“Hey, Boss.”
A year of rebuilding and it was still strange to hear someone call her “boss.” Aja turned her head and watched the two women as they approached.
Brooklyn Osborn had short, pixie-cut cropped dark curls and deep-brown skin with glowing honey undertones. She was a tall, fit Black woman with her lean, tight muscles on display in her A-line T-shirt and fitted jeans. The serious lines of her face were in stark contrast to the woman walking beside her—Seneca Daniels. Like Brooklyn, Seneca was a thirtysomething Black woman. But that was where their similarities ended. Seneca was average height with a curvy build and reddish-brown skin that seemed to radiate in the Texas heat. Where Brooklyn’s steps were even and methodical, Seneca waved an excited arm as she made her way from the side of the house to the front steps and climbed to greet Aja.
“What’s got her so excited this early in the morning?” Aja posed the question to Brooklyn, knowing she’d get a direct answer. She didn’t mind Seneca’s round-the-mulberry-bush method of storytelling, but with her shortage of time and Seneca practically vibrating with excitement as she took her place next to Aja, Brooklyn’s straight, no-chaser reporting style was definitely the way to go.
“You know it doesn’t take much to excite her. But she honestly has reason to be excited today. Let her tell you.”
This was true. Seneca was the bright spot of seemingly unending joy in their makeshift family. As long as she smiled, there was always hope.
Aja smiled at Seneca and gave her a reluctant wave of her hand. “G’on and tell me,” she huffed, feigning lack of interest, knowing full well the sight of Seneca clapping her hands together in excitement pretty much made it impossible to be disinterested at this point. “I don’t have all day.”
Seneca continued to smile as warmth radiated off her and reached out to tug at the remnants of Aja’s somber mood. “While I was working on updates on some external terminals”—she took a deep breath and shared a conspiratorial glance with Brooklyn before she continued—“that contractor in Austin you contacted sent in a bid. It’s under budget, and they can start the job in the next two weeks.”
Aja squealed as equal parts of relief and joy spread through her. Seneca’s announcement was a much-needed bit of good news.
After Earl, their previous contractor, quit in the wake of the ranch’s latest life-threatening accident, Aja worried she wouldn’t be able to keep to schedule if it took too long to find his replacement. But Seneca, in her usual don’t-sweat-it fashion, had curated a list of contractors in the surrounding area for Aja to send queries to last night.
Aja grabbed Seneca’s and Brooklyn’s hands, and they whooped and hollered in celebration. It didn’t matter that the new contractor hadn’t begun yet. Aja’s dream of Restoration Ranch becoming a road to rehabilitation was no longer on pause.
“Oh my goodness,” Aja huffed. “When I sent out those blanket queries last night, I never thought we’d get a response this soon. If this crew can get started in the next couple of weeks, once we vet them, we can still open by the start of travel season.”
Aja pulled the other women in for a celebratory hug before she pulled back and attempted to gather herself again. She needed to focus and stay on task. There was still a lot of work to do.
“Boss? You okay?”
Aja massaged the back of her neck, trying to take it all in. “I’m fine. Just…” She took a deep breath and let her lungs slowly expel it. “It’s really gonna happen, ladies. My dream hasn’t crumbled with that scaffold.”
With a wide grin plastered across her face, Seneca declared, “There was never any doubt.”
Maybe not for them, but Aja couldn’t fix her lips to tell that lie, so she quietly smiled instead as they headed toward the front door. “Go get something to eat. We’ve got a busy day ahead.”
The ladies headed inside and Aja leaned on the railing, letting the good news sink in. Hope filled the center of her chest and spread through her body like the rays of the Texas sun chasing away the shadows. “It’s gonna happen.”
With renewed faith that everything might turn out okay, she walked through the pasture of green grass with a little swing in her hips. Good news certainly could change the outlook of your day.
“Boss…boss!”
She stopped, turning to find Brooklyn running toward her. Her long legs and easy gait ate up the ground between them in a flash. “You left your phone in the kitchen.”
Aja patted her back pockets, realizing Brooklyn was right. “Thank you, doll. It would’ve been hard to make all the calls I need from the barn with no landlines out there yet.” She took the phone and slid it into her pocket before turning away. “Don’t take all day in that kitchen—we got work to do. We’ll be holed up in the barn until lunch.”
As she walked away, Brooklyn called, “You’re turning into a hard-ass tyrant. It’s too pretty outside to be cooped up in the barn all day.”
Aja kept walking but tossed over her shoulder, “Just for that, we’ll work through lunch in the barn. How’s that for a tyrant?”
She stopped for a brief second to see the scowl she knew Brooklyn was probably wearing when the sound of breaking glass pulled her attention away. Aja stepped forward when she felt the ground rumble beneath her and a loud boom cracked the air, making her eardrums vibrate painfully. Before she could cover her ears, a blast of pressure knocked her off her feet.
She fought to orient herself while the smell of burning wood and smoke assaulted her. Her chest tightened with fear as she struggled to breathe through the soot-tinged air. She couldn’t tell up from down, and no matter how hard she tried to stand, her legs wouldn’t work.
You gotta get up, Aja.
She tried to summon her strength and lift her head. When she moved no more than an inch from the ground, sharp pain sliced at the top of her forehead, forcing her to press her head into the cool grass, searching for relief.
The gray-black clouds of smoke hovering over her were getting fuzzy, and the only thing she could hear was ringing in her ears. Her senses were overwhelmed with panic, and she was pretty certain she was about to pass out soon.
“Boss? Boss?”
