“Sure,” Jamie said, feeling drained not only by the amount of energy she had but by the idea of doing something that would require him to keep moving, long after his body just wanted to quit. His ribs hurt, his feet hurt, and he had blisters where none should be. The last thing he wanted to do was dance.
Besides, Leland would probably be there, and the last thing Jamie wanted to do was face him after having interrupted Leland while he was trying to mingle with guests. On the other hand, maybe Jamie could sit on the sidelines and watch from afar.
It was only after he handed her back the clipboard and pen did he remember the thousand bucks Mr. Ayers had given him. But Maddy walked away before he could say anything, and as he watched her go, he felt like a thief keeping what wasn’t rightfully his. He’d just signed the policy, so it wasn’t like he didn’t know. But if he gave up the thousand dollars, he’d be giving up part of his future dreams of going back to college.
In the end, he stuck around for the dance, and got roped into setting up the little twinkling lights hung on poles around the open space in front of the dining hall, and on the front porch of the dining hall. When the lights were turned on, it really did look festive and sweet.
Grabbing a can of soda from the big barrel full of ice, he propped himself along the edge of the porch where the band was finishing setting up.
All the guests came and huddled in the open area until the dance instructor, a sprightly older woman all decked out in cowgirl gear, came up, grabbed the microphone, and told them what to do.Move this way, move that, spin about, and don’t forget to smile!
When the band played, it all got pretty lively and nobody seemed to mind that he was just sitting there. Maybe he added to the atmosphere, or maybe nobody noticed that he wasn’t joining in. None of that mattered as he drank his soda and watched everybody having a good time. It was a pretty sight, watching everybody whirl and step on each other's toes and laugh and bow to each other and try again.
The sight got even better when Leland showed up, wearing a fancy red cowboy shirt with pearl-snap buttons. He got in one of the lines, and some of the staff, Clay included, went with him to mix and mingle and show the guests how to have a good time.
A sigh went through Jamie’s whole body as he watched Leland dance. Leland knew the steps, knew how to move those long legs of his, and it was hard for Jamie to look away, to look anywhere else. When Leland rolled up his shirt sleeves and scraped his hands through his stand-up hair, Jamie almost wanted to get up and join him.
In a pause in the dancing, Leland scanned the crowd as though making sure everybody was having as good a time as they ought to be having. When his eyes rested on Jamie, who suddenly felt like he was sitting there like a pile of mud, there was a question in his grey-blue eyes as to whether Jamie would be getting up to dance, though really Leland looked away too fast for Jamie to be sure.
All the same, Jamie’s body seemed to shift all on its own, a reaction to that quick glance, that imagined question. But he couldn’t respond. Leland was his boss, and approaching him outside of a certain context would get Jamie turned away. Leland had only sat with him the one time because it was part of his job. That was the way with bosses, and he needed to stay the hell away from any other kind of thinking.
On top of which, he was in possession of a thousand bucks that wasn’t rightfully his. What would Leland say if he knew Jamie wanted to keep the money? He’d get one of those disappointed looks, with Leland narrowing those grey-blue eyes of his. Then he’d set his shoulders back and look down his nose, like Jamie’d crawled out from under a rock.
Starting to sweat, Jamie clenched the empty soda can in his fist, his body reacting to the sugar like he’d dumped it into an empty gas tank. He didn’t want that look, never wanted that look, but he was going to get it if he didn’t figure out something fast.
On one hand, nobody would ever know about the money, not if Jamie didn’t tell them. Of course, Mr. Ayers might make a casual mention about it, and somehow it might get back to Leland, though that wasn’t likely.
At any rate, turning over the money because he might get found out wasnotthe right reason to turn the money over. Turning it over because it was the ranch’s policy was the right reason to do it.
He would be out a thousand bucks if he turned it over. But there was something else, too, that might happen. He’d get a different response from Leland, one that would be like finding a buried vein of gold. Leland would saythank youandwell done,and he’d know how much Jamie could be trusted.
A more sensible person would have stopped Maddy earlier as she walked off with the clipboard and told her the truth. But there was another way he could take care of this.
Slowly, he got up, disposed of his soda can in the recycling barrel, and walked to his room. It seemed like a long way to go as he left the dancing and fun behind to grab a thousand bucks that would have done him a whole lot more good than it would the ranch. Except it wasn’t rightfully his money.
All the way to his room, he thought about it. Thought about giving half to Leland, or maybe even just a few hundred of it, and keeping the rest for himself. He thought about what Leland would say, the look he would give him, if he ever found out Jamie had held some of the money back. Besides, he knew he would feel like crap if he outright lied to Leland like that.
Once in his room, with the soft, gentle breeze coming through the open windows, ruffling the thin white curtains, he stood there at the dresser with the folded bills pressed to his forehead.
Since his parent’s divorce, and he’d been on his own, he’d never held that amount of money, never had a decision like the one he had now. But he knew what he needed to do. If he wanted to turn his life around and stop drifting, then he needed to follow the rules of the ranch. It was the right thing to do. It was what Leland would say was the right thing to do. And then, when he did it, maybe Leland would smile at him, maybe.
14
Leland
The first full day of week two was well underway, with the guests having a quick lesson in line dancing on the large porch in front of the dining hall after dinner. The air was cool, and the flickering small lights gave the porch an atmosphere of a shared secret celebration. Lanterns, handmade out of iron by the ranch’s very own Jasper, added a rustic air.
“Quint and Brody are going to take everyone on a half-day trail ride tomorrow,” Leland said to Maddy with a tired smile. He’d done his bit and danced with the guests, and now he could call his evening his own, once he finished up going over arrangements for the next day with her.
“If the weather holds, which it should,” she said, checking the item on her clipboard and sounding for all the world as though the weather better hold or she’d have something to say about it. “How’s Jamie doing? He looked a little tired when I spoke to him earlier.”
“Good, as far as I know,” he said, somewhat distracted as he thought about Jamie. “I’m just going to check with Clay, who was taking him under his wing.”
“Don’t forget, he needs a new driver’s license. He needs to have that, so don’t forget.” She shook her head at him as though worried about his forgetfulness. “Remember to help him with the bankandhis driver’s license.”
“Yes, ma’am and I will,” said Leland. Maddy was a stickler for following procedure, for which he was glad. Without her, the ranch would not have been as well run. “I’ll take care of the account and the license, end of the week by the latest.”
With a nod, she was off, and he went down the steps from the porch of the dining hall, going to the barn where some of the hands were just finishing the last touches to prepare for the trail ride the next day. There he found Clay, working late as usual, just coming out of his office.
