2. Max
CHAPTER 2
Max
There is an attractive woman on the property.
And apparently, my boss, or business partner now—and good friend—asked her to be here. What were they thinking? The main house needs more than just a quick dusting and Christmas decorating. There are entire pipes that need to be replaced, a roof that needs to be patched, and a bathroom that needs to be refloored.
Squatters—actually, errant family members—moved into the lodge, and it took the sheriff a solid three weeks to get them out. I don’t come down to this part of the ranch in the summertime, so I don’t look at the lodge until I’m living here in the winter months and feeding cattle out of the barns.
When I called Nash and told him about the disrepair of the house, he told me I didn’t need to worry about it; he had someone he’d send.
I didn’t expect him to send someone wearing shorts in 25-degree weather. Nash probably assumed the house needed to be cleaned—possibly redecorated. But he’s way wrong.
When I get back to the bunkhouse, I have the urge to turn around and check on her. It feels like the right thing to do. But she seemed more likely to want to punch me than let me show her around the house.
I grin at that as I step through the front door. She’ll turn on those lights and see how bad it is. She’ll be peeling out of the driveway at first morning light.
With that happy thought, I kick my shoes off and shut the door.
The house is warm, the wood stove blazing. Larry and Jim are lying by the fire. Jim doesn’t stir, but Larry lifts his head and greets me with a tail wag. Both of them are my Australian Shepherd cattle dogs. From the way Jim isn’t looking at me, I can tell his feelings are still hurt. That dog can hold a grudge. But when I told him to get ahead of the cattle today, he ran back and sat by the water trough. The cattle were getting away, and I was left trying to run ahead of them. It was supposed to be an easy job that didn’t require a horse or a four-wheeler, but it turned into an extra two hours of getting the cattle back in the corrals.
So, for tonight, Jim and I aren’t speaking. It probably contributed to my mood when I found Charlie in the house.
The bunkhouse on this section of the ranch is a two-bed, one-bath, stick-built home with a cozy living room, a nice kitchen, and a loft. I spend half the year here in this house when I’m feeding cattle for the winter and then the other half in the bunkhouse by the spring and summer pastures during calving season. Technically, both sections of the ranch have a Pine Ridge address but they’re on opposite sides of town.
My job is taking care of cattle. Often, people hear the words ranch manager and assume I’m a groundskeeper. No. That’s only if you’re taking care of a dude ranch. That’s something that the Whitlock family has going for them. Their ranch is an actual cattle ranch that just happens to have a nice big house on it that they like to come stay in occasionally.
What started as a ranch manager position eventually worked its way into me becoming a half-owner. Now I have an even bigger vested interest in this place. But I still don’t want anything to do with the lodge.
I walk to the kitchen and find my phone where I left it charging when I heard Charlie’s car pull up. I unplug it and make a phone call.
Nash Whitlock answers, “Hello?”
“There’s a woman here.” I’m not in the mood to chat—not after thinking I was going to have another run around with a squatter.
“Oh good! Did you meet Charlie yet?” He sounds way too chipper for having sent me a surprise visitor.
“She said she was here to fix up the house.”
“Yeah, she’s Magnolia’s friend. She’s going to fix up the house before we come for Christmas,” Nash replies. I can hear laughter in the background, making it sound like he’s at a restaurant.
“Do you remember the part where I told you your aunt and uncle had trashed some things?”
“Oh yeah, don’t worry. Charlie’ll be able to fix it right up.”
“They shot a hole in the roof,” I reply dryly.
“Max, it’s okay. She’ll be fine with it. Besides, if you don’t get along with her, you can just stay away from her.”
It’s annoying that he can read my mind so fast. Yeah, I’m not worried about the job being too big for her. I don’t want her in my space. So, if Nash says I get to stay away from her, that I can do. I’ve got enough work that will keep me busy. All I’ll be doing is coming back here to crash and sleep.
There’s muffled talking in the background, and then Nash sighs. “Actually, Magnolia is wondering if you can check in on her occasionally.”
I stand up straight. “What do you mean?”
Nash is technically my boss—at least one of them. He and his grandpa hired me a couple of years back to oversee everything. On top of a really nice salary, I had the option to buy into the operation, so I did. But before a working relationship, Nash and I were friends, which gives me the qualifications to give a clap back.
“Maybe make sure she doesn’t need anything,” he hedges.
“I’m not going to fix up the house,” I reply firmly.
“No, no, nothing like that. You could make sure she’s okay.”
“Like, every couple weeks?” I have work to do. And babysitting a city girl doesn’t even come close to a top priority.
“Every day,” a feminine voice chimes in the background.
“What the he—” I cough. “I’m not a babysitter.”
Nash groans. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…Magnolia isn’t used to being so remote out there and is worried about Charlie out there by herself.”
“We’re not remote. The town is only thirty minutes away!” The ranch driveway alone takes fifteen of those minutes. It’s not like it takes us an hour to get back down to town. There’s a market and good cell service only a short distance away. If she needs help, she can go get it. Sometimes I’ll be a farther distance away when I’m checking on the yearlings on the other side of the ranch.
Nash continues, “I know that, and you know that, but Magnolia isn’t used to that. Just make sure Charlie hasn’t broken her neck by falling off a ladder or something like that.”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you sent a fall risk to fix up your house,” I say with a laugh.
Nash chuckles. “It’ll be fine. Text me if you need anything.”
“I don’t think Charlie will last two days here, so I think this whole conversation is pointless.” That woman is going to leave a cloud of dust in her wake tomorrow.
“You don’t know Charlie like I do!” Magnolia yells over the phone.
“Nash,” I say slowly, “do you still listen to your phone calls at top volume?”
He’s quiet for a minute. “Maybe?”
“Sheesh. Good thing I wasn’t reminiscing about some of your more embarrassing moments,” I say extra loudly so Magnolia will hear.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Actually, I would. Like the time you proposed to your science teacher? With an active volcano project?”
“I was ten. And how was I to know Mrs. Haggerty was married?”
“Her name was Mrs . Haggerty,” I reply dryly. “And she was sixty.”
“I’m hanging up now.” He clears his throat. “Oh, and if you could check on Charlie twice a day, that would be great!” He hangs up the phone before I can shoot back a reply.
The downside of growing up with your business partner is that you both get away with asking each other for ridiculous things.
I snap the faucet on and rinse my trusty old coffee pot to prep it for in the morning. Jim yips at me. I glance back and see him sitting at the entrance to the kitchen.
“Are you apologizing?”
He looks at me with his head cocked. He’s not apologizing. He’s waiting for me to say I’m sorry for hollering at him.
“Well, I’m sorry that she’s not going to last long,” I tell Jim as I pour the water into the back of the coffee pot, toss some grounds in, and then throw a treat to the dog.
My morning brain isn’t fully operational, so I have to do things like prep my coffee pot ahead of time.
I bet by the time I wake up in the morning that Charlie will be long gone, and daily checks won’t even be on my radar.
And with that happy thought, I take a shower and go to bed.