“Do you have any idea where you’re going?”
“No, but I’m hoping to see someone we can ask.” Cindy led the way, despite having no sense of direction.
“Jeb told us where it was.” Trisha looked behind her, straining her ears to see if she heard anyone, but all she heard were birds, and what sounded like a moo from a cow.
Cindy stopped, turning toward her. “I could hardly understand a word he said. He talked faster than me, which is quite a feat.” She spun back around to continue her hunt.
“Quite a feat indeed.” Trisha chuckled under her breath.
“I heard that.” They walked into a clearing. A large building sat in front of them with voices travelling from the open door. “Ta-daaa!” Cindy threw her arm out like Vanna White as if she’d achieved more than following a dirt path.
Following Cindy through the door, she stopped cold. Virtually every person inside the building was male, and when she said male, she meant the place was bursting with testosterone. To her relief, her gaze landed on a table with a few women, one who was waving them over.
“Oh, my God, I’ve died and gone to cowboy heaven.” Cindy sighed, her eyes wide with delight.
A tall handsome man, with a severe limp, walked into the middle of the room. “Can everyone find a seat, please?”
“Put your tongue back in your mouth and come on.” Trisha headed over to where the woman was waving at them.
When everyone settled, the man continued, “I’m Tim McCabe. I, along with my mother, Maggie, who most of you met when you registered, and my brother, Jake, welcome you to the McCabe Ranch.”
Glancing at Cindy, Trisha nudged her. “You okay?” Cindy stared openly at the man, an unreadable expression sitting on her face.
Cindy looked at her with a blank stare. “What?” Then she frowned as if Trisha’s words just registered. “I’m fine.”
“Breakfast is at six, lunch at twelve, and dinner at six. I have everyone’s first job assignment, which I’ll pass out shortly,” the man continued, looking straight at their table.
“Six o’clock? In the morning?” That seemed to snap Cindy out of her trance. “I’m not getting up at six for breakfast. I’m on vacation.”
“Is there a problem?” The man frowned under his cowboy hat.
“Yes.” Cindy stood. “What happens if we don’t get here by six for breakfast? Can we order room service?”
Trisha cringed at the laughter coming from the cowboys in the room. Glancing toward Tim McCabe, she noticed he didn’t seem to find it funny at all.
“Then you miss breakfast, ma’am.” The man’s voice didn’t sound as friendly as before, which should have been a warning to Cindy.
“No TV, no phone, now no room service, and I bet a pool is totally out of the question,” Cindy said in disbelief. “I don’t want to be rude…”
Again Trisha cringed. When Cindy said those words, she knew she was about to be just that. “Cindy.” Trisha tugged on her shirt and received a quick glare.
“…but this place isn’t going to rate very high on the USA’s best vacation spot,” Cindy finished without regret.
Trisha prayed very hard for a large sinkhole to open up beneath her. Slowly, she raised her fingers to her temples, hoping to rub away the throbbing that was growing.
“The McCabe Ranch isn’t trying to rate high on anyone’s list, ma’am.” The way he said ma’am sounded more like an insult. “We are a working ranch. When you sign on, you sign on to work. Didn’t you read the brochure?”
When Trisha snorted, Cindy glared once more at her. “I must have skipped over that part,” she replied before slowly sitting down, a large frown on her face. She looked around the table. “Did you all know about this?”
Everyone looked at her as if she’d lost her mind and Trisha wondered if her friend actually had. “I’m sure they read the brochure, Cindy,” Trisha whispered, before switching her attention back to Tim McCabe.
“Are there any other questions?” When no one answered, he continued, “As I was saying, and what the brochure states…”
“Oh, a cowboy comedian,” Cindy hissed. “How charming!”
“Shush.” Trisha scolded her with a kick under the table.
“…we are a working ranch. Each one of you will be given jobs where you will be working alongside one of our ranch hands. If for any reason you cannot do a job or are uncomfortable with it, let us know right away and we will find a suitable solution.” His eyes scanned over each of them, but landed and stayed on Cindy.
“Why does he keep glaring at me?” Cindy leaned back, crossing her arms.
Trisha ignored her. She was excited about learning and doing something different. Being a teacher, she loved taking different experiences back to her students.
“Bob Lewis and Jim Holland?” Tim called out, looking again toward their table. When the two men raised their hands, he smiled. “You’ll be working with Stan.”
A large, older man stood, heading their way. He shook Bob and Jim’s hand while Tim continued down the list. He continued reading through a list, pairing visitors off with ranch hands. Reaching the end, he continued, “Okay, folks. We have a few recreational activities in the building next to the main house that you are all welcome to enjoy tonight before we start at six a.m. sharp.” He once again eyed Cindy before speaking. “Now grab a plate and eat up.”
Trisha watched as Tim limped away. “He didn’t call our names.” Trisha frowned, looking at Cindy.
“I don’t know,” Cindy replied, standing with a stretch before heading for the food. “I didn’t come here to work. I came here for some relaxation and so did you.”
“Cindy, if you would have read the brochure, you would have known about all of this.” Trisha sometimes wanted to strangle her friend.
“I wish everyone would shut the hell up about the damn brochure.” Cindy grabbed a plate and waited in line. “So I didn’t read the damn thing. Who cares?”
“I do,” Trisha grumbled. “I’m going to find out what’s going on.”
“You do that,” Cindy called out after her.
Trisha spotted Tim talking to a group of men. “Excuse me.” Trisha stopped beside him. “Mr. McCabe.”
Tim glanced down at her with a hesitant smile. “What can I do for you, ma’am?”
Anxious with having the attention of three handsome men, she became tongue-tied. “Ah.” She cleared her throat, cursing herself. “I was wondering why you didn’t call my name. I’m Trisha Summers.”
“Actually, I was getting ready to talk to you and your friend.” Tim glanced over to where Cindy was piling her plate with food. “I’m sorry about the confusion and will be more than willing to refund your money.”
Trisha frowned. “But I don’t want my money back.” She tried not to stare too long at him, but Tim McCabe was one hell of a handsome man.
“What about your friend?” He nodded toward Cindy.
“She’ll be fine.” Trisha hoped that was true, but one never knew with Cindy.
“I’ll be fine about what?” Cindy broke in, carrying her plate of food.
“I offered Ms. Summers your money back.” Tim frowned at her plate. “She refused, saying she wanted to stay.”
“Is this really what you want to do?” Cindy ignored Tim’s frown. “I mean, if he’s giving us a full refund, we could probably hit a beach by tomorrow night, which is what you wanted to do in the first place.”
“I changed my mind.” Trisha shrugged. “I think this might be fun.”
Cindy snorted. “Your definition of fun is totally different than my definition of fun, to the point I don’t know how in the hell we became friends.” Cindy smirked.
“Even though we hope you have a good time, it’s hard work,” Tim broke in with the warning.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Trisha assured him and then glanced at Cindy. “Do you?”
“Hell yeah, I do. I hate hard work, but for you, I’ll suffer. You owe me big time, Trish.” Cindy gave her an ‘and I’ll be collecting’ look. “So, boss, you need me and Trish to round up some doggies or something?” Cindy had changed into her fake-cowgirl twang.
Trisha witnessed something that totally floored her in the interaction. A man, who actually seemed to be annoyed by Cindy Jenkins, and was not falling all over himself to impress her. Finally, he looked down at his clipboard, a wide smile spreading across his lips.
“Ah, yeah.” His smile deepened. “You both will be working with my brother, Jake.”
“And what will we be doing with your brother?” Cindy inquired before taking another bite of food.
“Jake’s our horseman. He takes care of all the horses on the ranch.” Tim smirked. “You know, things like feeding them, brushing them down, as well as cleaning their stalls.”
Cindy’s eyes narrowed at him. “You mean shoveling horseshi—”
“That’s fine,” Trisha cut her off quickly then glanced around. “Is he here?”
Tim looked down at his watch. “He must be running late.” He looked back up. “If he doesn’t make it before you leave, then you can meet him here at breakfast, six sharp.” He nodded at Trisha, but glared at Cindy before walking away.
Before Cindy could open her mouth, Trisha grabbed her arm, pulling her away. “Come on, Cin. I need to eat.”
Collecting a plate, Trisha dished out some mashed potatoes, green beans and a chicken leg. With her stomach growling from the delicious aroma, she headed toward an empty table and sat.
“I’m not happy about shoveling horseshit, Trisha.”
“I know.” Trisha sighed. “I’ll do the shoveling or whatever we have to do with it.”
“And I’ll tell you another thing.” Cindy peered over her own shoulder. “I’m not too happy with the high and mighty cowboy either. Who does he think he is anyway?”
“Ah, the boss,” Trisha reminded her with a roll of her eyes. “And I think he’s pretty nice.”
“Well, I don’t.” Cindy took an aggressive bite out of her chicken. “I think he’s an ass.”
“He’s pretty cute,” Trisha teased with a huge grin.
Cindy glanced up at her with a glare, before shrugging with a small grin of her own. “So he’s a cute ass, but an ass all the same.”
“Hello, ladies.” A deep, gravelly voice broke into their conversation.
Trisha had been laughing and stuffing her face, so she hadn’t noticed the huge cowboy who had walked up to their table. He was in full cowboy gear down to the chaps encasing strong muscled legs.
“Well, hello.” Cindy wasted no time as she turned on the charm. Trisha tried to respond, but had half a chicken leg in her mouth. All she could manage was a grunt. “Would you like to join us?”
“I’m Jake McCabe.” He stuck his hand out to Cindy. “My brother tells me you two ladies are my new ranch hands.”
“We sure are.” Cindy beamed, taking his hand in hers, giving him her prettiest smile. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve always wanted to see what it was like working on a ranch. I’m Cindy.”
If Trisha didn’t know Cindy as well as she did, she would have choked on the damn chicken, which seemed to be growing in her mouth. Actually it wasn’t all chicken, but a big piece of gristle, which she realized as the man, who looked like he stepped off the pages of a romance novel, stared at her.
“You must be Trisha.” His cowboy hat shaded his eyes, but his smile showed straight white teeth. The best Trisha could do was nod, taking the large hand he held out in a firm shake. “Enjoy your dinner and I’ll see you in the morning, unless I see you in the recreation hall later.”
“Bye now,” Cindy cooed, watching him walk away. “Holy shit, look at that ass in those chaps.”
Trisha grabbed a napkin spitting out the piece of gristle. “Dammit,” she cursed, slamming the napkin down. “Why do I do the most idiotic things?”
“What?” Cindy finally pried her eyes off Jake McCabe’s ass long enough to look at Trisha. “I didn’t see you do anything.”
“That’s just it.” Trisha snorted. “Right before he walked up, I took a big bite of chicken, which had a bigger piece of gristle. I couldn’t say anything for fear of it shooting out of my mouth and injuring the man. He probably thinks I’m a damn mute.”
Cindy stared at Trisha before she burst out laughing.
“Glad you find my humiliation hilarious,” Trisha grumbled. “Just once, I would love to see you do something stupid in front of a man, especially a man like that. It would make my day.”
“Oh, I’ve had my moments.” Cindy was still chuckling.
“Yeah, well, I haven’t seen it so I don’t believe you.” Trisha narrowed her eyes at her. “All I ever see is them bowing down like slaves ready to do your bidding.”
“Ah, bullshit.” Cindy snorted then looked thoughtful. “But what an awesome mental image.”
Trisha pushed her plate away, her appetite vanishing with her embarrassment.
“He did smile at you,” Cindy added as she stood.
“Yeah, he probably felt sorry for the mute girl.” Grabbing her plate, Trisha followed her, dumping her uneaten portion in the trash, before placing her plate in a large plastic container with the rest of the dirty dishes.
“Come on. Let’s go walk around a bit.” Cindy put her arm around Trisha. “And you know if the mute thing works with a man like that, I’d use it.”
“You would.” Trisha replied with a smirk. Both women laughed, easing Trisha’s discomfort.