On the way to the interview, she talked herself up. “That’s right. I’m not the type to let one sour relationship ruin an entire business venture. I’ll show all of them what I’m capable of, Cole included, and then he’ll regret running out on me. He’ll regret doubting that I could handle a situation like his. Because I can handle anything.” She straightened her spine, adjusted her posture, and marched faster. “I can handle anything.”
The person she was supposed to interview was already standing on her front porch. Much to Kat’s surprise, Charlie was a young woman, exceptionally tall, physically intimidating. Kat made amental note that she didn’t even need to ask whether the girl could lift full bags of feed. That, and she’d clearly shown up early. Points in her favor straight off the bat.
“Hello.” Kat offered her hand. “I’m Katherine Naylor. You can call me Kat.”
Charlie took her hand and gave her a firm shake. “Charlieworks for me.”
The interview went better than Kat could have predicted. Charlie had loads of experience. Her own family owned a ranch two towns over, and Charlie had been working it for as long as she could remember. She was unusually comfortable around horses, in particular, her family’s ranch being a horse ranch. She was perfect in almost every way, and Kat had already decided that if her background check came out clean, she was as good as hired.
Then she got to availability. “I can start in about six weeks,” Charlie said. “When school’s out.”
Kat’s inner optimism crumbled at her feet. She needed someone before that. Didn’t she? But this girl was perfect, and it felt like Kat had already interviewed every other eligible candidate in town. This was going to be scary, but Tony’s words had given her the courage she needed. “Well,” she said, “I was hoping for someone a little sooner than that. But as far as I can tell, you’re pretty much perfect for the job. So, here’s the deal. Unless something shocking comes up in your background check, you’ve got the job. I’ll call as soon as I know for sure, but you can pretty much count on it at this point. Does that sound like a plan?”
“Yes!” Charlie failed to hide how thrilled she was to have the job. “I mean, thank you. I mean, you won’t regret it, boss.”
“It’s OK to call me Kat,” Kat said, shaking the girl’s hand again. “And I know I won’t regret it. I’m going to need a horse expert around here since I plan to get a couple more horses.”
They stood, and Kat walked Charlie back to her car. Charlie got talkative on the way. “I’ve been following you on social media,” she said. “So I kind of already know the horses you have. I think it’s great what you’re doing here, and I’m so excited to be part of it.”
Kat burst out laughing when she heard that. “Now, why didn’t you say any of that in the interview? That would have been the perfect way to ingratiate yourself with me.”
Charlie shook her head. “I wanted to get the job on my merits. And I wanted to offer a bit of a suggestion, if you don’t mind.”
“I never mind suggestions from my people,” Kat said. “We’re going to be a team. More ideas are a good thing.”
“I can already tell you’re going to be a stellar boss,” Charlie said with a grin. “Well, I was going to suggest you look into possibly getting a donkey on the property.”
“A donkey?” Kat tilted her head to one side. “Why?”
“In my experience, they’re popular with kids who are scared of horses. They’re smaller, less intimidating, and great with children. If you find one with a gentle personality, you can offer rides to kids who are too small for horses.”
It wasn’t bad advice, Kat thought, something worth thinking about at the very least. “I’ll take that into consideration,” she said. “And I’m guessing I’ll see you in six weeks.”
Charlie looked like she was holding in a massive celebration, like she wanted to scream like a teenager and bounce up and down.“Thank you, boss! I mean, Kat. Thank you so much. I think I’m going to love working here.”
There was something so satisfying about making someone feel so good. Delivering good news was Kat’s favorite thing to do. She wished there was a job that was just like that all the time. More and more, she was feeling optimistic about her future and the future of her ranch.
She quickly found Tony and told him the news. “I think she’s going to be awesome.”
“I’m glad,” Tony said. “You’re due for a win or two.”
“And she recommended we look into a donkey for the smaller kids who are scared of horses. What do you think of that advice?”
He sat down on a hay bale and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a bandana he had tucked away in the center pocket of his overalls. “Well, it sounds like decent advice if we can find the right animal. It’ll need the right personality, but I can think of a few places we might check out.”
“I think she’s going to be perfect.” Kat sat next to him. Oddly, she felt about as tired as he looked. She hadn’t done a lot of physical work that day. Most of it had been administrative stuff, but she felt like she’d just painted a coat on one of the guest cabins all by herself. It was probably the stress of holding yet another interview and worrying it wasn’t going to work out. “The only problem is that she isn’t available for another six weeks. I’m not sure if I should try to find someone else.”
She told Tony this to give him the chance to offer his input. He was the only one who knew how much he could tackle without re-injuring his back. But he was too proud to bring it up in complaint. She figured he would find it easier to adviseher on hiring than complain about his back. However subtle she thought she was being, though, it was apparently not subtle enough.
“Don’t you worry about me, kid,” he said. “If you can handle it, I can handle it, remember? Sounds like you found the perfect hand. Six weeks of a little hard work will be well worth it.”
Kat took a deep breath and gathered her courage. “All right. Let’s do it. By the way, can you get like a pre-purchase inspection for a donkey?”
He laughed. “A pre-purchase exam, you mean? That’s a good idea. I’ll call around.”
Kat wentto meet the vet and the donkey on a Tuesday. The sellers had a very nice setup compared to some of the places she’d visited, and the donkey was a delightful creature.
“Her name’s Dolly,” the seller said.
