Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
Three days later, Ryan turned away from the coffee pot and handed Pru her morning cup of coffee. He waited until her eyes were open more than slits and he’d had half the breakfast cooked when he turned to her.
“Have I offended you in any way?”
“What? No, why? Why would you even ask something like that?”
“Because you’re not sleeping beside me at night anymore.”
“Oh, well, I thought you wouldn’t need me to sleep beside you since you’re not using your cane, and the bandage came off your back. Your stitches are healing nicely and it won’t be long before they can be removed. I saw you toss the ball to Katie yesterday. I thought you didn’t need me to hold your hand during the night.”
“She didn’t return it to me,” he groused and shook his head at her laugh. “That horse truly is Reid’s.”
“Yes, you’re going to have to find your own. Katie is Reid’s, Peaches is Perry’s, Maxine has Lloyd, and I believe Denver has picked Daisy, or Daisy picked him. I’m not completely sure on that one.”
“What about Clark?”
Pru frowned and finally shook her head. “No clue.” She sat back when he set plates of pancakes, and sausage on the table. They began eating, and Ryan kept stealing looks at her.
“What?” Pru asked after several minutes.
“What makes you think I want to say something?”
“Because you keep looking at me. Ryan, my head is already messed up enough, I don’t need to play any cat and mouse games. If you have something to say, say it.”
“Fine, can you return to my bed? When I reached for you in the night and couldn’t find you, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I’ve been up since three.”
Pru cocked her head to the side, and sighed heavily. “Would it offend you if I tell you I’ll think about it?”
“Right now, right this minute? Yes. It makes me think I did something to offend you and that you don’t want to be near me.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?” Ryan didn’t understand why he wouldn’t back down on this. It wasn’t like they were dating or anything. The thought of her not returning to his bed, even though they only slept, bothered him a lot.
“Fine, I don’t want to set myself up for being let down.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that I like you, Ryan, and I don’t want you to find out what happened to me and be appalled at what I went through.”
“Sweetheart, there is nothing on this earth you could tell me that would make me think any less of you. Look at me, I’m far from a prize. I was captured and tortured for twenty days before I was rescued. If that doesn’t convince you, then you’ll just have to tell me your story and let me be the judge before you put words in my mouth.”
Pru sat there and watched him for a long time, neither of them ate and their breakfast had gone cold. Finally, she broke eye contact with him, and he didn’t know whether she’d spaced out like she was wont to do, or if she was generally sizing up the situation.
“Fine, I have to work late tonight, but I have tomorrow off.” She shook her head and held up her hand. “Don’t get your hopes up that I’ll return to your bed until you hear what I have to say.”
“I can handle that. What time is late?”
“I get off at seven. What are you doing today?”
“Erin wants me over at Erin’s Way so Reid can teach me about some on-line business.” Ryan scowled when Pru started out with a small giggle, then ended up bent over laughing her ass off. She looked at him, and had to wipe her tears in order to see him. She grinned.
“Have fun. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“Jesus, now I’m scared.”
Pru giggled as she continued to wipe her face. “All I can say is to have an open mind.” She grinned as she took her dishes to the sink, and went to the back door to go out and take care of her chickens before heading to the barn.
An hour later, Ryan knocked on the back door to the main house and smiled when Reid opened it.
“Hey,” Ryan said to his best friend.
“Hey, Erin would like a word with you before we get started.” Reid smiled and shook his head as he stepped back. “Nothing bad, I promise you.”
Ryan withheld his judgement as he walked down the hall toward the office he’d been to days earlier. This time, he had his ID on him. He stood in the doorway and watched the woman behind the desk. She looked up and gave him a smile. Ryan knew then why Reid was head over heels in love with her.
“Ryan, come in, take a seat,” Erin said as she pointed to the chairs in front of her desk.
As he approached he withdrew his wallet and pulled his ID, he laid it on the stack of papers she’d been working on. He nodded as he sat down across from her.
“Let’s get this out of the way,” Erin said as she jumped to her feet, and grabbed his papers, made a copy of them, then handed them back. “I’ll work on your payroll this afternoon. I see you’re not using your cane? Is that wise?”
Ryan shrugged as he returned his ID to his wallet. “No one told me I had to use one.” He looked over both shoulders and grinned. “Don’t tell Reid, but it was his.”
“Huh?”
“Reid and I shared an apartment off base out in California. As I did the final walk through after packing all my shit up, I found that cane in the corner of the closet in Reid’s old room. I grabbed it, and leaned on it as I looked around the room and recalled shared memories.” He shrugged. “I kept the cane. I found it helped me walk steadier. Since I’ve been here, less than a week, I’ve gained about seven pounds. It was enough that my gait isn’t off, and I don’t need the cane. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from healed, but I’m finally heading in the right direction.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear that,” Erin said as she settled back in her chair with her coffee cup. “I’m going to get right to the point. You’re not here as a pity hire. You’re here because you used to work with the men, and they all vouched for you. Eventually, we will have more clients over at Broken, but in the meantime, I want to make some things clear.”
“What’s that?”
“What have you seen of the Riceman property so far?”
“Pru’s cabin, the barn at Broken, and this house.” Ryan liked that she didn’t mince her words and got right to the point.
“You haven’t been over to the construction site that Clark is monitoring?”
“Not yet. I wanted to get my ducks in a row first by seeing how Broken operated. I hate to admit this, but I think it’s going to be a few weeks yet before I can muck out any stalls, or do any extensive physical labor.”
“Good, good. Not that you can’t work, but that you’re willing to observe.”
“Why do I feel like what you just said has a double meaning?”
Erin studied the man before her, and made a quick decision. “There wasn’t a double meaning, until just now. I called you into the office to tell you what Riceman Ranch was all about. Since this happened.” She paused and lifted her right arm to show him her stump. “I went through a lot of shit, and made a lot of changes to the ranch. Some of them are now coming back to bite me in the ass.” She went on to remind him of a conversation they’d had at Easter dinner about how she’d investigated some bad business practices and got two people arrested for it, and how their son had now hooked up with the Firths to come after her.
“Shit, I forgot about that.” Ryan shook his head.
“It’s totally understandable. I called you in here because I had a suggestion for you.”
“Which is?”
“I’m not being cruel here, I’m not, and I don’t mean to offend you in any way.” She saw she had his attention, nodded once, drew in a deep breath, and let her next statement out in a rush. “Since you can’t work yet, or rather, I won’t allow you to work until at least your stitches are removed, but I am giving you the option of observing everything Riceman Ranch has to offer. Unfortunately, until Miller and the Firths are apprehended, I’m going to refrain from inviting new clients to Broken. I refuse to put innocent lives in danger because someone has it out for me.”
“I can understand that,” Ryan said as he nodded. “Can you tell me all Riceman Ranch encompasses?”
Erin stood and walked over to a wall, and called him over, but had him stop halfway to her. She pointed to the wall as she spoke, but lifted several clear plastic sheets that Ryan saw had color on them.
“This is the map of Colorado.” She pointed and he studied it, then she lowered the first sheet of clear plastic, this one had a large area colored yellow. He frowned as she continued.
“This is Riceman Ranch in its entirety.” She looked back at him, and when he nodded, she lowered the next sheet. “The pink outline is Erin’s Way.” She didn’t wait to see his reaction as she lowered the next one. “The green is the acreage I set aside for The Broken Wheel.” She lowered the last sheet, and he saw a blue highlighted area.
“What’s the blue for?”
Erin walked back to her desk and grinned at him before he sat down. “The only two people that know about that are Clark and myself. Back when I was dealing with the Millers, it turned out they did the same thing to me as they did to our neighbor, Mr. Donaldson. He was dealing with his wife’s cancer, and didn’t pay attention to the foreclosure notices because he’d already paid his ranch off decades before. When I found out, and in the case against the Millers’s, I went to Mr. Ducky, that’s what Clark and I called him growing up because his name is Donald Donaldson, anyway, I went to his family to explain what was happening and said I would purchase his property, but upon his death, I get the property. His family readily agreed because they all lived out of state. I gave Mr. Ducky living rights to his home until he passes. Last I heard, he was in his late eighties or early nineties. I admit that I don’t get over there much. His direct children are gone now, and the only relatives he has left live out of state. I know there are three grandchildren, one lives in New York, one in California, and one in Florida. Within the next couple of weeks I’ll make my way over there to check on him.” She pointed to the map on the wall. “The blue outline is Mr. Ducky’s property. It’s an additional thirteen hundred acres that I added to the existing three thousand acres of Riceman Ranch.”
“Congratulations, but what does this have to do with me?”
“First, until I can comfortably bring clients in for Broken, I have too many employees there. I will not be letting anyone go, please don’t think that. Clark has taken over the construction of the next phase of Broken, and whenever there’s free time at Broken, the men and ladies there go help him if they can. Right now, it’s basically making sure the construction people follow orders and do their jobs.”
“Okay.” Ryan settled back in his seat and studied the woman before him. After meeting her years ago, he never thought she was so knowledgeable in what she’d discussed so far. His respect for her rose several notches.
“When you first got here this morning, I was going to offer you to work with my men here on Erin’s Way, and with Reid on Riceman Stallions.”
“What exactly is that? Whenever I ask about that business, everyone just looks at me with a grin, slaps me on the back and laughs before they walk away.” He thought Erin wasn’t going to answer him because she grinned, and started using her computer. She looked at him and called him to come around and look.
Ryan looked over her shoulder and frowned. “I don’t understand, what am I looking at?”
Erin giggled. “Riceman Stallions is an on-line business I started shortly after I got out of the hospital. I don’t know what Clark’s talked to you guys about this ranch over the years, but when I came home from the hospital, I had horses reject me.”
“I can understand that. When we were on that one mission and had to ride camels, one of them kept spitting at me. Clark had me exchange animals with someone else, and everything worked out fine after that. Before we changed, that motherfucker would buck, kick, and spit at me. After changing, everything ran smoothly.”
Erin grinned. “I understand, that’s what I went through when the horses smelled my stump. It was still bandaged from the hospital. Some ignored it, others reared up and tried to kick me. Those were the horses I culled from the herd. Tom, our vet, suggested I extract their sperm before I sell them, and sell that on-line. That’s what Riceman Stallions is.”
“Holy shit, you have a dating app for stallions?” Ryan asked in shock as he went back to his seat.
Erin couldn’t help it, she bent over and had to grip her stomach as she laughed until she had tears running down her face. “I never thought of it that way, but yeah, basically.” She grinned as she wiped her tears. “Reid’s in charge of Riceman Stallions now.”
They shared a laugh, and she quickly sobered. “I was going to have you learn about the on-line business, and what we do here at Erin’s Way, but I have since had a thought.”
“About?”
“You can say no, I would totally understand, given what you’ve been through, but I need a spy.”
“Excuse me?” Ryan sat up and paid close attention to what she had to say.
“No one knows where the Firths or Miller are. The last we saw them, they were being taken away in cuffs, which was last fall on Denver’s first day here. He helped protect Broken when they tried to come after their horses that I now own.” She explained what that meant, and Ryan understood.
“Just before Christmas, we learned who the person footing the bill for their bail was, and vouching for them. It turns out the man behind the money is a PITA to me.”
“I think I know, but what exactly is that?”
“A pain in my ass. His name is Rudolph Royal, and he came into some money and thinks he’s the next best thing to sliced bread. He came here wanting to breed one of his mares with one of my studs. I agreed, but the day the deed was done, he proceeded to inform me the difference between a gelding and a stallion.”
“Jesus, how long was he in the horse business?”
“At that time, a little over a year, and he only has one hundred acres.”
“Didn’t he realize you were the sole owner of Erin’s Way?”
“I don’t think it computed with him. I am forever referring to him as Mr. Royal Pain In My Ass.” She went on to explain what had happened with him when he tried to steal the stallion that had bred with his mare the year before.
“Shit, I know nothing of horses, but even I know that the horse has to wait for almost a year before you can breed them again.”
“Correct, well, because the police were here for Firth, they were able to arrest Royal PITA. I pressed charges and didn’t back down. I’m still not backing down. No matter how many times his lawyer’s office calls me or sends me letters, I’m not backing down.”
“So, why do you need a spy?”
“I have no idea where the Firths, Miller, or Royal are.” Erin shrugged.
“And what? You want me to look for them?”
“Not directly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“We have someone going into town at least once, sometimes twice a week. I thought that instead of sending different people to do the running, I could send one person, and they could gather the information.”
“And,” Ryan said as he rubbed his cheek below where he wore his eye patch. “If I did this running, then I could discreetly ask questions, and keep a journal as to my findings?”
“Yes, but I’m not putting any pressure on you. After what you went through, I totally understand if you don’t want to do this.” Erin shook her head, and looked at him directly. “No one knows that I’m asking you to do this. This thought only occurred to me last night.”
“If I don’t, what happens then?”
“Then I’ll keep sending the different people to town for our supplies, see if they hear anything.”
“Do you have a vehicle I could use, or would I use my own?”
“I prefer you to take an Erin’s Way truck, the graphics for the ranch is already on it.”
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“I do. I’m far from knowing what to do subtly about spying on the enemy, but I thought if a vehicle with the ranch’s name is in town at least three or four times a week, then it might give them an idea that I’m not backing down.”
Ryan sat there for several minutes before he nodded. “Can I get back to you?”
“You may. I’m not putting any pressure on you.”
“When do you need to go to town again?”
“Friday, two days from now. I have a feed order that has to be picked up at the feed store in Colorado Springs.”
“I’ll let you know by eight that morning. I’m not trying to be difficult, but can I talk to Pru about this? I really like her, and I don’t want her to think I’m doing something behind her back. I want to be open and honest with her from the get-go.”
“Yes, if you feel the need to tell her, then yes, by all means do. I will probably tell Reid and Clark that I asked you to be a spy for me.”
Ryan stood to leave, then turned back to her with a nod. “At least, if I do this for you, I’ll feel like I’ve redeemed myself.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I wasn’t able to save my team from being captured. If I can save those assholes from coming after you and yours, then I’ll feel like I’ve redeemed myself. I’m going to tell you now that I’m leaning heavily toward what you’re offering. Go ahead and talk to Clark about it. I’ll deal with any backlash if they come to me.”
“What backlash could they possibly do?”
“They might not think I’m ready after what I went through.” Ryan shook his head, then nodded and said he’d go outside and find Reid to see what he wanted him to do.