Chapter Twelve
Vaughn awoke and soaked in the shower for a long while, hoping the hot water would loosen her tight back. She hadn’t slept well, due to her back, but the water was soothing, and quickly waking her. She had a lot to do that day and rising before dawn was just par for the course. So was showering each morning, even though she’d showered the night before as well. She found it invigorating and it also helped with her back.
She finished and dried and dressed. Then grabbed a bottle of cold water from the fridge, swallowed two Advil, and slipped out the kitchen door after starting the coffee machine for Gram. Daylight was just beginning to break, the night turning from black to midnight blue, and soon, as perceived just over the horizon, a pale blue. She inhaled the fresh air, thanked God for the forecast of a cooler day, and headed for the stables. But as she walked, she snuck a look at the guesthouse and noticed a light on. Natalie must be up. She was impressed. She thought for sure the city slicker would need to be roused to gather the eggs. But it seemed she was wrong. The door to the guesthouse opened as she was watching and she glanced away, hoping not to be caught looking. But Natalie spotted her and called out.
“Good morning,” she said, hurrying to catch up to her.
“Morning.”
“It’s beautiful out, isn’t it?”
She had on jeans today and a pair of sneakers. Vaughn couldn’t help but notice. Natalie followed her line of sight. She lifted a foot.
“June ordered me some rugged hiking boots from Amazon,” she said. “For work on the ranch. Thought they’d be better than my sneakers.”
“They will,” Vaughn said.
“I thought about boots, like yours, but I heard they’re hard to break in and I didn’t want sore feet. I want to be able to help a lot, so I need to be in good shape all the way around.”
“Ah.”
Natalie looked over at her. “You don’t say much, do you?”
Vaughn kept walking, looking ahead. “I do when it’s called for.”
“And it’s not called for now?”
Vaughn finally glanced at her. “What would you like me to say?”
“I don’t know. I’m just trying to make conversation. But I get it. You don’t know me well at all, so why share?”
They came to the chicken coop and slowed as Diablo, Vaughn’s small, red rooster jumped up onto the fence and began to crow. The little guy was loud and he was putting his whole body into it. It made Natalie laugh and Vaughn couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s Diablo,” she said.
“Devil.” Natalie chuckled. “Does he live up to his name?”
“He does.”
“I sure hope he likes me.”
“Walk in there with confidence and you’ll be fine. The only reason he doesn’t like Gram is because she once had to chase him out of the coop and keep him away from the chickens.”
“Oh.”
“Gram will sure appreciate you getting the eggs for her.”
“I’m here to help.” She smiled softly at her. “You know, I finished the web site last night.”
“Oh?”
“I just need your permission to have it go live.”
“You have it.”
“You sure you don’t want to look at it first?”
“I trust you.”
Natalie seemed surprised at the statement. “Thanks. I hope it does you proud.”
“I’m sure it will.”
Natalie hesitated at the gate to the coop, as if she was going to say something more. Vaughn waited, but she must’ve changed her mind because she gave a little wave and walked inside, leaving Vaughn behind.
Vaughn watched her go, making sure Diablo didn’t give her any trouble, and then headed off sipping her water. She entered the stables, turned on the lights, and walked down to the very last stall to begin her work.
After she mucked the first row of stalls and spoke briefly to the boys who’d arrived shortly after she’d started, she heard Gram ring the bell for breakfast. Vaughn leaned the hay fork up against the wall and headed for the house. When she came to the corral, she was surprised to see Natalie grooming one of the horses the boys had let out.
“Am I doing it right?” she asked, brushing down Charlie.
“Looks pretty good to me,” Vaughn said. Her gaze traveled over Natalie’s lithe body, shown off perfectly in the tight jeans and short-sleeved shirt she had on. She moved with grace and ease and Vaughn caught herself staring and forced her eyes to refocus on Charlie. But her mind kept replaying the vision of Natalie moving, the way her muscles in her sinewy arms shifted as she brushed, the delicate flare of her hips, and the way her shirt lifted slightly when she stretched, exposing her smooth, pale torso. Vaughn cleared her tightening throat.
“You can finish that after breakfast,” she said, walking on. She needed to escape, to clear her head for a moment. Natalie was off limits, for more reasons than one, and she couldn’t afford to get caught up in an attraction to her, even if she kept that attraction to herself. She had very important things to focus on, and rolling in the hay, or even dreaming about rolling in the hay with Natalie, was not among them.
“Hey, wait up.” Natalie set down the brush and hurried out of the corral to join her. “You want to take a peek at the website after breakfast? I haven’t been back in to publish it yet.”
“Why not?” Vaughn had thought for sure she’d told her to go ahead.
“I got caught up in doing chores.”
Vaughn didn’t speak, just clenched her jaw. She really needed that website up and running. “Fine.”
“Great. I’ll also show you some of the job listings I want to publish.”
“Okay.”
Natalie seemed to sense her mood. “I’m sorry, Vaughn, I just don’t want to do anything without you getting a look see first.”
“And why is that?”
“Because…it’s your ranch and—”
Vaughn stopped. “Gram told you, didn’t she?”
Natalie shifted her gaze and Vaughn knew. “Christ.”
“She didn’t tell me a lot,” Natalie hurried to say. “Just that…you were betrayed. And I don’t want to cause any trouble. I don’t want to risk doing something you don’t like.”
“Fine, I’ll look things over.” They walked up onto the porch where Gram stood waiting with her apron on, wringing it with her hands. She was smiling, but Vaughn could tell she’d heard some of their conversation.
“Gram,” Vaughn said by way of greeting. She was furious at her for telling Natalie about Jeanie and more furious at not knowing just how much she had told her.
“Vaughn.”
“You and me,” Vaughn said. “We’ll talk. Later.”
“Alrighty.”
The three of them headed inside and the boys bounded up behind them. Vaughn held the door open for everyone and just before she closed it, she closed her eyes and sighed. It was going to be a long day.
* * *
After breakfast Vaughn walked quietly back to the guesthouse with Natalie to look over her work. They hadn’t spoken at breakfast, both of them choosing to sit and listen to Gram and the boys rather than talk. Gram had sensed Vaughn’s mood too, especially after Vaughn had told her they needed to talk, and she’d watched her and Natalie both closely across the table. She’d wanted to speak to them, to illicit conversation, Vaughn could tell, but she’d wisely refrained, leaving things be. And now it seemed, that Natalie, too, was wary about speaking to her, because they walked in silence and things remained that way until they got inside and sat at the small kitchen table.
Natalie opened her laptop and woke the screen. She brought up the website and turned the laptop to face Vaughn. Vaughn looked at it quietly, checking out all the pages as Natalie coursed through them, explaining things.
The site was brilliant and beautiful and very professional looking. Vaughn was moved, almost to tears. It wasn’t just her photos, the ones she’d avoided looking at for two years, that had moved her, it was Natalie’s work, her attention to detail, her above and beyond effort. She’d really done her a huge favor and she was sitting there patiently waiting for Vaughn to speak, awaiting her approval with a look of terrible trepidation.
Christ, am I that scary? Have I been a big ass about this?
Vaughn looked at her. “It’s…” She nearly choked, her throat tight with rising emotion. “Wonderful.”
Natalie’s face softened and her eyebrows lifted. “Really?”
“Yes.”
She let out a small yelp and threw her arms around Vaughn, hugging her tight. “Oh my God, thank you,” she said into her ear. “I’m so glad you like it.” She drew away, smiling at her, but Vaughn was too shocked and too moved to return the smile. She was too busy trying to control her reaction at having Natalie in her arms. Of feeling her firm body pressed against hers and inhaling the scent of her soap and shampoo. It had stirred her, and her mind was spinning. She hadn’t been prepared to feel these feelings. Hadn’t been prepared at all. So, she did the only thing she could do. She stood and scooped her hat up off the table.
“Wait,” Natalie said, looking incredulous. “Don’t leave. Not again.”
“I really should get back to it,” Vaughn said, trying to avoid her heavy gaze. Why did she have to have eyes like she did? So crystal clear and green? Like a lush, green meadow leading up to a lake?
“No,” Natalie said, clenching her wrist. “Sit.” She tugged on her and insisted she return to her seat.
Vaughn sank back down into the chair, but she didn’t remove her hat.
“Now, I’m going to push this button and publish the website. You ready?” She hovered the cursor over a yellow button that said PUBLISH.
Vaughn nodded.
Natalie published the site and smiled. “We’re online!” She clapped. She stopped when she saw that Vaughn didn’t join in. “Okay, now I’ll show you the job listings I worked up.”
She brought up the listings and let Vaughn read them over. She’d done a surprisingly good job considering she knew nothing about ranching. “They’re great,” Vaughn said. “Only add this to this one.” And she rattled off more of a job description and Natalie typed it up. When she finished, she showed Vaughn the sites she was going to post them to. “I also thought that maybe we should print them up so you could take them and post them at places you frequent. Like the feed store and tractor supply, etc.”
“Okay, sure. Good idea.”
Natalie sent the pages to Gram’s new email so Vaughn could download them and print them in the house.
They sat in silence after that with the air heavy between them, and Vaughn could feel the electricity of a mutual attraction. Natalie kept looking at her with her captivating eyes, while brushing her dark bangs away from her face. It was obvious that she wanted to speak, but she seemed at a loss for words. Vaughn, too, didn’t know what to say. She stood once again.
“I better go.”
Natalie joined her and they walked toward the door.
“Thanks for coming by to look.”
Vaughn gripped the doorknob. “Thanks for all your hard work. What do I owe you?” She was eager to pay her, to even things out. Natalie had done her such a favor, and she’d done a damn good job at it to boot. Vaughn dug in her back pocket for her wallet. She opened it and began leafing through her cash. A website fee wasn’t in the budget, but she’d have to sacrifice. They really needed the website and this new one would bring in some much-needed business, she was sure of it.
Natalie covered Vaughn’s hand with her own and lowered it along with the wallet.
“No charge,” she said softly.
“I need to pay you something. You did such a good job.”
“No, really,” Natalie said. “You don’t owe me a thing.”
“But you did me such a big favor.”
“And like I said, you’re doing one for me. We’re even.”
“You—sure?”
“Positive.”
Vaughn closed her wallet and slipped it back into her pocket. She opened the door.
“I’ll join you as soon as I post those job listings,” Natalie said.
Vaughn nodded. Then she gave a small smile and walked out into the bright, morning sun.