August drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair, then met his gaze. She didn’t have to say it. His eyes told her that he’d known from the beginning she’d make the right choice. “Okay. Put her on the payroll for a month. Then she’s on the first bus to New Mexico.”
BJ laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll take care of it.”
August stood and opened the office door. Teal was in the middle of the den, her butt propped against the high back of the sofa, cargo shorts riding up on her long, perfect legs. She was staring at her feet, apparently lost in thought, so August cleared her throat. Teal’s head lifted and thick black lashes slowly shuttered, then exposed rich brown eyes as she focused. August’s belly tightened. This was such a bad idea. She gestured to the office door. “BJ will give you a list of duties.” She grabbed her hat from the coat tree next to the office door as Teal walked toward her. A warm hand on her forearm stopped her exit.
“Thank you, August,” Teal said softly.
August shifted uneasily and stared at the door leading outside that would be her escape. “You’ll have to do more than cook, and I doubt you’ll be thanking me after BJ has you clean out the chicken coop. That’s a really nasty job.”
Teal’s hand briefly tightened before she released August’s arm. “Nothing’s worse than shoveling manure during milking time. I grew up on a dairy farm.”
August tucked that small bit of information away in her mental “figure this woman out” folder as she combed her hair back with her fingers and settled her Stetson into place. Maybe Teal was just an innocent farm girl who’d followed a bad boyfriend to DC before she found out about his aggressive side. Now she could get caught in the crossfire of the crud that was trying to follow August from Dallas. “I don’t know. I personally think the politics of the urban jungle craps a bigger, smellier shit pile than anything an ark full of animals could produce.”
She glanced over in time to see a flicker of pain in Teal’s eyes as she went still for a split second. Then her shoulders slumped and she seemed…sad…before her face tightened into an unreadable mask. “A good reason not to go into politics.” Odd. August had commented about urban life, not really about politics. And, though Teal’s tone was benign, her body language was telling. There was more to Teal—hell, she’d never even asked the woman’s last name—than she’d told them. But BJ would take care of that when he got her tax information. Now wasn’t the time to ferret out the woman’s background, if ever. She was only going to be here a few weeks.
“Would you tell BJ that I’m going for a ride? Don’t hold supper if I’m not back.”
*
Teal silently cursed as she watched August leave with Rio close on her heels. August’s remark had caught her off guard. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She’d almost given herself away by mentioning politics. Not that she thought August or BJ were the kind of people to sell her location to the paparazzi, but if August was hiding from someone, too, Teal’s notoriety and the fact that she’d lied to them would surely get her thrown off the ranch. What would she do if that happened and she had to spend a month hiding in a hotel room? Ha. She could write a book about her affair with Senator Lauren Abbott. It probably would sell enough so her banishment from politics wouldn’t be an issue. Nah. She’d probably spend all her royalties defending against the lawsuits the Abbott campaign would file to try to discredit her.
BJ was already writing out a work list when she entered the office. “August said she’s going out for a ride and might not be back for supper.”
He didn’t seem surprised. “She gets like that sometimes. Her granddaddy, Gus, used to worry about her being too solitary. But it’s just her way. Sometimes I think she’d be happy if that dog was the only other breathing thing in world. So, unless you need an advance beforehand, payday is end of the month.”
“I’m good. Just tell me where to bunk and give me a list of what you need done. I can feed horses and chickens, muck stalls, clean chicken coops…whatever. I draw the line at slaughtering chickens, though. If you want one for dinner, you’ll have to get one of the men to do that.”
“Not a problem. We get most of our chicken meat from the grocery. If we do fry one up for dinner, Pops does the neck-wringing around here.”
The image that formed in her head made Teal’s stomach churn. “Sorry. I know most farm kids adjust early to putting the animals you raise on the table for dinner, but I never did.”
BJ paused his writing and regarded her for a few seconds, then nodded as though confirming a decision. “You can bunk in the same room you slept in last night.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“All my wranglers are gentlemen, but some have jealous girlfriends. It’ll be better for you to stay in the house. I hope you’re an early riser, though.”
“I am.” In DC, she rose at five a.m. to review the overnight news and was in the senator’s office to begin work by seven a.m.
“Breakfast is at six in the summer. You’ll need to collect eggs and feed the chickens beforehand, but you only have to cook breakfast and supper for me, August, and yourself. The men have their own kitchen and can take care of themselves. Monday through Friday, around noon, you’ll put together lunch for everybody and take it out to wherever the guys are working.” He peered at her. “How are you at office work?”
“Proficient. I can handle spreadsheets, general accounting, and correspondence…anything you need.”
“Good. A lot of record-keeping goes with a ranch. We have to keep extensive records on each steer. We also keep a close inventory on all expenditures such as vaccines, feed, and fertilizer, and double-check deliveries and billing to make sure they match up. I’ll be happy to let you do as much of that as you can handle. This time of year, I need to be out there with the herds to make sure everything is going well and our head count is consistent.”
“What about house cleaning?”
“Nope. Brick’s wife runs a cleaning and household shopper service. We contract with them to clean the ranch house and bunkhouse twice a week. They do our grocery shopping, too. I just give them a list of what we need. Since you’ll be cooking, though, you can be responsible for giving them a list when the cleaning crew comes every Monday and Thursday.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s see.” He reviewed his list. “Oh, yeah.” He began writing again. “We don’t usually stable horses in the barn unless the weather is bad or one of them goes lame. If we do, you’ll need to muck out their stall every day.” He wrote one more thing down. “Last of all, you need to check on Pops at least twice a day and don’t let him work too hard or long in that durn garden he insists on keeping.”
“Right. Check on Pops.”
“Any questions you can think of?”
“No. Wait, does the ranch have wireless Internet?”
He jotted down a short string of numbers and letters at the bottom of the list. “Yup. We get it and our television through satellite so it’s not really reliable in bad weather, but this is the password.”
He handed her the list. “Now, let’s go unload your things and get you settled. Then I’ll give you a quick tour of the rest of the place.”
She took the list. “Thanks, BJ. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”
He stood and wrapped a fatherly arm around her shoulders to guide her out of the office. “You don’t know how much I appreciate you being here. Julio took care of all that paperwork. I hate doing it. I want to get back outdoors where I belong, and I have a feeling August needs some wide-open spaces right now, too.”
She wanted to ask about August, but she didn’t want to seem too nosy. She’d see what the Internet turned up and wait for a better chance to slip in a few discreet questions.
*
The days were growing longer and the sun didn’t set until almost nine o’clock, but it was dark and Teal had just enjoyed a luxurious soak, then slipped on a tank top and sleep shorts, when she heard someone quietly enter the fron
t door and the thud of boots coming down the hall.
She’d seen August ride into the barn several hours earlier. Teal had been curled up in a butter-soft leather, oversized chair in the mostly unused living room, engrossed in a lesbian romance on her eReader because BJ was cursing loudly at a baseball game on the big-screen television in the den. The movement of horse and rider had caught her attention outside the front windows. But when dusk had begun to settle over the ranch and August still hadn’t come into the house, Teal had decided to retire to her room to finish her novel.
She opened her bedroom door. “August?”
August stopped, her hand on the door of the bedroom across the hall. She smelled of sweat and horses, and a grass stain was bright against the back of her white, sleeveless cotton shirt. Teal let her gaze drift from the stain to the well-shaped denim-clad ass, then jerked it upward as August turned to face her.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to disturb you.” August’s eyes traveled slowly downward and locked on a spot in the carpet she was worrying with the toe of her boot—as though that had always been their intended destination.
“You didn’t.” Teal felt exposed in her skimpy sleeping attire, her nipples immediately hardening to push against the thin cotton material. She resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest when August flushed at being caught checking her out. “I was about to climb into bed and read for a bit.” She held up her eReader as exhibit one. “I just wanted to tell you that I left you a plate of spaghetti in the microwave. I didn’t put it in the refrigerator because I saw you ride in a few hours ago and thought you’d come inside sooner.”
August licked her lips. “I got caught up oiling an old saddle.”
Teal realized something was missing…not something, but someone. “Where’s your dog?”
“Rio? She’s probably in the kitchen, checking her food bowl or looking for BJ.”
“He’s watching a baseball game in the den.”
August’s slow smile warmed Teal in unexpected places. “You’re not a baseball fan?”
Teal smiled back and shook her head. “Not in the least.”
“Me neither.” They stared at each other for a moment.
“Well, the plate I fixed for you should warm right up if you’re hungry. It’s my mom’s recipe, and being…I mean, it’s pretty good if I say so myself.” Crap. She’d almost revealed her last name because it was Italian.
“Thanks. I am hungry,” August said.
“Well, then I hope BJ didn’t make good on his threat to eat your dinner, too.”
August’s eyes narrowed. “He’d better not.” She tossed the leather gloves she carried onto a table just inside her bedroom and headed for the kitchen.
Teal called after her. “If he did, there’s more in the fridge. I hid it behind the gallon of lemonade.”
She liked this nicer version of August. And she really enjoyed watching that perfect ass as it disappeared down the hallway. She closed her eyes, holding the image a bit longer. Then her hands were cupping those denim-clad cheeks, pulling those hips into hers as they stood and kissed…and she was on her back, digging her nails into firm muscle and soft skin as those bare hips flexed and thrust against hers. She opened her eyes and blinked at the empty hallway. Whew. She literally shook herself. This romance story she was reading was really winding up her imagination.
*
August propped her shoulder against the porch support as she sipped from her coffee mug and watched Teal and Pops in the diffused light of the newly risen sun. Teal must have been up for a while because crisp bacon and a plate of fluffy biscuits were warming in the oven, and three clean mugs were lined up next to a fresh pot of coffee. Now, she was patiently following Pops and nodding as he pointed out different places where the hens sometimes laid wayward eggs outside the coop. Those eggs were few, and everybody but Pops just left them to the snakes or other scavenging vermin.
The morning was still cool, but an unbidden image of Teal standing in her bedroom doorway, dressed in a flimsy tank top and skimpy sleep shorts, spread heat up through August’s belly and warmed her neck. She relaxed and let it happen. Christine had left her so raw and bleeding she wasn’t sure she’d ever risk involvement again. She was relieved, though, that she wasn’t so damaged her libido couldn’t respond to a beautiful woman.
Teal was a farm girl who had a boyfriend—correction, ex-boyfriend. She probably didn’t have a clue about lesbians. That created enough physical and emotional distance between them for her to relax and silently enjoy how delicious she found this stranger. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Talk about rebound. Well, that was one horse she definitely wasn’t going to climb back on any time soon. She was just noticing. No harm in that. Even if Teal was bi-oriented, August had had enough drama in her life. She certainly wasn’t interested in a woman with a stalker ex-boyfriend.
Teal glanced her way, and when August lifted her hand in a little wave, she patted Pops on the arm and jogged toward the ranch house with her basket of eggs swinging beside her.
“Sorry. I’ll have breakfast ready as soon as I scramble up some of these eggs.” She hesitated. “Unless you prefer them cooked some other way.”
August pushed away from the post to hold the door open for Teal. “Scrambled is fine. You can add some diced jalapeños, though. I pretty much like anything that’s hot and spicy.”
Teal set the basket of eggs on the counter and raised her eyebrows at August.
“Food, I mean.” August’s neck and face heated, but this time in a different way. She scowled. “You know what I mean.”
Teal laughed, washing off a half dozen eggs and grabbing a bowl from the cabinet. “I know. I couldn’t help it. You left yourself wide open.”
August rubbed her face and then smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. I guess I did.”
BJ clomped into the kitchen, The Dallas Morning News under his arm. “Morning,” he said, taking a seat at the kitchen bar next to the mug of coffee Teal set down for him. “Appreciate that.” He looked over at August. “See how she treats me. You could learn a thing or two from her.”
“In your dreams, old man,” August said, her tone teasing. “Anyway, you should be pouring my coffee.”
“Now you’re dreaming, Grasshopper.”
“Not worth arguing over since I’m here to pour for both of you,” Teal said, combining eggs, jalapeños, and cheese in the heated skillet and scrambling everything into a spicy mix.
The conversation among the three of them was easy as they ate. BJ wanted to make sure Pops had shown Teal all of the early morning chores. Teal asked questions about the personalities of horses she’d fed that morning. August warned her about Pops’s usual pranks—a fake snake in a feed bucket or a whitewashed horse turd placed in a hen’s nest—to initiate a new hire. The old man had a silly side.
In fact, the ease at which Teal fit into their household bothered August. She suddenly felt the need to remind them all of Teal’s status at the ranch. She rose to put her empty plate in the sink and refill her mug.
“I’ll get those dishes,” Teal said, grabbing BJ’s mug to refill it, along with her own.
August returned to her seat and cleared her throat when Teal sat again. BJ shot her a wary glance as he buttered another biscuit.
“I know BJ talked with you, but I need to make sure we’re crystal clear on a few things.”
Teal glanced at BJ but nodded her agreement. “Okay.”
“It’s my understanding that you have to delay going to your cousin’s ranch because you have an ex-boyfriend stalking you and he’s already been there looking for you. Do you know how he found out you might be going there?”
Teal chewed her lip for a few seconds, and August wondered if she was deciding how much to disclose or whether she should lie. But she raised her eyes to August’s.
“I don’t know for sure, but he has friends in…government who would trace things for him. My apartment was furnished, but I had clothes, kitchenware, and stuff like that. Instead of r
enting a storage unit somewhere, I stupidly shipped most of my belongings to my cousin’s ranch. I’m guessing he somehow found out where it was going and figured I was headed there, too.”
That made sense. It could have been as easy as chatting up the movers as they carried the boxes out to load them on a truck. Teal still held August’s gaze. She was either telling the truth or was a really great liar.
“Do you have a location app on your phone? Were you using it for your GPS?”
Teal was shaking her head before she finished the questions. “My GPS is an old Garmin. It’s dumb, but I’m kind of attached to the voice on it, so I wasn’t using my phone. I didn’t have a signal out there, but I don’t know for how long. The carrier doesn’t seem to have a good signal in this area, so I picked up a cheap phone when we were in town yesterday to call my cousin.” She pulled a flip phone like the burner August had bought from her pocket and held it up. “It’s one of those buy-minutes-in-advance plans. After I talked to my cousin, I turned my other phone off because I’ve seen on crime shows that you can be tracked by your phone.”
August drummed her fingers on the countertop to collect her thoughts. “Did you use a credit card to get the phone?”
“I’m only using cash. His name was on all my cards and my bank account, so I withdrew all the cash I could and left.”
BJ swallowed the last bite of his biscuit and pushed his plate away. “Aren’t you being a little paranoid, August? If this guy did show up, me and the boys—”
She silenced him with the stare she used to intimidate witnesses who were lying in court, then turned back to Teal. “While you’re here, BJ will lock your smart phone, credit cards, and the laptop I saw on your bed in the office safe. I’m not saying I don’t trust you, but you and Pops will be here alone when the rest of us are out on the range all day. You can be traced through any of those things, and I want the employees of this ranch to know that I’m doing everything in my power to keep them safe.”
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