With a small shake of his head he seemed to dismiss this concern and turned to Jamie once more, his attention fully focused now, as though Jamie was the only person who existed on the whole entire planet.
“But she’s happy and healthy and has her garden, so really why would I want to uproot her life just so it fits more comfortably with what I think she needs?”
This statement was almost too much for Jamie to figure out but it told him, all over again, that to Leland, helping others be happy was something that drove him and drove him hard. Which was probably part of the reason he was a foreman at a guest ranch, rather than a foreman at a meat packing plant or whatever.
“Listen,” Leland said. “I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve got to deliver some salt blocks tomorrow. Maybe you can help me.”
“You’re asking formyhelp?” Jamie asked, his eyebrows going up, his hand pointing to his chest.
“Yes, I am,” he said, gesturing at Jamie with his half-drunk bottle of root beer. “It’s ranch policy to go in pairs for jobs that are distant from the main part of the ranch. Horses need salt when the weather gets warmer, and those salt blocks need to be set out for them in the fields.” He seemed to stop himself from saying more on the subject and leaned close as though the answer Jamie would give him was something he very much wanted to hear. “You’d get to see parts of the ranch most guests don’t,” he added.
“Sure, I’ll go,” Jamie said, never even considering saying no. And who would? Errands with Leland Tate? Sign him up. Which was not something he thought he’d ever be thinking only days ago. “What time do we start?”
“We’ll head out just after the general meeting.” Then he seemed to think about it. “Stick by the barn. I’ll get Clay to load the truck, and you and I will head out when the meeting is done.”
“Okay,” Jamie said, feeling buoyed by the bubbles of expectation zooming around inside of him.
“Well, I better get back and help finish out the evening,” said Leland, with another easy smile and a swallow from his bottle of root beer. “Eat a good breakfast, as we’ll be gone till lunch. If you’re not feeling up to it tomorrow, you need to let me know. Deal?”
“It’s a deal,” Jamie said.
“Goodnight,” Leland said, and with a wave he moved from the soft porch light and into the darkness.
“Goodnight, Leland,” Jamie said with a little wave, though there was no-one to see it because absolutely nobody was paying attention to him. Which was fine.
17
Jamie
Jamie woke up feeling like a million bucks, no, make that a billion. His headache was gone and his ribs hurt only a little bit. Plus, as he took a shower and shaved carefully, he knew the reason he was looking forward to the day was because he was going to spend at least part of it with Leland. Just him and Leland, working together. As to what that might lead to, he did not know, but the possibilities felt good, just the same.
He ate his breakfast, quick as he could, and went to the barn to stand with the other ranch hands while the day’s tasks were read out. His chest puffed out as Leland read his name and said what they’d be doing that day, which was, to his amazement, not just delivering salt blocks to the furthest points of the ranch, but also hunting for wasp nests.
He could barely wait for the meeting to be over, but then Leland went off with Maddy, their heads down in what looked like a serious discussion about split-rail fences. By the time Leland came back, waving to Jamie as he came up, it was nearly nine o’clock.
“I’m sorry, I had to take care of that,” said Leland, as he came back into the barn. “Well, come on, Jamie. We’re going to find that wasp nest.”
“That’s okay,” said Jamie, pleased to have Leland to himself at last.
Together they walked out of the barn and into the bright sunshine. It was warmer than it had been before and Jamie was already sweating and hardly knew what to do with himself.
“Wasps like to build nests in corners and crannies around wooden buildings.” Leland took off his hat, ran his fingers through his golden hair, and scanned the ranch, his eyes following the road as the dust from a passing truck settled. “So we’ll go around every building and, when we find the nest, we’ll get some kerosene and burn it out. No sense in guests getting stung, or any more horses running away on account of a wasp stung it.”
Leland was even more handsome, all serious and intent on the work they were doing. Jamie made an effort to focus on the task at hand, and followed Leland around the ranch, helping by not getting in his way as they both looked for the nest.
By the time they made it around the dining hall, climbing through brush on the south side, where it went into the hillside, he was sweating buckets. They took a quick break to get some water and were back at it.
It hardly made sense that he was getting paid just to follow Leland around, but he was. Maybe Leland wanted to spend the time alone with him. Or, what was more likely, maybe Leland just wanted to make sure Jamie didn’t end up sprawled in a field suffering from heat exhaustion again.
They found the wasp nest on the south side of the barn, between the barn and the staff quarters, underneath a low part of the roof. It wasn’t a very big nest, but enough of one to cause a problem. The wasps flitted about silently in and out of the shadow of the roof, deadly yellow in the still, warm air behind the barn.
“I do a walk around and a ride around almost every day,” said Leland, and it took Jamie a minute to realize he was talking to Jamie and not himself. “I can’t believe I missed this one.”
“Well, the wood is faded here,” Jamie said. “The nest blends right in. And the roof hides most of it.”
“That it does,” said Leland. “Nicely spotted. Well, the barn could use a fresh coat of paint anyhow. Let’s go get that kerosene.”
They walked beyond the staff quarters to the supply barn, a huge wooden building that was painted the same greenish-tan as the local grasses, which were growing high, spread out along the hillside.
