You have got to stop obsessing over this, she ordered herself. After all, it had happened years before Rebecca set foot on the ranch. And it wasn’t like she’d never been with anyone else before she met Alec.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel intimidated. It would be one thing if it had been nothing more than a fling between friends, but Alec openly admitted that he’d been in love with her. From what he’d told her, she couldn’t blame him. Shania was easily the most attractive woman Rebecca had ever met, and likely the most accomplished, as well.
Allison cleared her throat, bringing her back to the present. “So what happened?”
Her friend listened with rapt attention as Rebecca finished the story. “He told her to leave?” Allison gasped. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.” Rebecca dropped her gaze to the reins. “At least now I understand why he never tried to sway me one way or the other about going back to Boston. He always insisted that the choice had to be mine.”
Allison was silent for a moment. “Well, it’s strange that he never told you any of this ‘til now, but I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s not like she lives next-door or anything.”
She laughed. “I didn’t even tell you, did I?”
“Tell me what?”
“He hired her, Alli. She’s going to start working for us tomorrow.”
“Doing what? I thought she was a biologist.”
“She is. But apparently she has some time off, so she’s going to play wrangler for the summer.”
“And she’s going to live here on the ranch?”
Rebecca nodded.
Allison’s chin dropped. “Oh, wow. That changes things a bit.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Tell me about it.”
Chapter 20
Alec poked his head into the barn office and found Tommy sitting behind the computer. “I found us another wrangler,” he announced.
“The girl Holly mentioned?”
“No. Shania.”
Tommy didn’t miss a beat in his typing, just like Alec didn’t miss his friend’s brief but pointed look over the top of the monitor.
He made a few final clicks on the keyboard before he cleared his throat and swung his chair around to the schedule posted on the wall. “Who do you want to start her with?”
“Who’s on tomorrow?”
“It’s Ben and Jake in the morning. Me and Bec in the afternoon.”
“Add her in the afternoon.”
Tommy met his gaze again. “You’re sure?”
Alec nodded without hesitation.
“Alright,” he replied, obediently penciling Shania’s name onto the schedule. “You’re the boss.”
That was Tommy’s typical response when he disagreed with Alec. It didn’t happen often–the two of them were usually on the same page when it came to business–but Alec respected the fact that Tommy could separate their friendship from their working relationship.
He especially respected it in this instance, when Tommy had every right to voice his true opinion.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of laughter from the opposite end of the barn. He stepped out of the office to see Jake and Holly pushing two wheelbarrows down the aisle. Jake leaned closer and whispered something to Holly, who tilted her head back and erupted in a fresh round of giggles.
“Hey,” Alec called good-naturedly. “Keep it down over there.”
Holly immediately sobered and clasped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”
Alec chuckled and shook his head. Since they’d been married, Rebecca had gently encouraged him to try to relax and be less formal around their staff. “You used to scare me,” she confessed one time. “You walked around this place like a drill sergeant, waiting to bark orders at someone.”
He hadn’t thought of himself as being that rigid, but when he mentioned it to Tommy and Ryan and both of them agreed with his wife, he figured they were probably right. So he’d been making a concentrated effort the past few summers to joke more and bark less.
Sometimes it worked. And sometimes it didn’t.
“You’re fine, Holly,” he assured her. “It was just a joke.”
She blushed and tucked a curl behind her ear as she pushed past him into the nearest stall. Alec glanced sideways at Jake, whose eyes were not so subtly glued to Holly’s backside.
Finally Jake seemed to notice that Alec was staring at him. “What?” he asked.
Alec stifled a laugh and patted his shoulder. “Nothing.”
Despite Jake’s endless and often entertaining romantic conquests, Alec genuinely liked him. He was a hard worker and Alec wanted to see him succeed. Of course, sentiment probably factored in somewhere, too.
Jake was plowing his way through the same rigorous veterinary program that Alec had been accepted into a decade earlier.
He was on his way up to the lodge when he spotted a Jeep with Oregon plates rolling up the driveway. Automatically he spun on his heel and doubled back towards the parking lot to meet her. Shania stepped out of her vehicle and leaned her elbows against the door, staring wide-eyed at the A-frame lodge.
“Oh, wow,” she said aloud. “Your website doesn’t begin to do this place justice.”
“You don’t think?”
She shook her head and met his gaze. “Hi, by the way.”
“Hi,” he echoed, mirroring her grin. “You find it okay?”
“Yeah.” She reached into the backseat and produced a well-used backpack. “I’ve got boots and jeans and everything. The only thing I’m missing is a hat.”
“Here,” he said, removing his and placing it on her head. “You can borrow mine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ve got plenty.”
Shania pushed it down onto her forehead and gave a surprised laugh. “It actually fits.”
“Well, you always did have a big head.”
She playfully swatted his arm. “Just for that, you can carry my luggage.”
“I was planning on it,” he replied, swinging her backpack onto his shoulder. “Come on. I’ll show you around.”
Over the next half hour, he gave her a tour of all the buildings on property–the lodge and adjoining lounge, the guest cabins, the farrier shed, and the main barn. “I want you to see my father again, too,” he added as they strolled towards the smaller staff barn. “I’ll pick a day when he’s up for a visit.”
“I would love that.” Shania smiled when they entered the barn and the horses began popping their faces over stall doors. “So what’s an average week like?”
“Well, we used to have arrivals and departures every day of the week, but as we got busier it was too much to keep track of. So now we book seven-day stays only, Sunday to Sunday. During the week, it’s a set schedule. Riding and roping lessons in the mornings, and two trail rides in the afternoons. Friday nights we do a bonfire and a cookout. Saturday nights we bring a live band into the lounge and run drink specials, dance lessons, and a pool tournament. It’s a nice end to everyone’s week.”
“That’s quite an operation.”
“And that’s just the wranglers’ end of it.” Alec stopped in front of the first stall door and smiled when his horse ambled over to meet them. “This is Onyx. He’s half-brother to Sundance.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I got him from the same breeder about five years ago. They’re both out of Rugged Lark, but his dam is an off-the-track Thoroughbred.”
“He’s magnificent.” She smoothed a hand down the stallion’s face before she glanced at Alec. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure.”
“What is it with you and Appendix Quarter horses?”
He didn’t know what he’d expected her to ask, but it certainly wasn’t that. He laughed as he leaned against the stall door, and Shania laughed at his reaction.
“I mean it,” she added. “Every horse you’ve ever had has been Appendix. It’s like a thing with you.”
Alec ga
ve a little shrug. “I don’t know. You get the level-headedness of a Quarter horse with the grace and energy of a Thoroughbred. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Shania mirrored his smile. “All jokes aside, Alec, how were you able to do all of this?”
“All of what?”
“This,” she said, making a sweeping motion with her arm. “Where did you come up with the money?”
Alec sighed and settled onto a nearby hay bale. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how much this land is worth. Even with all the parcels that have been sold off, what we still own is worth a fortune. The bank’s had its eye on this place for ages now. They were all too eager to issue me a loan against the value of the property.”
“I figured it was something like that,” she said, taking a seat beside him. “That took guts, Alec. It was a risky move.”
“Risky?” he replied with a laugh. “Riding a bull is risky. What I did was insane. I didn’t even know how to balance a checkbook when I applied for that loan. I’m fully convinced that if my father were able to, he would’ve beaten the living daylights out of me for putting this place in jeopardy.”
“But you made it work. Just like I knew you would.”
He shrugged off her compliment. “I got lucky, that’s all. And just barely. About four years ago, I was so upside-down I almost lost everything. The only thing that saved us was Rebecca. She convinced me to go see my mother and got her to sign the sale agreement on our winter pasture.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You actually saw your mother?”
“Yeah. We drove all the way to Vegas and showed up at her house unannounced.”
“How’d that go?”
“Not so well,” he admitted. “At least not on my end. It would’ve been a wasted trip if Rebecca hadn’t stepped in.”
Shania tilted her head. “She’s really got it together, doesn’t she?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. She’s so smart, and not just book-smart. I’ve never seen anyone who can read people like she can. She meets someone for five seconds and she knows instantly what makes them tick.”
“That’s a powerful skill.”
“Yeah. I wish I had it.”
She nudged his shoulder. “Give yourself some credit. You’re not without abilities, either. I mean, look at what you’ve accomplished here. Nine years ago, this place was nothing but a farmhouse and an old barn. You should be incredibly proud of yourself.”
Alec met her gaze. “I didn’t do it for me.”
If he made that comment to anyone else–even Rebecca or Tommy–they wouldn’t fully appreciate its significance. Shania was the only one who could truly understand the things he’d sacrificed to stay here, because she was the greatest sacrifice of them all.
He pushed the painful thought from his mind and rose to his feet. “Ready to see your cabin?”
She, too, looked relieved to change the subject. “Yeah.”
He led her around the back of the lodge to the cluster of cabins for his summer staff. “As an added bonus,” he said as he unlocked the door to Cabin Three, “you don’t have to argue over who gets top bunk.”
Shania laughed as she stepped inside and switched on the light. She peeked into the bathroom and opened the closet door before she noticed the bucking bronco lamp base on the nightstand. With a sad smile, she sat on the arm of the couch and traced a finger down the horse’s nose.
“This is from the old guesthouse, isn’t it?”
Alec nodded and leaned against the doorway. “They’re in every cabin now. I ordered about thirty of them.”
She lifted her face. “Is it strange that I’m here?”
“A little,” he confessed. “But I’m glad you are.”
Chapter 21
After a lengthy discussion with Allison, Rebecca decided that it was only fair to give Shania a chance. After all, she’d played a large role in shaping Alec into the man he was today–the man that Rebecca adored.
And from what Alec had told her, she and Shania had a lot in common. In fact, the more she tried to come up with a reason not to like her, the more she kept coming up blank.
“I wouldn’t have asked her to come here if I thought it would cause problems,” Alec assured her as they shared lunch in the farmhouse. “I promise you’ll like her, Bec. And she really wants to get to know you.”
With those words in mind, Rebecca headed down to the barn for their first official shift together. She could hear Tommy and Shania conversing in the tack room, and she forced a smile on her face as she strode down the aisle to join them.
“Hey,” Tommy greeted when she stepped into the tack room.
Shania stood on one of the tack trunks, gathering an armful of bridles from the upper hooks. “Hi, Rebecca,” she said as she descended to the floor.
Only then did Rebecca realize that she was wearing Alec’s hat. A hot flare of jealousy surged up in her throat, which she forced herself to swallow. So she was wearing Alec’s hat…so what? He’d probably just loaned it to her, since she wouldn’t have known she’d end up working on the ranch.
You’re supposed to be giving her a chance, remember?
“Hi, Shania,” she replied, hoping she didn’t sound as edgy as she felt.
“Glad you’re here, Bec,” Tommy said. “We’ve got nine signed up for the first trail ride.”
“All adults?”
“And all experienced. Should be a fun ride for you girls.”
Rebecca didn’t know about fun, but it would definitely be interesting. “You’re not coming?”
He shook his head. “I’m still trying to finish inventory.”
Whether it was the truth or he was just excusing himself from an awkward afternoon, Tommy quickly disappeared into the office. Shania approached Rebecca with a timid smile and held out a fistful of bridles.
“I’ll be fine tacking. I just need to know which horses are which.”
Rebecca nodded, suddenly feeling very small. How had she not noticed Shania’s height when she met her at the rodeo? At five-foot-eight, Rebecca was fairly tall herself, but Shania towered a good three or four inches over her.
Shania followed her down the aisle as Rebecca hung bridles on the stall doors. “Watch your arm with Jack,” she warned when they reached the final stall. “He tries to bite when he’s being cinched. And he needs the big tan Circle Y saddle; it’s the only one that fits him. For everyone else, you can use any of the adult saddles on the left side of the tack room.”
“Alright. Who do you want me to ride?”
Rebecca cast a glance down the aisle and nodded towards the third stall. “See the palomino Paint mare? That’s Pumpkin. You’ll love her. I rode her my first summer here.”
Shania stepped over to the door and stroked the mare’s face. “She’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, she is. She’s got a killer sliding stop, too.”
Shania raised a brow. “Sounds like a good story there.”
Rebecca laughed before she could stop herself. “As a matter of fact, it is.”
Over the next half hour, as they tacked each of the horses, Rebecca gradually relaxed into Shania’s presence. Shania laughed at Rebecca’s stories from her first weeks on the ranch; then she shared a few funny memories of her own. Before she knew it, all eleven horses were tacked and ready to go.
“Nice work,” Rebecca said as she surveyed their herd. “Usually the boys are still scrambling to finish.”
“Well, we all know how useless boys can be.”
She grinned. That comment reminded her of something Allison would say.
“So the guests are usually raring to go on Mondays, since it’s their first chance to explore the place. By midweek the saddle soreness starts to catch up with them, and by the weekend the trail rides get pretty thin. Sometimes we get some hardcore riders that are out here all day every day, but generally they start opting for the pool or fishing or something less rigorous by the end of the week.”
“That might be me, too,” Shan
ia said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the saddle.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine. Alec described you as fearless on a horse.”
She seemed surprised. “He said that?”
“His exact words.”
Shania leaned against the hitching post and ran her hand down Pumpkin’s striped face. It had been a long time since Rebecca met someone who wore her heart on her sleeve as plainly as Shania did. In a way, it was refreshing, but it was also unexpected. For a woman of her age, emotionally she seemed very fragile.
Then again, it was the first time the conversation had turned to Alec. Until now Rebecca had been so focused on how Alec felt about Shania that she hadn’t stopped to consider how Shania might still feel about him.
When the guests began to arrive, the girls helped each of them onto their horses. “Tommy was right,” Rebecca said to Shania as they headed back to Star and Pumpkin. “Looks like everyone has plenty of experience. So rather than going down along the river, I think we’ll head to the back pastures so we can open up a bit. I’ll go ahead and lead us out if you want to keep an eye on everyone from the back.”
Even though Alec had assured her that Shania was confident in the saddle, Rebecca couldn’t help but study her form as she mounted Pumpkin. Instantly her heels were down, her back was straight, and her hands were perfectly positioned.
Okay, then, she decided, turning her attention back to Star.
She guided the guests through the aspen grove and turned north, reciting the usual list of facts about the Tetons and the history of the ranch. Then she opened the gate to the back pasture and watched everyone file through, ensuring that they all had firm control of their horses. Moments later they formed a graceful stampede as they galloped through the new grass. Rebecca glanced over her shoulder every few seconds and couldn’t help but mirror the guests’ exhilarated smiles.
Tommy was waiting outside the corral when they arrived back at the ranch. “How’d it go?”
Rebecca knew he was referring more to Shania than the actual trail ride. “It was fine,” she replied as she swung to the ground. “We had a great time.”
Indian Summer Page 14