“When Lily and I went to Sweet Maple Falls last week for dinner, we bumped into Rose Anderson.”
“Our vet?”
“Yeah. She was having dinner with a friend, a wedding planner, and she was just saying there are a lack of venues around here. On the way home Lily said it was a shame the barn wasn’t in better condition as it would be a good revenue earner.”
Nodding, I looked back over to the barn. “I agree, but it’s in pretty shit condition.”
“I know, but we have enough money to spend on making it a top class venue.”
“And so, what are you thinking? Asking about permissions when we go into town?”
He shrugged. “May as well. What do you think?”
“I agree. Let’s go for it. Spoken to Wilder about it?’
“Mentioned it when I asked about the house, and he said he needed a shit so just do what I thought best.”
We both burst out laughing. That was typical of our youngest brother. Who knew that he could be such a whizz at accounting and wrangling cows!
“Right, I’m going to get to work.” I gave my brother a nudge. “I’ll see you back at home at three.”
He saluted me and then turned back to the house and as I watched him go, I saw Bertie running around with her puppy Dorcas Gailen while Lily looked on with Billy on her hip, and my heart swelled. My brother deserved the good after the years of manipulation from our dad. He’d been the one who’d made Lily leave town and Nash for ten fucking years. All that shit was over now, and Lily had brought so much to all our lives. Satisfied that all was good in life, I turned and went to start my day.
“Charlie, how’s things going with Momma’s Pride?” I asked, searching on my desk for a packet of gum I knew was there somewhere. When she didn’t answer I looked up.
She picked at her bottom lip and sighed. “Dick Hazel keeps calling in and trying to tell me what we should and shouldn’t be doing. He was trying to force me to put a saddle on him yesterday.”
The anger blew through me like a summer grassfire, heating my veins until it felt like they might set me alight. “Who the fuck does Hazel think he is? I know he’s the owner, but for fuck’s sake. Why didn’t you come and get me?”
“You were in Clementine, at the feed store.” Her tone was defensive and spiked concern in me. “I knew Nash was busy interviewing for the new cook.”
“What about Wilder? Did you try him?”
“I did, on the radio, but he was on the far west side of the property, and I couldn’t contact him.”
Her cheeks pinked and I shook my head. My damn brother. If I was guessing right I’d say he’d hooked up with her. If I thought that he’d ignored her radio call on purpose then I’d rip him a new one.
“How did you handle it, then?” I perched on the edge of my desk, watching as she twisted her fingers together. I wasn’t a hard boss, I was fair and listened to what my staff had to say, so why the hell did she look so nervous and why did I feel apprehensive. “What did you do, Charlie?”
“He wouldn’t stop, Gunner. He was insisting and yelling at me.”
Exhaling an infuriated breath, I dug my fingertips into the edge of the desk, gripping it like I might fall off if I didn’t. “Did you put a saddle on that horse, Charlie?”
“You have to understand, Gunner it?—”
“Don’t even try to explain it away. You know how long I’ve been working with that horse. How damaged he was and how slow I wanted to take it.” I pushed off the desk and hung my hands from my hips. “And you’ve put a saddle on his back when he wasn’t ready.” Another fortifying breath didn’t calm my anger; this was too important for me to brush off as a silly mistake. “You know better, Charlie. You’ve worked for me long enough to know that when I set out a rehabilitation plan for a horse, it’s with good reason. I don’t just make them up as I go along.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but God, it was one time.” The stubborn jut of her chin told me I wasn’t getting through.
“Don’t give me attitude, Charlie. That’s not how we do things around here, you know that.”
“Well, if you’d been here then?—”
“No.” I pointed a finger at her. “Don’t you dare do that. If you think you need me here every second of every day then we have a problem. Maybe that means you’re not ready to be my deputy.”
“I am, you know I am,” she protested. “I work hard, you know I do.”
“Everybody on this damn ranch works hard, that doesn’t mean they’re qualified to handle million dollar horses. Whereas you.” I widened my gaze, leaning the top half of my body closer to her. “You are supposed to be, but that’s not what I’m getting from this situation, Charlie.”
