“Clint Woodson wasn’t around much until Thane left, right? I mean, Thane never even mentioned his neighbor.”
“That’s right. I barely knew who he was until Thane deployed. And like I said, I didn’t let Thane know what a pest Clint has been. I didn’t want to worry him when he was so far from home. He couldn’t do anything about Clint.”
“He could have asked some guys here to be a buffer to keep him from disturbing you.”
“I was afraid he would ask Slade and Slade has all he can handle.”
Mike nodded. As he sipped his beer and looked at the yard, her gaze ran over him. She guessed he was several inches over six feet. He had a narrow waist and long legs. He had one booted foot on his knee and he looked completely relaxed. With the physical awareness she had of him—she was certain it was mutual—was she asking for more trouble by going to the club with him next weekend?
He had been nothing but polite toward her, yet she knew he felt something, too. That made her doubly aware of him. At least, in Mike’s case, his reactions seemed unwanted. He seemed to have no personal interest in her and she was glad. She hurt over her loss of the man she loved and she didn’t want anyone else in her life yet.
“I hope we’re doing the right thing by going to the club Friday night.”
He misinterpreted her meaning, and she let him. “It won’t hurt to let him think there’s a man in your life now. Besides, it’s an evening out,” he said, smiling at her.
Maybe, she thought, but it wasn’t an ordinary evening out. Not when her skin sizzled at his smile.
“I hope Clint is there Friday night. The tickets were bought in my name, so he can find out if I plan to attend.”
“If I had to bet, from what you’ve told me, I’d put money on your neighbor being there Friday night.” He finished off his beer then stood. “I should get going now, Vivian.” When he simply said her name, she felt another ripple of attraction.
He began to pick up the dishes but she stopped him. “Leave everything, Mike,” she said. “I can carry that stuff to the kitchen.”
“So can I,” he said and left with everything on the tray except her glass of water. She waited until he returned.
“Thanks for coming to work at the Tumbling T Ranch.”
“I promised Thane I would. I’m keeping that promise. If it’s a quiet weekend, I won’t even come by Monday morning. I can send you a text.”
“Thanks. Be sure to make a list of what you want done to Slade’s house and when he leaves, we can be ready to get a crew started making changes.”
“Sure. I travel lightly, as I said before, and all I need is a bed at night, so I don’t think I’ll have many changes. Thanks for the beer and I’ll see you next week,” he said and turned to walk away in long purposeful strides.
She watched him get in his pickup and drive away without looking back.
He said he traveled light and there was no woman in his life to mind if he took her out Friday night. Thane and Slade thought he was a great guy. Other than that, she knew nothing about him. She had a feeling she would have to depend on him for a lot of things concerning the ranch. She had with Slade, but that had been different, she admitted.
She pulled the diamond pendant Thane had sent home from under her red T-shirt and rolled the diamond between her fingers while she thought about Mike. She added one more item to the list of what she knew about the man: She had an electrifying reaction to him.
“Thane, sweetie, why did you hire Mike and send him here?” she sighed. “I have a feeling he’s going to complicate my life.”
* * *
Mike stepped back and watched the foal stand on its wobbly legs. “She’s a little beauty,” he said.
“She is,” Slade agreed. “Her mama’s one of our best mares. The foal is perfect and you did a good, efficient delivery job here, Mike, but I knew you would. Thane really had faith in you.”
Mike smiled. “I’m beginning to think Thane laid it on a little thick when he told all of you about me. And I think the mama gets credit for her baby coming easily into the world.”
Slade shook his head. “Nope. Thane wouldn’t exaggerate. I don’t worry about leaving here now.” He regarded the newborn foal more closely then turned to Mike. “You know, I worked for Thane’s grandfather actually, so I’ve been here a long time and I can tell you, you’ll like it here. This is a good place and you’ll get to run it like it’s your own ranch, at least until she marries again or sells the place. The hermit life she leads isn’t going to get her married, though. She’s had a rough time over losing Thane.”
“That part about running this place the way I want sounds good,” Mike said. “But in my experience, there’s always something you didn’t count on happening and it throws you.”
“That’s life, but I’m relieved you’re here to handle it so I can get out of here a little sooner. I’ve worked hard all my life. Mike, I’m seventy-eight and I’m ready to retire and I’ve got a back problem that driving a pickup over rough ground or sitting in a saddle or a thousand other things around here aggravates. I want to sit under the shade of a tree with a cold beer and enjoy my grandkids.”
Mike clapped the man on his shoulder. “I hope you get to do that for a long time, Slade. This is a good ranch and I’m glad to have a job here.” He bent down to pick up his delivery instruments from the hay-covered floor. “Mrs. Warner doesn’t seem to take much interest in it, though.”
“She doesn’t know anything about ranching and I don’t think she cares. I doubt she’ll stay. She liked it out here fine enough when her husband was alive but now... Well, I think she stays because it’s peaceful for her and she can paint and she goes to Santa Fe and Houston and other places with her art. She won’t interfere with you. As far as daily living, this ranch might as well belong to me and it might as well belong to you when I leave. You’ll have free rein to run it the way you want. There are good weeks like this past one and then there are times when you think everything has gone to hell. Fires, bad weather, drought, but you’ve been in worse situations where men around you died, so this probably looks pretty good.”
Mike stood up. “It looks damn good.”
Slade nodded. “I figured since you were buddies with Thane and he thought you were such a great rancher that you might be more likely to want your own spread.”
“Nope. I don’t come from money,” Mike said. “Far from it. This job is better than what I expected to begin with when I got home. If Mrs. Warner sells the place and I don’t like the new boss, I can move on to another job.”
“Frankly, I was glad to hear you weren’t getting your own place. I was surprised, though, because I wondered how long you’d work for someone else. I thought maybe you were doing this to get some experience.”
Mike shook his head. “I’m doing it because I get paid to do it.” He didn’t tell Slade about his promise to Thane.
“I can relate to that,” Slade said, pushing off from the stall gate. “Best be going now, son. Mrs. Warner told me she asked you to take her out because of that damn Woodson. I think that will run him off fast. You go get cleaned up. This little baby looks fine and dandy.” They both looked at the foal, its spindly long legs already steadier.
“She’s beautiful,” Mike said. “So is her mama.” He finished gathering up his things and placed them in the box in the back of his pickup.
Mike climbed into the truck, waved and drove away, heading back to the guesthouse to get ready for his first date with Vivian Warner.
He only wished he was looking forward to it as much as Slade seemed to be.