Chapter Two
Could Brooke have had a guy on the side?
Trev’s first reaction had been no fucking way, but the uncomfortable stirring in his gut nudged him toward something he didn’t want to acknowledge.
Maybe there had been signs, red flags he’d ignored prior to the breakup.
A sense that, while things seemed to be good between them, something wasn’t quite right.
But a side guy? Brooke certainly hadn’t fallen into the arms of anyone else after their breakup.
Maybe Maclyn was just rattling his cage, getting back at him for not buying her story about having nothing to do with his wrecked truck.
He shot a glance her way as he filled the coffee reservoir with water.
She stood with her back to him, studying the photos of him and his brothers hanging on the wall next to the telephone.
The Matthews Brothers Rodeo Hall of Fame his Uncle Wade called it, and indeed it had grown from a few snaps of sheep riding to professional action shots.
When the coffee started dripping, he filled two mugs with hot water to warm, then gestured to the table before taking a seat.
Maclyn put her hand on the back of a chair, hesitated, then pulled it out and sat.
“Tell me about this spot you’re in.”
She blinked, apparently expecting to be interrogated about Brooke. He’d get there, but not immediately. He needed time to sort through things before embarking on that route.
Maclyn wasn’t going to let it go that easily. “You want to know about me?”
“I do.” He leaned back in his chair, the way that teachers always told him not to. He’d only proven them right once during his long career of chair tipping.
She made a where-do-I-start gesture. “I worked at the Sweet Grass Ranch until a couple days ago. You know it?”
Ritzy place. He’d never been there, but he’d seen the television ads. Dudes on horseback, happy barbecues. Decorative cattle.
“I do. What happened?”
“I got fired.” She cupped her hands as if the conversation was now over.
“What happened?”
“The new ranch owners, the Benningtons, were wintering at their home in Arizona. A horse got injured and I contacted them, told them about the injury. They told me to put the horse down.”
“What was the injury?”
“She broke the small bone next to the canon. Not sure how.”
“Okay.”
“When I told the vet she was to be put down, he said that he thought the horse could be saved, possibly even ridden again. She was such a sweet-tempered, trustworthy mare that I called the Benningtons back. They said no, it wasn’t worth the bills.
For being rich, they were remarkably stingy.
” Maclyn shook her head as if wondering how people could be that way.
“I told the vet to save her anyway, that I’d pay the bill.
He did and he gave me a healthy discount.
” She pushed out her jaw. “I couldn’t just let her die, could I? ”
“No,” Trev answered honestly. He would have done the same. “Did you think the owners would come around?”
“Foolishly, yes. They did not. Instead, they were pissed that I hadn’t followed orders.
” She met his gaze. “They didn’t care about the horse at all.
They cared about me being, I quote, insubordinate.
I had a strong suspicion that they were going to put her down anyway because there was no guarantee that she’d ever be sound.
When I asked them about it, they said it was none of my business.
” A half-smile wavered on her lips. “So, I said that social media was a wonderful thing.”
Admiration stirred. “Threatened them, eh?”
“I did. Kind of a stupid move, but I’d do it again.
Anyway, they agreed not to put the horse down.
Instead, they sold her. Never offered to pay me back for the vet bills from the proceeds, either.
A month passed, and I thought they’d gotten over it.
” She clucked her tongue. “They fired me two days ago. Said it was for other reasons, but it wasn’t.
I was a damned conscientious employee, and I honestly think they were waiting for a time when it would be hard for me to get another job and that I couldn’t bring any kind of wrongful dismissal suit because of the horse. ”
The coffee pot beeped, and Trev pushed back his chair.
Maclyn’s story rang true—the horse part anyway.
He remembered her taking a strip off a fellow roper for riding a horse with saddle sores.
Brooke had backed her up and the guy had retired the horse until she healed.
They’d been a pair, Brooke and Maclyn, yet one of them was a liar.
“They’re supposedly mailing a check to me,” Maclyn continued. “I signed something, so they have a couple weeks.”
“Where’s the check going to?”
“I have a post office box in Marietta. We weren’t allowed to get private mail at the Sweet Grass Ranch.”
“Sounds like a great place to work.”
“It wasn’t bad with the original owners. I mean, they could be a pain at times, but generally they showed common sense and the foreman was fantastic. He knew when and how to bend the rules and, trust me, there were a lot of rules after the Benningtons took over.”
“The foreman wasn’t there when this happened?”
“I wish he had been. He takes a month-long vacation in late winter to gear up for calving.”
Trev poured the coffee and set a cup in front of Maclyn. She gripped it with both hands, her fingers covering the Lil Rose’s Casino logo.
“That is why I’m looking for a few days’ work. Or a few weeks.”
“You said you have horses to feed. Are they still on the Sweet Grass Ranch?”
“They’re at the Marietta Fairgrounds in one of the nightly rental corrals. My belongings are locked in the tack compartment of my trailer there.”
Trev drummed his fingers on the table as he thought. Two horses. A dog. His conscience gave him an elbow. “I’m sure you can find work in the area. People are always looking.”
“Just not here.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Where you need someone now.”
“Have you calved before?”
“No, but I’ve had several mares foal and I’m a quick study.”
He gave her a point for honesty. He also noted just how tensely she held herself. The woman was close to breaking but fighting not to show it.
He sucked in a breath, knowing that he was about to wade into deep waters.
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“For now.” She looked down as she spoke.
Okay …
“Do you think you can work with me?”
Her gaze shot back to his, wary rather than hopeful, and Trev realized that he’d given her ample reason to feel that way.
He obviously didn’t know the whole truth of what had happened that night with his truck.
He’d believed Brooke because they’d been a couple and that’s what couples did.
They believed and supported one another.
But, if he’d been mistaken in trusting Brooke, if he owed Mac for ruining her chances with Buckley Livestock, which he’d most certainly done, he needed to make it right.
She didn’t have the skills he needed long term, but he could put her to work while he looked for a more permanent hand.
“I’ll give you a couple days.”
A stunned expression crossed her face, but Maclyn didn’t take victory easily. “Why?”
“You’re in a spot.” And I’m still figuring shit out.
“All the same …”
Trev leaned back in his chair as he met her gaze. “Either take the job or don’t. I need an answer now.”
Maclyn lifted her chin. “I’ll take the job.”
*
Holy shit, he’d actually hired her.
It was temporary, he’d made that clear, but as things stood, she would show up tomorrow, meet his uncle, Wade, who’d had an appointment in Marietta, and then dive into her ranch duties.
Duties that she planned to fulfill beyond Trev’s expectations, which would be easy enough, because he’d made no secret about setting the bar low.
She’d been honest about her experience handling cattle—close to zero—but she had other skills.
She could shoe a horse thanks her training in the Equine Studies program at the University of Montana Western, run a tractor, fix a fence, and feed.
She even knew a little about small-engine repair and could mend tack, skills she’d picked up at the Sweet Grass Ranch before the Benningtons bought the place, by pitching in where needed when she wasn’t attending to her wrangler duties.
She and Trev had agreed that she would handle general ranch chores while he concentrated on calving until his brother Jordan was free to help, or until he found someone who fit his qualifications. She would also learn how to calve, which would be a nice addition to her résumé.
There was no question about this being a mercy hire, and normally Mac would have balked at such a thing, but with three mouths to feed and nowhere to live, she couldn’t afford the luxury of pride.
But why hadn’t he asked about Brooke?
That was the question she had no answer to.
She didn’t know how he felt about the woman he’d once been engaged to, so she’d kept her mouth closed on the subject after dropping the truth bomb.
If he asked more details at some point in the future, she’d tell him the nitty-gritty, but she wasn’t going to volunteer information until then.
She’d simply put her head down, do the job she’d been hired to do, and figure out her next move.
And she needed to figure fast, because she had no idea how long she would be an employee of the Tree Fork Ranch.