Chapter 33
Somebody Like You – Keith Urban
Gunner
My day was not going well. A night spent away from Cassidy had led to me tossing and turning. I was missing her and wished I’d gone to her place and had that early night with her. So, the morning had begun with me being grouchy and it just got worse.
It was Charlie’s last day, and I’d wanted to spend some time with her, checking she’d got everything documented.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t banked on being three hands down because the shits were going through the place.
Thank God my guys slept in a separate bunkhouse to the ranch hands because Wilder and Nash were busy with late calving and branding and could do without the hassle.
It meant that we’d been maxed out all morning.
We’d had two new horses to assess, the stables to muck out, as well as feed and groom the ranch horses that were on rest. There was also the pain in my ass Dick Hazel.
He was bringing Momma’s Pride back having finally got pissed at having to trailer him in every day.
I’d left Charlie to assess the horses while I dealt with Dickie.
“I did say he should have stayed here,” I told him as I checked the horse had enough water.
“And I told you that your prices are too high.”
I scoffed. “Like you can’t afford it,” I muttered under my breath, “Dick.” And that was an adjective for him and not his damn name.
“You know there’s a guy called Jimmy Destry near Grand Junction who is half your price.”
“Yep and he has half my ability and success rate, so it’s up to you.” I moved past him and made my way out of the stables. “If you want to follow me to the office, Dick, so you can sign the papers.”
“I signed them,” his deep voice boomed, far too loud. “Why do I need to sign them again?”
“Because he’s now being stabled here.”
“Doesn’t it still apply from last time?” He stopped in front of me, his huge Stetson shadowing his face.
“Nope. Besides, my rates went up last week.”
“What? You actual mother fu—”
“I’d be careful Mr. Hazel.” My jaw went tight as I stared at him. “You finish that, and you may be giving Jimmy Destry a call.”
As he considered his options for a moment, I saw Tally approaching. She was wearing Western style boots, jeans and a shearling lined denim, walking with confidence across the yard.
“Oh hi, Mr. Miller, sorry I can come back.”
“It’s fine, Tally. Dream Maker is out in the paddock with Songbird and her foal if you want to go and see him.”
Her eyes brightened. “He is? That’s incredible. I was going to ask if we could try and integrate him with some other horses and see how he goes.”
If this girl didn’t want to come and work for me then I’d be pissed. “Tally, can I ask you something?” I asked, suddenly having an idea.
“Sure.” She looked between me and Dick, unsure.
“If you had a horse that was spooked, even if you just showed him a set of reins what would you do?”
“You’re asking me?” she pointed her thumb at her chest.
“Yep.”
“What the hell is this?” Dick asked. “Am I paying for the advice of some itty bitty girl who is just here to visit her own damn pony.”
My eyes widened at the rudeness of the man. He was a piece of shit and if it wasn’t for the fact that I loved his horse and it needed my help, I’d have thrown him off my land.
“I’m just asking Tally a question if that’s okay with you, Dick.” I turned back to her. “Go ahead tell me what you’d do.”
“I’d introduce him to things slowly. Maybe walk him around a paddock with reins hanging off it, or a saddle placed on it and then eventually take him to each in turn.”
“Anything else?” I asked, giving Dick a quick glance and seeing him roll his eyes.
“Obviously I’d check him with other horses, too, and by process of elimination anything that he came in contact with on a daily basis.”
She knew her stuff. “Once you’ve seen Dream Maker you think you could hang around, I’d like to have a chat with you.”
She frowned and shoved her hands into her pockets. “Sure. Shall I come to the office?”
“That would be great.” As she walked away, I turned to Dick. “Right, let's get those papers signed and you ever question mine or my staff’s judgement again about your horse, I’ll get you black-balled by every damn horse trainer in this country. Is that clear?”
“You can’t do that,” he protested.
“Yes I can, and I will. Everything I do is for the horse's benefit, not yours, so let me do my damn job.” I turned for the office. “Now, are you willing to sign under those rules or not?”
He grumbled and started to walk past me. “Just give me the damn papers.”
At least one positive had come from the morning. Maybe two if Tally agreed to take the job.
Charlie nodded and grinned at me from her seat behind Tally. She then held up a note pad with the words, ‘hire her’, written on it.
“You really want me to work for you?” Tally asked, sitting back in her chair and blowing out her cheeks. “I’m shocked. I mean thrilled, too, but I wasn’t angling for a job when I kept coming around.”
“I know that. You got me interested the moment you said you’d rescued Dream Maker from that piece of shit owner.”
She glanced over at Charlie. “You leave today, right?”
“I do and honestly Gunner is the best person to work with if you want to learn everything about horse training.”
I appreciated that from her seeing as we’d not exactly seen eye to eye over the last month or so.
“Charlie will tell you that if there are any courses you want to sign up for, I’m happy to fund those for you.
This is the salary.” I pointed out the section on the contract.
“That’s a starting salary and after six months we’ll review. ”
She looked down at it and I noticed her eyebrows raise. I knew it was a good surprise because I was a believer in paying people well. If you didn’t, well, you know what they said about peanuts and monkeys.
“Take that home, speak to your family. You live with your brothers, right?”
She gave me a warm smile. “Cole and Liam, yeah. Our parents have moved to Florida for Dad’s health.”
The name Cole Brown rang a bell, but I couldn’t think where. It didn’t matter, though, because it wasn’t him I was trying to hire.
“You didn’t want to go there instead?” I looked over at Charlie, not wanting the same scenario in a year’s time.
“God no, California is not the place for me.” She gave a little shudder. “No, I love it here but I was convinced I’d have to get employment doing something I didn’t love so I could stay. Either that or move away again.”
“Well, hopefully, I’ve answered your prayers.”
“I have a spare hour now,” Charlie said, getting up from her chair. “Want me to show you a little more of what we do?”
And that was why I’d asked Charlie to step up in the first place. “That’s a great idea.” I reached out my hand to Tally. “I’ll leave you with Charlie, but hopefully next time we speak it’ll be because you’re accepting my offer.”
As I left them to go and work with an ex rodeo horse who’d been sent to me by my friend Deacon, I was grateful that a shit day had turned out okay. Maybe it was the shape of things to come—good things, but when I looked over toward the development site, I couldn’t be so sure.