“He’s good to go,” Alex said. “It’s lunch time, use your time wisely.”
Cat nodded and walked off with Lana, wondering what she could want from her.
“I wanted to ask how you were,” Lana said. “I was already on my way to see Pete so I thought I would come see how you’re doing.”
“I’m fine,” Cat said. “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Lana said. “It did look terrifying yesterday.”
“I suppose it must have. It’s the first time a horse has behaved like that around me.”
“It happens I suppose, but then again, I know almost nothing about animals,” she said. “I barely knew anything about keeping a house when I came here.”
“You seem natural now,” Cat said, remembering the way she had handled herself when she had gone to the farmhouse.
“Practice always helps and they are very accommodating. You work hard, I heard Mark say that,” Lana said.
“Is that so?” Cat muttered. That irritating man had never mentioned anything like to her but of course he wouldn’t. He was just a grumpy guy with nothing else to do, except make her miserable.
“Don’t think too harshly of Mark,” Lana said as if she knew what was on her mind. “He’s usually calm, but he hasn’t had any good workers in quite some time, so he got worried about the ranch. He takes this, all of it, very seriously-more so than his brothers I think.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Cat said rightfully.
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Lana said. “I have a feeling you might last. I better go now; it was nice chatting to you.”
Lana waved as she walked off and Cat sighed. Her stomach growled and she turned so that she could go towards town to get something to eat. She wasn’t looking where she was going and she ran into someone, feeling the force of a hard wall as she hit the person. Arms caught her shoulders and she felt strength in them before she shook them off.
“Watch where you’re going,” Mark said.
“Yes boss,” she said stiffly and then walked off to where she was heading the first time.
“How’s the injury?” She heard Mark ask.
She turned to see him staring at her with those stunning green eyes again.
“It’s healing boss, it’ll be better in a day or two.”
“Good to hear. Don’t lax in your work.”
“Of course not boss,” Cat said before turning and scowling. There was no redeeming this man. Curse him.
***
Mark stared at his palms, trying not to think of the slim shoulders he had grasped just a few minutes ago. He hadn’t expected Caleb’s shoulders to be so thin and frail; he had just thought the clothes were ill fitting and that he was strong enough under that.
Why it had felt almost like a woman when he’d gripped them.
But then again, he couldn’t fault the guy, scrawny or not. Caleb was a hard worker, as hard as any other worker he had. So far, he had caught on and Mark liked hard, competent workers. Even with the injury, which he knew had to be bad from the gash he had seen, Caleb was working hard if not harder than before. He clearly deserved every wage that Mark gave him.
Why then was Mark so annoyed by his presence?
Caleb hadn’t behaved badly towards him though he could see fire in his eyes once in a while which was justified seeing the way he treated him, but he hadn’t behaved badly towards the animals or the other workers. Even George had said that Caleb was a good enough worker for them and that they should keep him long term.
“Maybe it’s one of those things,” Mark said to himself.
“Talking to yourself is never a good thing.”
Mark looked up to see Jaime standing at the office doorway.
“What are you doing back so soon?” Mark asked.
“I got away from the council sooner than I thought I could,” Jaime said. “They put me in charge of the elections and campaigning.”
“I remember,” Mark said. “No wonder Mr. Hamilton wanted you on his side.”
“That old geezer is smart,” Jaime said without any ill feeling. Mark knew that Jaime liked Mr. Hamilton. “He’s campaigning hard to make sure that he gets elected.”
“Exactly how long is this election?” Mark asked.
“Seven more weeks and then the voting. Long enough to irritate me,” Jaime said. “I’m just going to get busier from now on.”
“You were busy before,” Mark said. “It’s not a big deal though, we can handle everything here.”
“I can see that. Pete filled me in on the accident and how you took over his office.”
“He gave it to me, he exaggerates too much,” Mark retorted.
“I may be twisting his words a bit,” Jaime said, sitting down. “I heard you finally got a good worker. I saw him too, walking off towards town.”
“Yeah, Caleb Hunter.”
“Scrawny for a ranch hand but apparently strong enough to walk off being hit by a horse,” Jaime said. “Not a bad one then.”
“Yeah, don’t know why that happened. The new horse seems a bit jumpy, he doesn’t seem to like anyone,” Mark reasoned.
“That’s what Alex said too. Maybe we shouldn’t have bought that one,” Jaime said.
“Drew swears that with some grooming and we can start enlisting the stallion in races. He hasn’t been wrong yet,” Mark said.
“He does have an eye for good animals,” Jaime admitted. “I haven’t seen him around recently.”
“He’s going around a lot, looking for new animals to replace the ones we’ll have to sell soon,” Mark said.
“Everyone is busy then, other than Pete.”
“He’s busy too,” Mark said. “He tries his best to finish his work so that he can spend more time with Lana.”
“That’s called love,” Jaime grinned.
“God forbid that happen to me,” Mark said.
“Be careful Mark, saying things like that is what causes you to fall in love in the first place,” Jaime said mysteriously before leaving him stunned.
***
Cat stretched as she headed towards the stables. A good meal later and she was energized enough to get back to work on the horses. When she reached the stables, there was no one around and she could see Malice staring at her balefully. She walked over to the horse, gaining a sort of epiphany as she did and said,
“Sorry about yesterday boy,” she said. “I didn’t think that it was going to affect you that way. How about we call a truce?”
Malice continued to stare at her and she tried to experimentally pat his head. Malice twitched but didn’t do anything about it and she grinned.
“Talking to horses is always effective,” a voice said.
She turned to see that Mark was standing there, a bunch of hay in his hands.
“Sorry I didn’t notice you there boss,” she said.
“No issue,” he said. “I was just coming by with some hay for the horses.”
He dropped the hay stack nearby and then said,
“You’re the first one back.”
“Yes sir,” she said.
“I gather you’re making friends with the horses now,” he said.
“He was unreasonable at first, but I think we’re coming to an understanding,” she said, grinning at the horse.
“Good thing too, that horse is causing me endless amount of worry. Maybe now it won’t be so anxiety inducing.”
From the way he talked about it, she could see that he clearly cared about the horses. But she didn’t say anything as he continued to speak about the horses.
“So far, we’ve always had a hard time with our horses, except Pete’s mare. That one never caused a day of trouble.”
“Which one is she, sir?” she asked eagerly.
“She’s…” he looked around and then said, “Pete must have taken her out. He likes going on rides around the ranch with Lana. He doesn’t let anyone take care of her though, so you can always skip over her when deal
ing with the horses.”
“I see, sir.”
“We need to take the horses out tomorrow; I think they are getting angry about being cooped up.”
“We did take them out yesterday sir.”
“No, I mean they need to be ridden. Usually I don’t have enough workers to take all of them around but now that you’re here, we have enough for each horse to go out.”
“That sounds great,” she said, tamely, as the excitement rushed into her. She was going to ride one of the horses! God, she couldn’t wait.
And that was when Mark smiled at her for the first time ever and she felt a slight lurch in her chest which lingered as he walked off. For a second she was taken aback and then she saw Malice staring at her.
“I hope I’m not heading towards trouble,” she muttered, rubbing her chest as the uncomfortable ache lingered, to Malice, who only neighed in response.
Chapter Seven
Three weeks into the job and she could feel a change in her.
It wasn’t a big change; she actually loved this whole job and how much stamina she had gained after working her best over the last several days. She was more energized than before and she loved hanging around with the animals. It was one of the things that made her really happy and Mathew could see it whenever he saw her, making him glad that she was trying her best.
She was adjusting well to the ranch and Mark Simmons wasn’t bothering her that much either. He was now friendlier, having accepted her more than before. Of course, she had been guilty at first about deceiving them, but it didn’t matter anymore, because she was just trying to do her best at working for them. It wasn’t like she was doing it on purpose and she was pulling her weight as well.
Her father still hadn’t noticed anything which was good and she had formulated a plan as well. She was going to work until the end of his election and then she was going to tell him that she had the experience to run the ranch. That was the best way to go about things.
She was working with the horses when she noticed something that worried her. Malice had really taken to her and he was the one that she had ridden for the first time. He had been surprisingly docile while she had taken him around the ranch and he was quickly becoming her favorite. She had a chance to see Pete Simmons’s mare as well who was gentle and beautiful, completely winning over her heart.
She was brushing Malice’s mane when she felt something fall over her head. She rubbed her head and looked down to see a small chunk of wood. Looking up she saw that a part of the roof had fallen off. This wasn’t good for the horses and when she looked in the separate sections for the horses, she found more chunks.
“Something wrong?” Alex asked, seeing her staring at the ceiling.
“The ceiling is falling down,” she said. “Literally.”
“I didn’t notice that,” he said. “We should get some work done on it.”
“I’ll go and talk to the boss about it,” she said. “I don’t think the horses are doing well with the condition of it like that.”
“Go ahead; we can get started on it tomorrow if that’s the case.”
She nodded and then rushed off towards the office. She had gotten a good understanding of the layout of the ranch so she knew exactly where to go. She reached the office and knocked but didn’t hear the familiar low tone of Mark, but the peppy tone of Pete Simmons.
“Hello,” Pete said with a smile. “Caleb, how can I help you?”
“I was actually looking for Mr. Simmons, sir,” she said.
“Mark is at the farm house,” Pete said. “I’ll go with you, it’s close to lunch anyway.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pete got up and walked out with her following him. She didn’t say anything, feeling slightly ill at ease at being with Pete Simmons. She didn’t know how to behave around him and she didn’t want to make it any more awkward. No suspicion could be linked back to her.
“How are you adjusting?” Pete asked amiably.
“Very well sir,” she said cautiously.
“Good, continue the good work and we’ll consider raising your wages soon.”
She nodded and they reached the farm house. Pete went up first and she lingered on the porch as he walked into the house. She was sure that Pete would tell Mark that she was here and she didn’t want to go in for it.
Mark came out and saw her, towering over her as he stood in front of her.
“What’s wrong, Caleb?” he asked.
“Sir, Alex and I noticed that the roof of the stables is falling apart,” she said. “We were hoping for permission to fix it.”
“You can fix it if that’s the case, but is there any material?” Mark asked.
“I’m not quite sure sir, should I check?” she said.
“Go ahead and if there are enough materials then go ahead. If it’s bad, try to finish it as soon as possible.”
She nodded and turned to walk away when Mark asked,
“You’re skilled in fixing roofs?”
She nodded slowly. She had never attempted it, but she had seen it happen many times before and she knew that she could do it perfectly if given the chance. “I’m sure Alex and I can manage between the two of us, sir.”
“Best you guys get it done in three days, if you can,” Mark said. “There is talk of bad weather headed our way soon.”
Cat looked at the bright sky, but nodded regardless. She ran off towards the stables, ready to get to work on the roof.
Luckily there were enough planks to fix the roof and she had the idea of putting down a tin overlay so that no water could penetrate it. With that, she got to work on it with Alex. The first day, they dragged up the broken planks and then went to work replacing it. It was tedious work and she got callouses on her hands from it, but she didn’t mind. She was having fun with it and Alex was a good helper and companion for her. They got it half done and then laid down tarp so that the horses wouldn’t be cold.
Mark came to check up a few times a day, but they weren’t done by the third day as they had hoped to be.
“If we stay behind we can finish it,” Alex said.
She nodded, but knew that Alex had a wife and kids to get back to so she said, “I’ll stay behind and finish it.”
“Do you want me to tell the boss?”
“No need, I’ll be done and then I’ll leave,” she said. “It won’t take long.”
Besides she thought, Mathew will know that I’ll be back late. Just in case, she called him and told him about it to which he said that he was fine with it and would stall their father if he questioned her absence.
So, after six, she was still working on it as Alex left regretfully. The sky turned dark too soon but she didn’t think anything of it as she laid down the tin. She lost track of time, but it was when the first drop of water hit her that she felt that she had made a mistake. She looked at the sky and finally saw the dark angry clouds as the first rush of rain caught her by surprise. She quickly got down from the roof and was about to run towards the gate to leave except the clap of thunder shocked her, followed by the rush of wind so strong that it stung her face.
Cat made a split decision and ran into the stables, dripping wet and chattering. This was great; she hadn’t thought that the bad weather was going to come so soon. There was a lantern inside the stables and she lit it, reaching into her pocket for her cell phone. She didn’t want to call Mathew, but she sent him a message saying that she had gotten into some trouble and she would be back after the rain stopped. Now that that was out of the way, she sat down on a bunch of hay, sighing as she thought about the storm outside. It was getting fiercer by the second and she was glad that she had managed to get that tin overlay on securely before the rain hit.
“Sorry guys,” she said. “I’m going to have to stay over with you guys a while.”
Malice and the other horses neighed in return and she grinned, though her body was cold. Now hopefully no one would notice she was here.
“Shit,” Mark said as he saw th
e storm outside.
“What’s wrong?” Lana asked.
“The stables, they are renovating it. I have to go check on the horses,” he said, getting up from the table.
“It’s pretty fierce,” Pete said.
“Its fine, I’ll dash over and check it and if I can’t come back, I’ll just stay there,” Mark said. “I’ve done it before.”
“You want all of us to go?” Drew asked.
“There’s no need for it. I’m sure they were mostly done with it. I’ll just make sure that the tarp is on securely and I’ll be back.”
The others nodded and he put on his raincoat, running out. He had no doubt that they had fixed it, but he just wanted to make sure that it was done properly. He always worried about the horses. He ran to the stables, the rain soaking through his raincoat. It was coming down really heavy and he could barely see where he was going, but he did his best to keep going and was there soon.
He looked up at the roof and was surprised to see that the roof was done. It looked like they had worked hard to finish it before going home. He had to remember to thank them tomorrow. He was about to rush back when he saw that there was light shining in the stables. Had they forgotten to close that? Probably.
He opened the door and heard movement as he did so. When he looked around, he didn’t see anyone and the horses looked at him broodingly. He had to have been imagining it. He closed the lantern hanging and was about to leave when he saw the wet spot on the hay and then he knew that there was someone here.
“Come out,” he demanded. “I know you’re there.”
***
Cat cursed from behind the hay. Why did it have to be Mark Simmons? Why was he here? And how did he know she was here?
When she heard the door open, she had lunged for the stacks of hay and hidden there, hoping that he was going to go away. She didn’t want to go out and she hoped that he would just leave.
“You can either come out or I’m going to drag you out.”
Cat tried to calm down. She looked at her clothes, they were clinging to her body but the wig was still on. The clothes were a dead giveaway, how was she going to explain this?
“It’s me,” Cat called out.
Simmons Brothers Series: Boxed Set Page 12
