“He’ll be here in a minute,” he told her.
“That’s good because—” her voice broke off and she blinked fast, and seemed to be focusing on the ripples of bright water on Horse Creek in order not to let her emotions get the best of her. “Jamie helped me so much.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Leland. “Here he comes.”
In a cloud of dust, Clay drove the F150 into the parking lot, swirling to a stop, applying more than enough brake to make a grand entrance. Jamie hopped out, his hair in its usual disarray beneath his straw hat, his shirtsleeves rolled up, grime spattering the front of his t-shirt.
Clearly he’d been hard at work, and even more clear than that was the fact he’d responded to Leland’s request as if it was of the utmost urgency. Which it was. For some reason, Dorothy’s plight had affected Leland in ways he couldn’t rightly explain. And as for Jamie, Dorothy had turned to him in her hour of need. And now here Jamie was, a smile on his face, eyes bright.
“Hey, Dorothy,” Jamie said, coming right up to her. “That your van? Are you heading out?”
“Yes, I am,” she said. “And I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me. I don’t know how I could have managed as well this week without you.”
“You did good,” Jamie said. “And you were very brave.”
“I didn’t feel brave,” she said, a worried expression curving her mouth down. “Especially on that trail ride—”
“Youwerebrave,” said Jamie. “And you handled Travelle just right. I could tell she felt confident you were her rider.”
“Really?” asked Dorothy. Her dark eyes looked sad again, and Leland imagined he knew she was thinking about her husband.
“Sure,” said Jamie. “First time I got on a horse, I nearly fell of the other side. You were much better than me when I first started.”
“You think so?” she asked. Now her smile came back, and her cheeks were pink with pleasure.
“I know so.”
Jamie’s confidence in her perked her up as much as praise from Leland might have done. Somehow, coming from Jamie, the words meant more to her, had the power to convince her she’d done well.
“Here,” she said, digging in her purse, which was slung over her shoulder. Pulling her hand from her purse, she held out three twenty-dollar bills. “I want you to have this.”
“Oh.” Jamie paused, flicked a look at Leland, then shook his head. “We’re not supposed to take tips,” he said. “And anyway, I’d be handing this over to Maddy, and it’d go in the kitty for the end-of-the-year party we have for staff. I wouldn’t be keeping it.”
“Well, in that case.” Dorothy reached into her purse and pulled out more twenty-dollar bills and placed all the money in Jamie’s palm, using a gentle hand to curl his fingers around the bills. “Please take it,” she said. “I want you all to have a wonderful party.”
Jamie was looking at Leland, so he nodded, and Jamie took the money and handed it to Leland. Then, all on his own, he reached to hug Dorothy, and she hugged him right back, and for a minute they were still, hugging each other, and Leland realized, with some worry, that Dorothy was crying.
“Don’t be sad, Dorothy,” said Jamie, almost whispering. “You can come back next year and ride Travelle again. She’ll be waiting for you.”
“We’ll all be waiting for you,” said Leland. The van driver was looking impatient, and it was time for Dorothy to head out or she’d miss her flight. Moments like this, where guests and staff connected so hard, were some of the best parts of his job, but also the hardest. Emotions ran high when it was time for goodbye, but seeing this now, between Jamie and Dorothy, was a kind of gift.
“Thank you again, Jamie,” said Dorothy, pulling back. Taking a tissue from her purse, she scrubbed at her eyes with it and did her best to smile. “This was the best vacation I’ve ever had, and I owe it to you and Mr. Tate here.”
“Leland, ma’am,” he said. “Please call me Leland.”
“Thank you, Leland,” she said, and with that, she boarded the van, the van driver slid the door shut, got in, and drove away in a small cloud of dust.
“Is it always that sad, saying goodbye?” Jamie looked up at him, his eyes bright.
“Sometimes,” said Leland. “But even if it’s sad, it’s good. You know?”
“Yeah.” Jamie sighed and looked at Clay, who was waiting in the truck, doors open. “Well, I better get back at it. See you later?”
“Yes, later,” said Leland. He bumped his shoulder against Jamie’s and watched him get in the truck, watched Clay drive off in an even bigger cloud of dust than the one he’d arrived in, and sighed.
When the last guest had departed, he went to the back of the dining hall and poured a bucket of cold water over his head and went outside to bid the repairman hello when he arrived. The ice machine was fixed and churning out ice in under an hour.
He headed up to the barn where he and Bill and Maddy had a quick meeting about other repairs that needed doing. Levi joined them to discuss the wholesale ordering of potatoes from a fellow up in Idaho, rather than going through the local supermarket chain, and everyone approved. It was the way Leland liked to do things, letting people come up with ideas so everybody had a shared responsibility in the running of the ranch.
