working here was temporary until some rancher could hire him. “Wranglers are the grist that make a ranch work.”
His modulated voice wafted through her like a feather gently settling upon her wildly beating heart. Val could tell Griff was sincere. “No question about that.” Val cleared her throat. “I need to know what your skills are, Mr. McPherson.”
“I’m a hard worker,” he said, opening his hand to show her the palm, “but I think my calluses will attest to that.” He smiled a little.
Val stared at his large, well-shaped hand. Indeed, there were thick calluses across his palm. What a beautiful hand. For a blinding instant, she wondered what it would be like to have those fingers graze her flesh. The thought was so startling, so out of the blue, that Val unexpectedly coughed. She stepped away from him, a hand pressed against her slender throat.
Griff allowed his hand to drop back to his side. Val Hunter looked absolutely confused. About him? Something was going on between them but he couldn’t ferret out exactly what it was. One thing Griff knew for sure: Val was very athletic. She wore a set of Levi’s that showed off her shapely hips and long, long legs. The pink blouse she wore had its long sleeves rolled up to her elbows, showing that she was ready to work. He liked the way the breeze played with some of the strands of her copper-colored hair. The freckles across her cheeks and nose seemed darker for a moment. She looked like a young teen, although Griff suspected she was probably in her late twenties.
“I can mend fence, fix trucks and other farm equipment, do any odd jobs you need done,” he said after she seemed to have regained her composure.
“Have you done any cattle breeding? Vaccinating? Do you know the signs of a cow in distress?”
“No,” he admitted slowly, “but I’m willing to learn if you’re willing to show me.” He wanted to lie and say he did, but Griff wouldn’t do that. He had the integrity of a Westerner in his blood. He knew from his old job that young men and women would lie all the time about their skills and experience just to get a job. He wasn’t going to lie to Val. Griff saw her brows dip over his admittance.
“Do you even ride a horse?” she demanded. Val saw his mouth curve faintly.
“Yes, ma’am, I do ride.”
Looking down, Val studied his long, muscular legs. “Most wranglers I’ve met have bowed legs, from all the riding they do. You don’t.”
“I only got here a few months ago.” Griff realized this interview wasn’t going well. “I worked at my brother’s ranch. I did a lot of riding, moving cattle, roping and branding there.” He gave her a slight grin and pointed to his legs. “I haven’t had enough saddle time to bow them properly—yet.”
“Do you have your own horse?”
“No, I don’t. I rent a room at the MacMurray house on the west side of town and there’s no room there to own a dog or cat, much less a horse.”
“Andy said you just came from back east?”
The question was hurled like a gauntlet at him. Griff didn’t lose his slight smile. “New York City. Yes, I’m a city slicker, Miss Val.” He saw surprise in her expression. A faint blush fanned across her cheeks and her freckles momentarily darkened.
“Andy said you were a good worker.” She ignored his humor.
He glanced at the barn over his shoulder and hooked his thumb in the same direction. “I work six a.m. to three p.m. daily. I haul hay, feed and other items to the trucks.”
“And what do you do when you get off work?” It was a personal question, but Val’s curiosity got the better of her.
“I take odd jobs with any rancher that needs a little extra muscle or a mechanic.”
Val knew it spoke of
his work ethic and she nodded. “Gus wants a man who can do it all, Mr. McPherson. She’s paying ten dollars an hour and we put in twelve-hour days. Not eight. Although you’ll get paid for eight.” Val thought for sure the poor pay would make him refuse the potential job on the spot.
“My brother works from dawn to dark. I would expect the same on any ranch.”
“There’s a lot of cleanup to be done. The property has been let go for years. The barn needs a new roof. The shed not only needs a roof, but new siding, as well. I have four wooden corrals and they all need post replacement. I’ve got piles of manure that need to be shoveled into a truck and then taken to the dump. The place is in ruins.” Val drilled him with a hard look, thinking that for sure he wouldn’t want to do those jobs, which were expected of a wrangler. She was betting his Eastern upbringing would make him walk away.
“I’ve already worked at taking out posts, digging new post holes and putting in both wood and pipe fences.”
“Most of the work we need is not done on a horse,” Val warned. She just didn’t think he could do it all. Yet, he looked easygoing and completely confident as she handed him the duty list.
Shrugging, he said, “That’s what I found to be true, too. Getting to throw a leg over a horse is a real gift compared to the everyday work on the ground.”
Frowning, Val sipped her coffee. She took a step back, making sure she didn’t get too close to this cowboy. He didn’t seem to be aware of his effect on her. She’d expected with his deadly good looks, he’d be arrogant. Instead, McPherson was quiet, thoughtful and seemed to listen. Those were all qualities Val knew many men did not have. “Well, whoever we hire,” she muttered, “they’re going to be busting their butt day in and day out.”
“That’s fine,” Griff answered. “I’m looking for a long-haul kind of job.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
Hearing the disbelief in her voice, Griff wondered if Andy had told her about his past life and career. “Yes, ma’am, I am.” He looked around and added, “I was born in Wyoming and love it here. I like waking up in the morning and seeing a clear blue sky, smelling fresh air instead of gas pollution and hearing the robins singing instead of sirens and car horns blaring.” Griff turned and met her lustrous blue gaze. “I’m sure Andy told you I grew up in New York City. The truth is, I hated it. I didn’t know it then, but I do now.” Gesturing toward the sky, he added, “I like the smell of the air after a rain. In the city, all you got was a dampening down of pollution. I spent a lot of time in Central Park, looking to reconnect with nature. I prefer grass under my feet to concrete.”
Mesmerized by the wistfulness in his voice, Val gulped. “That’s all fine and dandy, Mr. McPherson, but I don’t have time to teach you the skills you’re missing. We need a man who can do it all right now.”
“I understand,” Griff said, regret in his voice. “I admit I’m not fully qualified. But maybe if you let your grandmother know that I’m a fast learner and will make up for it, she might think about hiring me?”
“I’ll tell her,” Val promised.
“Great, let me give you my cell phone number. Could you let me know what her final decision is? I’d really like the job. It sounds like it’s difficult but I like a challenge.” Griff smiled a little and drew a business card out of his pocket. When their fingers met briefly, he felt a zigzag of heat move through his hand. He saw confusion and unsureness in Val’s eyes as she hesitantly took the card. She placed it in the back pocket of her Levi’s.
“We’ll let you know shortly.” She pulled the door open and disappeared into the Horse Emporium. Andy gave her a questioning look, as she approached the counter. Lifting her hand, she thanked Andy and left. As she climbed into the ranch’s red Ford pickup truck, Val felt all the tension flow out of her. She wondered if Gus would want this greenhorn wrangler or not. Val sure didn’t. He was powerfully male and it called to her dormant femininity in a way she’d never experienced. The truth, Val realized, was that she was drawn to McPherson. Woman to man. It was raw. Untamed. And it scared the hell out of her.
CHAPTER THREE
“WHAT DID YOU think of the wrangler?” Gus asked her granddaughter as they sat together in the kitchen. “You looked concerned when you came in.”
Val sipped her coffee as she eyed Gus. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”
Mouth turning down, Gus said, “I wish that were true. If it were, I’d have seen what Buck was doing to you and my daughter out here.”
Reaching over, Val touched her grandmother’s wrinkled, brown-spotted hand. “You lived clear across the state and my mother wasn’t telling you what was really going on here at the ranch.”
“Doesn’t matter. I should have been more nosey.”
“Well,” Val replied, “that’s over.”
“It is and it isn’t,” Gus pointed out. She studied Val and pursed her lips. “Beating an animal or human makes them scared.”
Laughing, Val said, “I’m hardly the scared type, Gus.”
“We’ll see….”
Val had no way to understand her grandmother’s enigmatic statement. “Well, Andy said this man, Griff McPherson, was a good wrangler and was looking for steady work.”
Her thin silver brows rising, Gus said, “McPherson? The Tetons Ranch folks?”
“Yes, one and the same. From what Andy said, his brother Slade owns and runs the family ranch now.”
“But, Griff is here in Jackson Hole? And not working for Slade?” Wrinkling her brow, Gus muttered, “That sure don’t make common sense. Families out here stick together like glue through thick and thin. I would expect him to be working with Slade. Not at the Horse Emporium.”
Shrugging, Val said, “Andy didn’t get into specifics.” She shared with Gus her talk with the wrangler. Val left out the fact he was mouthwateringly handsome. She didn’t want her grandmother to get the wrong idea.
“Okay, so he’s not a polished-off wrangler.” Gus rubbed her chin. “But it sounds like he wants to work. And that’s the kind of spirit we need around here. He can be taught whatever he’s missing.”
“Gus, we have ten-percent unemployment in the U.S. There are a lot of people out of work and looking for anything in order to survive. He’s just one of those poor people.”
Gus considered the information. “Let me guess, you don’t want to hire him because he’s an ex-city slicker.”
“Well…yes and no. But same as you, I wonder why he’s not working with his brother.”
“Slade just got married to Dr. Jordana Lawton,” Gus informed her. “I imagine the ranch belongs to both of them now.”
“You’d think that Slade would hire his brother part-time, though, if he could. Griff said he does odd jobs for other ranchers around the county on weekends.”
“Maybe there’s bad blood between them we don’t know about. From the sounds of it, I like his work ethic. This guy is busting his hump seven days a week to make ends meet. And you know ranchers won’t put up with a lazy wrangler. They get fired real fast.”
“All except here at the Bar H.” Val saw Gus quirk her thinned lips and nod her head.
“No disagreement there. Well, what should we do?”
“I want to pass on Griff McPherson,” Val said carefully. She wrapped her hands around the mug. “There’s just so much work around here for me to do that I don’t want to take the time out to teach him what he doesn’t know.”
Gus saw her point. “Before we make any decision, ask him to come out for coffee and cookies. I’ll interview him.”
Heart sinking, Val nodded. Her grandmother had the money, not the Bar H, which meant she could have the final say if she wanted it. “He’s a city slicker, Gus.”
“Yes, but his soul was born here.” She jabbed her finger down at the floor. “He’s got Wyoming blood movin’ through his ve
ins. I’d like to scope him out myself if you don’t mind?”
“Sure,” she agreed, finishing off her coffee. There was a lot of work to get to and Val knew every day counted before the snow started falling in early September.
“Good,” Gus said. “You call the Horse Emporium. I’d like to see McPherson tomorrow afternoon if Andy will give him a couple hours off.”
“I’ll call Andy now,” Val promised, moving into the formal dining room to use the the landline phone set on a hundred-year-old walnut sideboard.
* * *
GRIFF TRIED NOT TO FEEL anxious, but he did. Getting out of his dented blue Ford pickup, he shut the creaky door and looked up at the main ranch house on the Bar H. The day was sunny and warm, the sky clear. He had been told by Andy yesterday that he was going out for a second job interview with Gus Hunter, one of the three matriarchs in the valley. He knew Iris Mason very well and loved the straight-shooting woman who owned Elk Horn Ranch. He’d never met Gus but had heard plenty about her. She was a pistol-packing granny and had a gruff personality from what Andy had told him.
Removing his red bandanna, Griff felt his nerves. He’d taken a cleansing shower, put on his best clothes, polished his well-worn boots and made sure his Stetson was free of hay or straw. His boots sounded hollowly as he climbed the reddish-gold cedar steps. Quickly wiping his face, he retied the red bandanna around his neck. The screen door was open. Would Val be present? Griff wasn’t sure. He knew she wasn’t too enthused about him working here. Andy said Gus was the boss of the Bar H and Griff wasn’t sure if that was good or bad news.
Standing at the screen door, Griff knocked. He could see a long, gleaming hall through the screen. Val appeared from a side room and walked toward him. Instantly, Griff’s heart pounded hard to underscore seeing her once more. Her shoulder-length red hair lay like a shining cloak around her shoulders. Today, she wore a mint-green short-sleeved blouse, Levi’s and cowboy boots. Stuffed in her belt was a ragged pair of leather gloves. Clearly, she had been out working earlier.
The Wrangler Page 3