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FRANK NOTED THE ABRUPT shift in Kiera’s tone and motioned for the check. She didn’t want to talk about the job she was in the midst of quitting. Fair enough. The shift from finance to photography seemed extreme, but what did he know about her existing talents? She’d said it was a hobby, but for some, hobby skillsets were greater than their professional ones.
He refused her offer to split the check, which upset her further. “Next time, you pay,” he said, which seemed to mollify her. And gave him the satisfaction of thinking there would be a next time.
“Are they delivering your car to the ranch?” he asked once they’d left the restaurant.
“Against their attempts to drop it off in Deer Ridge, yes. I mean, how was I supposed to get to wherever they wanted to drop it off when I didn’t have a car until they delivered it?”
Frank could imagine Kiera sticking to her guns, insisting things be done her way, and he suppressed a laugh. “A very logical argument.”
“Drop me at the guesthouse, please,” she said when they turned down the drive to the ranch.
Part of him hoped she’d invite him in, but he didn’t expect it. When she hopped out of the truck and headed for the porch, he wasn’t surprised.
He escorted her to her door, accepted her quick good-bye and thanks, then drove to the main house. Just because he hadn’t expected her to invite him in didn’t mean he wasn’t disappointed. They could have continued to discuss the cattle rustling, but their morning at the market had covered that ground.
Kiera was on vacation, she’d said. Was she interested in a vacation fling? Was he? Maybe, if they’d both been on vacation, where things weren’t grounded in his reality. How much interest had she shown in him? It had been all about playing detective for her.
He needed to talk to Derek, fill him in, let him update the ranchers that Bart Braverman might be looking for barbed wire, although no decent businessperson would source materials without a commitment. He set a reminder to call him tomorrow.
Had there been any reports of more missing cattle?
He parked the truck by the backdoor. Derek wasn’t at the house. Tanya was in the kitchen, foil-wrapping huge sandwich rolls filled with the pulled pork she’d made yesterday.
“Dinner on the go today,” she said. “Can I fix you one?”
“Thanks, but I’ve already eaten. Where’s Derek?”
Tanya stacked the sandwiches into a cooler, then sliced a pan of cobbler into squares. “Everyone should be in the north pasture. Least that’s where they’d better be if they want to eat. Don’t mind delivery, but don’t like having to make stops all over the ranch.”
“How’s the heifer?”
“Doing okay, I guess. Mr. Bryce left her, and he wouldn’t have if she’d still been doing poorly.”
“Any word on the other missing animals?” he asked.
Tanya filled a carton with plates, napkins, cups, and other accoutrements. “Nobody said nothing to me, so they’s probably still missing.”
“Derek mention if he’d be out all day?” Judging from his file folders of bookkeeping paperwork he’d seen yesterday, there was plenty for the boss to do in the house.
“Didn’t say. You can help me load the pickup,” Tanya said. “Grab the lemonade jug if you don’t mind.”
“Course not.” Frank hefted the five-gallon container. Ice clattered from inside as he hoisted it into the bed of the truck.
Frank climbed in the cab alongside Tanya. She phoned to alert the hands she was on her way, and they headed across the ranch.
Tanya was unusually quiet.
Frank hesitated, but if whatever was bothering Tanya impacted the ranch, he wanted to know. “Something wrong?”
“You won’t say nothing?”
He couldn’t be responsible for Tanya leaving the Triple-D. “Will there be trouble if I do? I hate to make a promise if speaking out could solve a problem.”
“I don’t know. See, I know I’m just the cook, but most times, nobody’s around when I’m cooking. Sometimes there’s a phone call. Mr. Derek has said I can ignore the phone, but a couple times I answered. Cause, like if the vet was supposed to call, or we was expecting a delivery, and I was afraid if they got the voicemail, then they might not call back, like if Mr. Derek was going to be gone a spell.”
“I understand, Tanya, and I don’t think there’s an issue. Derek would want to know right away if there was going to be a change of plans. Because he said you could ignore the phone doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t answer.”
“See, yeah, that’s what I thought. Only this past week, the phone kept ringing and ringing. I answered two times. Someone—a man—didn’t leave a name—just hollered if Mr. Derek didn’t pay up quick, he’d regret it. Those were his exact words. He’d regret it.”
“Did you tell Derek?”
She shook her head. “No, ’cause I couldn’t say who it was or what it was about. I didn’t want him to get mad at me, what with a ’nonymous call and me answering the phone and all. Then there was the trouble with the cows, and I’m wondering if maybe they’s connected.”
If Frank hadn’t already sensed Tanya was upset, the way her language had degenerated was a flashing neon sign.
“Tanya, I’m sure Derek would appreciate knowing. Would you like me to tell him?”
“You’d do that, Mr. Frank?”
“Of course. I have other things I want to talk to him about, so I’ll add your information.”
They pulled up to the pasture. Tanya honked the horn, then set up the meal. Tim and Bryce joined them. Tim hobbled his horse in a grassy area. Bryce didn’t bother dismounting. Both men made a beeline for the pickup.
“Where’s D-Man?” Frank asked.
“He’ll be here soon. He wanted to get one last string of wire up first,” Tim said.
Frank helped himself to a glass of lemonade. “How’s it going?”
“You know the boss,” Tim said. “As long as we’re mending fence, we might as well do the whole pasture.”
Bryce grabbed a sandwich. “Going to check on the heifer.” He took off for the barn.
“That man.” Tanya fisted her hands at her ample hips. “Eatin’ dinner on horseback’s gonna give him indigestion for sure.”
Hoofbeats announced a rider on approach. Frank glanced up to see Zephyr and Derek trotting easily toward the group.
Tanya sidled closer to Frank. “You wait until he’s had his dinner before you bother Mr. Derek. Don’t need two cowboys with indigestion. Not from my cooking.”
“That’s their problem, not your cooking, Tanya, but I’ll wait.”
Derek swung down from Zephyr, looped his reins around an aspen branch, then strode to the pickup where Tanya handed him his dinner.
“Didn’t expect to see you today, Frank,” Derek said. “You have news for me?”
Derek’s expression was one of hope. Frank hated to be the bearer of news Derek didn’t want to hear.
~~
KIERA TOOK HER PURCHASES out of the bags and spread them on the coffee table. Maybe she’d gone a little overboard, but nothing had been outrageously expensive. Most of what she’d bought would be gifts, and it felt good to be giving, unlike at her job—her former job, she reminded herself—where it was always about taking.
True, she did well enough for her clients, but well enough wasn’t as good as it could have been. Didn’t matter. She was done being a financial advisor. Done dodging Stu’s advances. More than done following his suggestions about how to do her job. Why he’d been promoted instead of Madelynn—no need to go there. Of course he’d been promoted over her. She was a woman.
Kiera should have seen the writing on the wall when Hayden announced his retirement. It had been obvious his health was degenerating—both physically and mentally—and Stu had convinced him he was the smartest replacement choice.
Water under the bridge. She took the hatband from the coffee table, ran it through her fingers. Gift wrapping wasn’t an option. No big deal. In her experience, guys didn’t care about the packaging.
What she needed to do now was work on launching her new career. Would Derek agree to her proposal? If not, would his sister? Or the other rancher Frank had mentioned?
She needed more pictures. Camera in hand, she wandered outside the guesthouse, snapping shots of the rustic exterior, then more of the surrounding pastures, cattle scattered like a spilled bag of chocolate chips against the green grass.
Finished, Kiera went inside and grabbed her laptop from her suitcase, opened her word processing program, and started making notes for Derek.
Three pages in, the car rental people arrived and they took care of the requisite paperwork. Kiera had insisted she not have to drive their delivery person back to Colorado Springs. For what she paid in premiums, they could send two vehicles and let their drivers go back together. She wondered if her next car insurance policy would include any modifications in the section about loaners and replacement vehicles, but she didn’t expect to be needing the service in a remote location again.
They’d driven off. Time to present her proposal to Derek. Kiera called the main house. Derek answered, said it would be all right if she came to the house to talk to him. She tucked the hatband into her laptop case and got into her temporary ride. A Chevy, not a Lexus. Silver, not red. Still, it would serve as transportation until she got her settlement from the insurance company and bought something more her style. She headed to the ranch house, parking in the front. Going in through the kitchen wasn’t something she’d do without Frank or another of the ranch hands.
She knocked, and after a moment Derek opened the door.
“Come on in.” He gestured her to the couch.
Before she sat, she fished out the hatband. “A small token of my appreciation for your hospitality.”
He accepted it with a polite smile. She wondered if it was number 362 in his hatband collection. “That’s not a substitute for me paying room and board. And the vet bill.”
“Understood, although I don’t have any numbers for you.”
“Speaking of numbers, that’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about.” She took a seat and unpacked her laptop.
He lowered himself into one of the easy chairs. “I’ve told you, you don’t owe me anything. It’s common country courtesy.”
“Well, I’m not from the country, and I pay my way.” She paused, gathered her thoughts, moved into the proposal she’d rehearsed. Not that different from delivering her finance spiels, although she felt much more comfortable with this one. “I heard you say your bookkeeper retired. I got the distinct impression you weren’t happy with the replacement. My background is in finance. I was a bookkeeper before I became a financial advisor. Since you don’t know what to charge me for the room and food, I’d like to propose a barter system. I’ll handle your books in exchange. My vacation hit a snag, so you’d be helping me out. I’ve got someone house-sitting for me, so it would mess things up for her if I went home now.”
Derek shoved his hands through his hair. “Are you saying you’d like to work for me for the remainder of your vacation time?”
“Yes, I would. Of course, if at any time I’m not meeting your expectations, you can fire me. No questions asked.”
He shoved his hands through his hair again. “Can’t imagine you’d do a worse job than the guy who’s trying to do the job now. I’m at least as good as he is, which isn’t saying much.” He paused a moment. “Hope you don’t take offense, but I’d like references.”
“Of course.” Kiera gave him the name of her boss at her former accounting firm, and the phone number. “I’ll leave you alone while you make the call.”
Kiera went to the front porch and paced. She and George had always worked well together, and she had no doubt he’d give her a good recommendation. Whether it would be enough for Derek remained to be seen. She stopped pacing and checked her phone for messages. None.
Derek opened the door a few moments later, motioned her inside. “If you haven’t changed your mind, the job’s yours.”
She extended a hand. “Deal. I can start right now, but I have something else I’d like to run by you first.”
His eyebrows winged upward. “I’d rather it wait until tomorrow. I’m in the midst of another task at the moment.”
Frank marched into the room. “I think I found something.”