All of this was to the good, for when he woke in the morning and had breakfast, he showed up in front of the barn at 8 o’clock sharp, earlier even than Maddy, who was usually first on the scene. He surveyed his team, all of whom were looking to him for direction. Every single one of them, from Jasper, the blacksmith, on down to Clay, a ranch hand, was capable and prepared. All of them knew what to do, even if he never said a word, but Leland liked to bring them together so they could have this quick meeting, and the ranch always ran better for it.
As Leland spoke about the tasks for that day, he spotted Jamie at the back of the small crowd, a little to one side, as though he felt he didn’t quite belong. But then, just as Jamie was adjusting his new straw hat, as though to give his hands something to do, Clay sidled up to him and nudged him with a gentle elbow. That brought the smile to Jamie’s face, but it was when Jamie smiled at him that Leland realized he’d been staring.
“Thanks, everyone,” he said, returning his attention to the group before him. “Be sure and check with Maddy for special requests from the guests. Also, I’ll need some folks to help Brody with getting guests connected with their horses.”
As hands raised to volunteer, Leland pointed at three of his ranch hands. Then, gratefully, he turned to find Levi, the ranch’s head cook, at his elbow, hat in his hands. He was a quiet man with dark hair, and while he never had much to say out loud, his brown eyes usually spoke volumes.
Sometimes Leland got the impression Levi was as lonely as he was, though he never complained and never seemed to join the ranch hands and other staff when they went into Farthing on a Saturday night. He was like Leland, in a way, with work to be done during long days, or maybe he was too reserved to reach out casually. Not that Leland could ask him about this, as he was a very private man.
“What can I do for you, Levi?” he asked him. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Jamie walking off, rubbing his ribs a bit, then dropping his hand as he continued into the barn. Were his ribs still bothering him? Leland needed to ask him about it to make sure he was okay, but meanwhile, he had Levi’s question to attend to.
“Question,” said Levi, as he put his hat back on. “We’re at half-capacity for guests and there’s an overnight trail ride on Tuesday night. So, should I pull out the chuck wagon or just take the pack horses?”
Leland knew, without Levi saying it, that he would be quite willing to use the chuck wagon, even if it caused extra work. What he was asking, without words, was whether it would be more prudent and cost effective to just take pack horses.
“Why don’t you ask the guests on Monday night, just before the line dancing?” Leland asked, leaving the decision fully in Levi’s capable hands. “I’m sure it’d be fine either way, but see what they want.”
“That’s a good idea,” he said with a nod. “Why didn’t I think of that?” Then he smiled, a twinkle in his dark eyes, a small twinkle, like a secret he was sharing just with Leland.
With a laugh, Leland patted Levi’s shoulder and wished again that he didn’t have a rule about flirting with fellow employees. Levi was lonely and Leland was lonely and they’d make a good team, even if he knew full well and good that hooking up out of loneliness was never a good idea. Besides, he didn’t just want a hookup; he wanted someone to be with, to work together with toward some kind of shared future.
And he knew, with a shake of his head, that he’d not had these kinds of thoughts before Jamie had arrived.
At any rate, it was time to take care of Monday’s events and activities. It was always busy on a Monday, busy with the bustle of new guests and their excitement over the ranch, and their eagerness to partake in the fun and breathe in the fresh air.
Leland spent most of the morning shaking hands, making himself available at the barn to say hello and good morning to each and every guest. Later, while drinking a quick bottle of water, standing in the shade of the barn, keeping an eye on things, he went over the checklist with Maddy as to what had gone right and what process needed improvement.
When Levi rang the iron triangle announcing lunch, everyone went into the dining hall, which was full of good smells of cooking, and the energetic din of guests chatting with each other.
Leland sat with a small group of ladies, and ate his lunch quickly. Then he walked around the dining hall, making sure everything was going as it should, then slipped outside into the fresh air and relative quiet.
Making a note to check for wasp nests during his next ride, he strode up to the barn to see how the morning’s riding lesson had gone. Afterwards, he wanted to head to the dining hall to check on the leak he’d noticed beneath the ice-making machine. And no, he did not look for Jamie along the way.
13
Jamie
Jamie’s morning had been filled with work at the barn, where he’d been assigned the interesting but sweaty task of learning how to groom a horse and saddle it up so that each guest would have a well-turned out horse for their lesson. Going as fast as he could, he tried to keep up with Brody and the other ranch hands, but though his arms were used to hacking through raw cow ribs, they weren’t used to the steady continual motion of the brush across a horse’s side, or the slow way he was supposed to move around the animals.
The first time Clay came over with two bottles of water in his hands, Jamie tried to put him off.
“I have to finish this,” he said. “You assigned me two more horses after this.”
“We’ll help each other,” said Clay brightly. “But you have to take a break now. Can’t have a repeat of yesterday.” The smile Clay gave him as he held out one of the bottles quite insistently took the sting out of the words. And it was nice to stand there, letting the breeze from the open doors wash over them as they drank their water.
He hustled to finish his horses, smiling when Clay gave him the thumb’s up and led all four out to the corral so the day’s riding lesson could begin. After a quick lunch, Clay told him he had to rake the corral before the afternoon lesson began, so guests didn’t have to trot their horses over piles of manure. It wasn’t anything anybody else hadn’t done before him, so he worked hard, raking and shoveling, pushing the wheelbarrow to the dump area behind the supply barn.
It was hot work, but it was nice to leave a tidy corral behind as evidence of his hard work, rather than a pile of bones and bloody knives, the way he would have had he still been working at the meat packing plant—no, he would not think about that anymore. He was going to focus on where he was and enjoy the fresh air and plentiful sunshine, even if the heat of the day made him have to drink a bunch of water, and he quickly sweated through his t-shirt and his long-sleeved shirt.
Then he had to help get horses set up for a trail ride for more experienced riders. When the guests rode back, those horses had to be groomed, the tack cleaned and oiled. He felt he might want to be done for the day. Still, he struggled on, and kept telling himself he had a thousand bucks and could leave at any time. Except he didn’t want to leave. Even if the work was hard, the ranch was better than anyplace else he’d worked.
“Hey,” said Clay from the doorway of the tack room. “The dinner bell is about to be rung, so hustle and get a shower. You can’t go to dinner looking like that.”
“Oh.” Jamie looked down at himself. His once-white t-shirt was streaked with sweat and dirt, and the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt had grime along the edges.
“It’s especially important on account of there’s a dance afterwards,” said Clay. “Let’s get moving. We don’t want to miss out on the fun.”
Trotting behind Clay, they went to their rooms, both on the third floor, and Jamie nearly collapsed once he got inside his own room. Both from exhaustion and from the fact that someone had made his bed and opened the windows to let the breeze flow through. In a panic, he checked the money in his top drawer, and let out a whoosh of air when he found it was still there.
