Chapter 9 #2
“Yvonne Wilson,” she said, and as they shook hands, they both jerked at the spark it evoked.
They all paused as a vehicle pulled in, and Reid walked up to them, threw his arm around Erin, and grinned. “It looks great.”
“Thanks.”
They all laughed when a golf cart came barreling down the drive, and stopped suddenly. Yvonne looked in shock at the old man sitting there with a wide grin.
“Ducky,” Erin said with loving affection. “This is Yvonne Wilson, the other new security guard.”
Yvonne walked over to him and held out her hand to shake. It shocked her as to how strong his grip was.
Erin nodded, then turned back to the others.
“Which cabins are available? Not that it matters, but I’ve given Yvonne the tour of everything and she has groceries in her vehicle.
I’m sure she wants to get settled.” She turned to Yvonne.
“I’m going to leave you now, not because I don’t want to show you around, but I don’t want to step on Naomi’s toes.
She might be my ranch manager for Broken, but this is her ranch to run. ”
“I understand.” Yvonne shook her hand and gave it an extra squeeze as she looked directly at Erin. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.” Erin grinned, then hugged her, only to whisper in her ear, “I’ll take the test in the morning.”
“Good.”
She stepped back and headed toward Reid’s truck, then stopped, turned, and looked at everyone. “I think we should have a get together next Sunday.”
“At the meeting place?” Naomi asked with a wide grin. “Dish to pass?”
“Absolutely.”
“What was that about?” Yvonne asked and it was Ducky that explained about the family dinner and how they all got together to catch up and introduce new people that came to work for Erin.
“Let’s get you to the cabins,” Naomi said with a nod. “Do you have much to unpack?”
“No, just what’s in my SUV. Erin said all the appliances were provided. I have my personal items and clothes mostly, with a few appliances that I used all the time at home. Just small countertop ones. Air fryer, crockpot, coffee maker.”
“Good. You can follow us.”
“I’ll ride with you,” Kevin said, and only shrugged when they all turned to look at him.
“I can explain things as we drive.”
They all agreed and went to their own vehicles, and Yvonne climbed behind the wheel, as Kevin got into the passenger side.
“I know you probably know this, but the first thing you have to know is that everything Erin Riceman does, it’s with family in mind. She might own and operate multi-million-dollar businesses, but she’s all about family.”
“I got that impression.” She nodded as she followed slowly behind everyone. As they approached buildings, Kevin pointed out what they were. The security building, the main house, the community pantry, horse barns, equipment barns, then finally the cabins.
“The last one on the left is where Tony and Staci live. Across from them, last one on the right is where Shay and Faith live. I live next to Tony, Pedro and Myrna live next to Shay, and the other two are empty. You can have your pick.”
“How much land with each cabin?”
“Two acres. You can do what you want with it, you will be responsible for mowing your own grass, you can plant flowers, a garden, whatever you want.” He looked at her and frowned at her expression. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve lived in a two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a building for the last twenty-plus years. I don’t know if I know how to grow anything.”
Kevin grinned, and shook his head. “I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing with you. I understand what you’re saying. I lived in my former home my entire life, it sat on only one acre, and I only mowed the lawn. My ex-wife hired a landscaper for the flowers.”
“You’re divorced?”
“Yes, and it’s a long, long, long story.” He turned and grinned at her, not knowing what that did to Yvone’s insides.
“We’ll have to have a drink one night and talk about it.
” She looked at the area and pulled up in front of the house that was reported to be next to Pedro and Myrna.
After she parked, they got out, and instead of emptying her SUV immediately, the people waiting to help told her to go inside and inspect the place.
She emerged ten minutes later with a gigantic grin.
“I love it!”
She went to her vehicle to open the back, and everyone reached in to grab something to carry inside. The men picked up the coolers she had purchased to put her food inside, while the women grabbed a suitcase or box.
“Coffee?” Kevin asked as she entered with the last box, and she looked at him with a nod, but held up her hand as she looked around, spotted what she wanted, and brought it to him.
“What’s this?”
“My coffee pot.”
“This is fancy, I don’t know if I know how to operate it.”
Yvonne laughed and showed him how to make a latte, and he only shook his head. “Are you bringing this to the security building?”
“Probably not, why?”
“Because I would probably toss it out a window, or shoot it. Do you drink normal coffee?”
“Yes, I just showed you this because I wanted a latte. Trust me, I’m not as snotty as that sounded. It’s just that I’ve probably already drunk two pots of coffee today, and this relaxes me.” She turned and looked around at all the boxes and sighed. “Now I have to unpack everything.”
“Do you want help?”
“No offense, but not really.”
“Okay, I’ll leave you to unpack. If you like, I can come over tomorrow and give you a closer tour of the ranch.”
“I’d like that,” she said with a nod, and watched the most handsome man she had ever seen walk out her front door. She sighed heavily, waved her hand before her face, then got to work by taking care of her groceries first, before tackling the rest of her unpacking.