Chapter 4
4
JOHNNY
I’ve never in my life met a group of men who have appeared as clueless when it comes to construction as the ones in front of me right now.
I knew from the moment I saw the crowd of them hunched over a high pile of untreated wooden planks when I pulled back onto the ranch that something was wrong. And as I stride toward them now, my hunch is confirmed.
The foreman, Rick, lifts his white hard hat from his head and runs his fingers through his hair, his eyes moving from the pile of ugly wood to the timber exterior of the under-construction stable only a few yards from the tall walls of the current one. My gut grows heavy when I get close enough to pick up the hushed words moving between the men.
“It wasn’t supposed to be untreated, Rick. I didn’t order this shit.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s here, isn’t it? And it’s my head on the line right now.”
“I’ve got no problem returning it. Once we swap it out, we’ll be good to go.”
“Good to go? It’ll take another week, maybe two, to get the new planks. That’s gonna have us pushing back far into the fall. ”
I’ve got a cool head. Always have and always will, considering how badly I need one with the family I’ve got. But it’s still mighty frustrating to hear that this crew has fucked up.
Steele Ranch has had a number of problems this summer. One after the other, the dominos keep falling. Wade Steele doesn’t have even close to the amount of patience that I do, and every day that something’s gone wrong, I’ve watched what’s left of it get stomped further and further into the ground.
I take a look around the area for the owner of the ranch and breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t find him nearby, red face and all. It’s just me and the crew of fuck-ups.
Stretching out my shoulders, I take wider strides and then step into the centre of their conversation. It cuts instantly, and that’s not a good look for them either.
“Hey, guys. How’s it goin’ today?” I ask brightly.
Rick makes eye contact with me, albeit reluctantly. If he’d ignored me, it would have looked ten times worse. He’s got at least twenty years on me, but I’ve got four inches on him. His age doesn’t mean much at all in this situation, and I know he knows it just as well. I’ve been telling him what to do on the ranch since the moment they stepped foot on it three weeks ago.
It took six weeks of talks between the Steeles and some hoity-toity architect firm from the city to come up with the perfect stable design plan, but it seems that may have been the easiest of the steps so far. Construction started late, and we all knew going into it that there was a good chance we were going to run it into the fall, maybe even past that. But these setbacks . . . they just keep on coming.
“Been better,” Rick grunts.
I glance at the man he was speaking to and tuck my hands into my pockets. “You got a problem that needs fixing?”
Rick answers for him. “No. We’re sorting our shit out.”
“Like the pile of firewood beside you? Is that the shit you’re planning on sortin’?”
The other man lingering around tries not to be obvious that they’re watching us. I shake my head at them, and a beat later, they disappear, suddenly busy with something else.
Rick’s features harden when I bring my attention back to him and cock my head, waiting for an answer. It’s only a matter of time before I have to call Wade and let him know about this, so I need all the information possible. It won’t save them, but it might help.
“It was an honest mistake, Johnny,” Rick says, waving a hand at the wood.
“Can you return it all?”
This time, the other man speaks before Rick can stop him. “We’ll return it. I’ll take it myself.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you . . .”
“I’m Jimmy. Jim,” he says.
“Thank you, Jim. Do you happen to know the wait on getting a new order of the proper siding?”
“Two weeks max, one week minimum. Depends on current demand,” Rick says.
“If you want my advice, I say make it a week. Doesn’t matter where you have to go or who you have to sweet-talk to make it happen. If you want to keep your job here, you’ll keep it to a week.”
Even that is too long, but if that’s what we’ve got to settle with, then so be it.
Rick nods sharply. “Have you gotten a raise recently that I haven’t heard about around here?”
I lean back on my left foot, taking another look around the ranch. “Why are you asking?”
“Forget about it,” he says, brushing the comment off for one of two reasons. Either he meant it as a lowball dig and didn’t want to risk angering me, or he doesn’t want to compliment me by saying I deserved one.
There was no raise. I’m still just Johnny the common ranch hand, but I don’t offer him that information.
“Alright. Get started on returning that wood, and I’ll give Wade a call. I’d stay away from him for a while afterward if I were you,” I tell them.
Jimmy nods, his smile grateful. “You got it, John?—”
“What the fuck is that pile of shit doin’ in front of my stable?”
I flinch at the rough scolding, watching as Jimmy and Rick do the same. Poor Jimmy pales at the sight of a pissed-off Wade Steele storming our way.
The brutal rancher’s black cowboy boots crunch over the gravel road as he crosses it, his hands balled into fists at his side. His expression is shaded by the brim of his matching black hat, but I don’t need to see his face to know how spitting mad he is. I saw it coming from a mile away.
Rick, knowing his job’s on the line, is quick to shake off his fear and step forward, his mouth opening quicker than I can warn him to stay quiet.
“We’ve got it under control, Wade.”
I drop my head back, staring at the cloudless blue sky with a groan. The moment Wade reaches us, I feel the air shift, growing tight and tense.
“You’ve got it under control? Is that a fuckin’ joke? Do I look like a fuckin’ joke to you?” Wade shouts, voice thick with disdain.
I look at Rick, taking in his pale skin and wide, worried eyes. Usually, I would have offered him a sympathetic smile, but not right now. Not when Wade’s watching me now with a tired rage in his eyes that cuts me to the core.
I’ve known this man since I was a boy. Hell, most of everyone in Cherry Peak has known him for their entire lives. He’s a staple in the community despite his oftentimes brash attitude. Especially for a guy like me who found a home at his ranch. I annoyed the fuck out of the man until he agreed to take me on as a ranch hand when I was sixteen. Now, he can’t get rid of me.
I don’t think he wants to be rid of me either. At least not all the time.
My knowledge of him is why I know that Rick shouldn’t have said anything. He should have allowed me to speak for him.
I try now, hoping it might help smooth even a couple of Wade’s feathers. “I’ve already talked to them about it. Got them to fix the problem as fast as they can. It’ll be a week max before the siding can go up.”
Jimmy’s eyes dart to me, and I simply shake my head, giving him a look that tells him to get it done. Wade stares at me hard, and I smile back like a little shit until he seems annoyed enough by me to pin Rick beneath his stare instead.
“I’m not payin’ you what I am for fuck-ups, Rick. Order the proper shit, and then get this the fuck done before you’re out here workin’ in minus fifty-degree weather with snow up to your ass crack,” Wade snaps. “Or I’m kickin’ you off my land and bringin’ in someone else to do what you couldn’t.”
“Yeah, you got it,” Rick says, already setting his hat back onto his head and waving at his employees left standing around, pretending to be busy. His expression turns hard as stone as he barks at his guys. “Load these planks back into the truck and get them out of here.”
They all burst into movement. Jimmy ducks out of sight the first chance he gets. Rick follows quickly after, rushing into the centre of his grouped employees. Wade’s forced to suffer with just my company now.
“Up for a walk?” I ask, risking a pat to his shoulder.
His eyes tighten suspiciously at the corners. “I’m not goin’ to commit murder today, boy.”
“Hey, I never thought that. It was an honest mistake. Just really bad timing,” I tell him once we start walking away from the framed structure.
The massive expanse of Steele Ranch land is beautiful on a normal day. But during the peak of summer? It’s a marvel. All green fields, budding flowers, dirt paths, and noisy animals. Horses, cattle, chickens, and, as of a couple of weeks ago, a duo of rowdy donkeys .
“It’s more than shitty timing,” he grunts.
“I know. Have you heard about the money yet?”
He lifts a hand to his face, fingers gripping his jaw hard enough it must hurt. “Yeah. Got a call from the officer on the case yesterday. The money hadn’t even left the fucker’s account yet when we caught ’im.”
“Jail time?”
“Maybe. Could be up to ten years. Could be less. Most likely will be half or less that time. I’m just damn glad Eliza noticed when she did.”
I nod, anger swelling in my stomach. “How’s she been handlin’ this?”
Wade’s wife is sweeter than honey on ice cream. She’s been in charge of the financial side of Steele Ranch since the two of them got married. I don’t think a single other person has ever touched the ranch’s finances in the past twenty years. Not until the new financial analyst they hired last month to help with the budgeting for the new stable expansion and the few other changes they’ve been wanting to do to the place, that is.
It only took a week for them to get burned by that decision. One bad apple plucked from a tree bursting with a million juicy ones.
The man took one look at their finances and created a plan to get rich quick. It didn’t work the way he thought it would. The moment Eliza took a curious look between the lines and found that their supposed seventy-thousand-dollar stable was really only going to cost fifty-five while the guy took fifteen for himself, he was laid flat out on his ass.
“She’s workin’ herself to the bone. That’s how.” Wade scowls, his exhales harsh and short. “It’s damn time she retired. I was selfishly hopin’ that asshole was goin’ to help with that. Maybe open her up to the idea of lettin’ someone else take over soon. Now she’ll be workin’ the ranch’s books in the grave.”
“There’s someone else out there, Wade. I’m sure of it. I’ll help convince her any way I can. She deserves rest just as much as you do,” I say pointedly.
“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”
“Typical bitter old man response.”
“I ain’t bitter, Johnny.”
“No?” I look over at him, arching a brow as we get closer and closer to the house. “Fine. Not bitter. Just plain old grumpy.”
“You’re goin’ to wind up neck-deep in cow shit today if you don’t quit pissin’ me off,” he warns, but there’s no venom there.
“Don’t tease me with a good time, Wade.”
His laugh is gruff and raw, speaking to a lifetime of smoking cigarettes. He slaps me on the back.
“There’s a hole a foot long on the far south fence real close to the wood beam again. Fuckin’ bulls won’t stop taking chunks out of it. I need it fixed up as soon as possible. You got it?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it. Swapping the wire for steel pipe over there might be worth it at this rate. They’ve got a vendetta against that fence.”
He twists his mouth, thinking. “Yeah. I’ll think about it. For now, just get it fixed up. The last thing we need is someone hittin’ a bull on a country road and flippin’ their shit on me.”
I tip my chin and pat my back pocket, confirming my gloves are still there. “Sounds good. Tell Eliza I’ll see her at lunch.”
“Yeah. And try not to make a habit of changin’ your schedule so you can fit in the time to bug that poor woman in town. You’ll set a precedent for the others.”
I chuckle, flashing him a bashful grin. “I don’t have a damn clue what you’re talking about.”
He huffs a breath and continues toward the main house, leaving me behind before he calls over his shoulder, “Keep it that way, boy.”
If he knew that I’m still not an inch closer to winning Aurora over after this morning than I was before, he’d be even more unimpressed with me. But I’m still far from admitting defeat .
I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that are guaranteed to convince her to start giving me the time of day. Hopefully.