I turned my horse and followed. When they realized we were headed in their direction, the men began waving their hats and heading for us. Daisy pushed her horse into a canter and I followed.
“Well, hello there beautiful,” one of the guys said to Daisy in a genial tone.
Daisy rolled her eyes, but she laughed, “Sorry Ricky, I’m still immune to your charms.”
“It was worth a try,” the man hunched his shoulders and smiled back at her.
“And, who is this you have with you today?” the other man asked eyeing me.
“This is Lela. Lela, this is Beto.” Daisy waved a hand in my direction first and then at the man who’d asked the question. Then, she continued and waived her hand at the man she’d been speaking to first. “And, this is Ricky. They are both ranch hands here.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I offered, giving them a friendly smile.
Beto, the brown skinned man with the dreamy Latin eyes turned sharply to Daisy, “This is the woman who saved Ethan?”
“One in the same,” Daisy answered proudly. I flushed with embarrassment. Why did they keep saying that? All I did was be in the wrong place at the right time.
“Believe me, the pleasure is ours,” the man named Ricky uttered now gazing at me intensely. He had grey eyes which would have been unsettling if they weren’t so warm. I generally was not a fan of grey or blue eyes. They were too, transparent or something. But, his held a warmth that made one comfortable.
“She’s such a little thing,” Beto said, also scrutinizing me. They both looked like they were trying to figure something out. It was very disconcerting.
“I didn’t actually save Ethan,” I said hesitantly. “All I did was stumble into the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“That’s not the way we heard it,” Beto grinned at me.
“Well, we’re headed to lunch,” Daisy announced.
“We’ll join you,” Ricky retorted with just a hint of a Spanish accent. We turned our horses and headed for the ranch house.
When we reached the main house, Daisy and I parted with Ricky and Beto to wash up a little. The men did the same and told us they’d meet us in the dining hall. My hands were now clean and I’d splashed water over my face, but when we entered the large dining hall I still felt too dusty to be in such a pristine room. Everything was plush and all dark hard wood and cloth linen. There were two women sitting at a table near the wall opposite a buffet that had been set out. They were chatting while they ate and they both looked up and waived at Daisy when we came in.
“Wow, is this a special occasion?” I gestured to the food spread out along the wall in serving dishes.
“No, we always feed the staff lunch,” Daisy shrugged, grabbed a plate and started to load it up with salad, grilled chicken, half a Panini and some pasta salad. I chose some pasta salad and a green salad with berries in it. After filling our plates, I followed Daisy over to the table where the two young woman were sitting that I’d observed when we came in.
“Hey,” Daisy said in greeting taking a place at the table. “Lela, this is Maya and this is Rene.”
I nodded in greeting to each of them in turn as Daisy introduced them. “Pleased to meet you both.”
I sat down and began to dig into my food with gusto. I was hungry. The green and berry salad tasted as though it had been tossed in a deliciously fruity vinaigrette.
“I told you it was her,” the girl named Maya chimed to Rene. She had a silky, throaty voice that matched her tan coloring somehow.
“You’re the one that saved Ethan?” Rene, a bubbly little strawberry blond with a high pitch voice squeaked in delight. “Everyone has been talking about you. Wow, I’m so glad to meet you.”
“Uh, I didn’t really save Ethan,” I clarified.
“Well, you know what I mean,” Rene giggled. In fact, I didn’t know what she meant nor did I know what to say to that, so I said nothing.
We looked up as Ethan entered along with Ricky and Beto. Rene’s flush grew darker. Maya glanced over at Rene, rolled her eyes, and forked up some salad. I wasn’t sure which one of the new arrivals Rene was interested in, but clearly one of these guys had her interest.
Ethan, Ricky and Beto grabbed plates, and like Daisy, piled them with enormous amounts of food. Then, they made their way over to our table. Our table only sat four, but Ethan grabbed a nearby table and effortlessly dragged it over to ours while Ricky and Beto grabbed chairs. Ethan sat right next to me, and I realized who had Rene’s interest as her eyes followed his every move.
“Ladies,” Ethan said, setting his plate down beside mine acknowledging Rene and Maya. Beto took a seat near Maya and Ricky sat next to Beto.
“Hey, Ethan,” Maya replied easily. “Glad you’re still among us.”
“So, am I,” he chuckled wryly before turning to me. “So, how’s your day going?”
“Fine,” I replied cheerily as I watched Rene’s hopeful face fall. She’d clearly been hoping that Ethan would sit next to her. Awkward. Luckily Grace and Logan also made an appearance. They came in and came over to greet us before getting their food.
“How’s your first day going, Lela?” Grace asked.
“Great. It’s going great. I haven’t really done any work though. Daisy’s been showing me around,” I replied. “Are you two going to join us?”
“No, we have some more work to do,” Logan said and Grace blushed. “We just stopped to grab a couple of plates.”
I was not going to touch that one. I smiled and said no more.
Daisy, however, had no problem continuing that line of conversation. “Well, from the way Grace is blushing I hope you guys lock the door and keep the noise down while you… work.”
“Daisy!” Grace admonished. Ethan and everyone else at the table giggled, laughed or cat called. I sat silently, both trying not to laugh, and feeling embarrassed for Grace.
“Will do,” Logan winked, grabbed his wife’s hand and pulled her away. They loaded up plates of food and Logan hustled her out of the dining hall. Grace, still blushing, did not look our way again.
“Where would you like to work?” Daisy asked after her sister and brother in law left the room.
“Well, wherever I’m needed, I guess.”
“I’m sure you could help out anywhere, but I have a feeling you would enjoy working with the horses. They have to be exercised and worked each day.”
“I would definitely love that,” I admitted.
“Then tomorrow we will work with the horses,” Ethan chimed in.
“Sounds great,” I smiled enthusiastically. Working with the horses would be fun.
“Then, you’ll be spending the day with me tomorrow,” Ethan winked. I snuck a quick glance over at Rene who was still watching Ethan’s every move. Her face fell a little after he winked at me. I was getting used to Ethan’s flirting now, but this was awkward. He teased and flirted with everyone. It all seemed to be harmless though. But, I noticed he wasn’t paying much attention to Rene. And, I didn’t want her initial kindly feelings towards me to change because she felt I was an obstacle for her to Ethan’s affections. However, she didn’t look my way at all. She simply looked down at her plate and ate quietly.
I was distracted by Jordan’s entrance. He looked over at our table and sent a general nod and wave in our direction in response to the greetings from our table. Now it was my turn to look down at my plate. Aside from a curt greeting, he had generally acted as if I wasn’t there throughout the first half of the day whenever Daisy and I came across him. He did not join our table either but grabbed a plate of food and left.
Chapter 11
After lunch Daisy decided that we were done for the day. I was escorted home that night by Ethan and Daisy. Since they were on security detail with me all night anyway, Ethan asked if we could have a movie night. I agreed. I’d had a great day. I hadn’t socialized that much outside of work in years. It felt good. Why not cap it off with a movie and my new acquaintances.
; Surprisingly, Ethan offered to cooked dinner. Daisy assured me he was a fantastic cook so, I pointed him towards the kitchen and told him to make himself at home. His shoulder had miraculously healed quite well. He wasn’t even wearing a bandage anymore, just a sling. His injuries must not have been as bad as I thought. So why was everyone claiming I’d saved his life? He apparently hadn’t even been very hurt.
I took the opportunity to try and let Ethan know that Rene had some form of a liking for him. I didn’t want the woman hating me.
“Hey, Ethan,” I said, entering the kitchen just as he was putting pasta in the pasta water.
“Hey yourself,” he smiled back.
“Hopefully you’ll take this the right way. I noticed that Rene seems to like you a lot.”
“Rene?” he said absently stirring the pasta.
“Yes, Rene,” I continued. “I’m pretty sure she has a crush on you or something.”
“Oh. Yea she does,” he said distractedly. Then he turned to me and grinned a sly, sexy grin, “You jealous?”
“Nice try,” I answered blandly, “but no.”
“It was worth a try,” he laughed, shrugged and went back to stirring his pasta.
“So, you knew?”
He sighed, “Yes, I know. That is why I don’t flirt with her. She’s super nice, and I wouldn’t want to do anything to lead her on.”
“I take it you don’t return her interest?”
“No, I don’t. I have known Rene all my life and love her like a sister. Why she had to go and start crushing on me is a mystery and darn awkward,” he frowned. “But, don’t worry. She won’t take it out on you, even if we did end up together.”
“Which we won’t,” I added hastily.
“Ouch,” he teased then grinned mischievously.
“I’ll leave you to dinner,” I said shaking my head at him.
While Ethan cooked and Daisy sat huddled over her laptop, I went to my computer to do some research. I looked up Alexander Consulting and, sure enough, there it was. The contact number was the same as the one John had given me that morning. Finding this information was somewhat reassuring. These people were the real deal, so I probably wasn’t in any danger from them and possibly well protected. The unsettling part was, if they felt I was in that much danger there was a good possibility I was.
“Diner is ready,” Ethan yelled from the kitchen about 45 minutes later. I was treated to penne pasta with sausage and cherry tomatoes in a béchamel sauce, a green salad tossed lightly in a vinaigrette dressing, and a glass of chardonnay. It was wonderful.
“I told you he could cook,” Daisy grinned at me as I groaned over a mouthful of pasta.
“Of course I can,” Ethan stated slyly. “What hardworking, beautiful woman can resist coming home to a sexy, attentive man who cooks? Nothing gets a woman in the mood like a man who cooks.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Daisy drawled and rolled her eyes. “It definitely gets me in the mood – to eat.”
After dinner, Daisy and Ethan watched some science fiction movie on one of the cable channels. I have to admit, I started dozing right after dinner. I woke just in time to see the credits of the movie, say my goodnights. and head to bed.
Chapter 12
The next day I was escorted back to work at the Alexander Ranch by Daisy and Ethan. Ethan and I worked with the horses all day. It was so exciting. We worked with a yearling, exercised several mares, cleaned out stalls and put out hay. Jordan exercised a couple of stallions nearby and ignored us after his initial lack luster hello. I was starting to think he resented my very presence.
That whole week was basically the same. I worked with either Ethan or Daisy, mostly Ethan, with the horses. Jordan was also there every day, but refused to eat lunch with us or interact any more than necessary. At least he refused when I was around. I would see him talking and interacting quite amiably with Ethan, Daisy, or anyone else just not with me, the jerk. He was always polite whenever we came into close contact but indifferent.
I tried to ignore this feeling that Jordan really had a dislike for me, but it was difficult. Everyone else was so super friendly in contrast. Jordan worked practically right alongside me for some time each day while we exercised the horses in the corral and barely said a word. He mostly appeared to be ignoring the fact that I was even there.
Ricky and Beto would come by and chat with me, Daisy, and Ethan on their way back and forth from one task to another. The two ranch hands loved giving me a hard time about the veterinary staff slumming it by doing a menial task like mucking out stalls. Rene and Maya, whom I found out were part of the secretarial staff, were also no strangers to the horse barn and training areas. They came out on breaks to get some air and chat and see how things were going. I suspected that Rene was also trying to get a glimpse of Ethan. We usually ate with a combination or all of them.
They all would also chat with Jordan. Unsurprisingly when he was talking to them he seemed just as friendly as the rest of his family. I also noticed he would also have lunch with whomever wasn’t having lunch with me. Sometimes Daisy or Ethan and I would go to lunch later than Beto, Ricky, Rene, or Maya and Jordan would be sitting there eating lunch with them. The moment someone approached the table with me, he had to get back to work and politely excused himself. So, it was quite clear I was who he had a problem with.
By Thursday evening, it had started to prickle. I kept telling myself, whatever it was about me he found so distasteful was his problem. Why should I care? But, I did. I didn’t understand how this man, who had been so gentle and caring with me at the cabin, now acted like he hated me. First, he didn’t even know me, not really. And second, there had to be more to it then him resenting me for having been assigned by Logan to protect me. Besides, he was never around me to protect me. Working near me each day didn’t count. It was Daisy and Ethan who actually worked with me all day, escorted me to and from home, and even stayed at my home. So, what was his problem?
Daisy drove me home after work. Ethan wasn’t with us this evening. He’d had some work or other regarding the consulting business to attend to, so it was just me and Daisy. For some reason, this made it easier for me to ask Daisy the questions about Jordan’s behavior that were bothering me.
With Ethan gone it was up to me to cook. As far as I knew, Daisy didn’t cook. We were eating grilled salmon with rice pilaf I’d whipped up when I broached the Jordan subject.
“Hey, Daisy,” I started hesitantly.
“Yea?” she forked up more fish and popped it in her mouth.
“Have you noticed Jordan really seems to have a problem with me?”
She stopped chewing for a moment. Then she looked up at me, finished chewing her food, and swallowed.
“Yes, I have,” She admitted.
“Do you have any idea why?”
She took a deep breath and then let it out and sat her fork down. “It’s not really you, not really.”
“Uh, yea, I’m pretty sure it is me,” I disagreed. “And, I’m pretty sure he hates my very presence.” I hadn’t meant to say that. I’d blurted the words out before I could stop myself. She blinked with surprise.
“He doesn’t hate you,” she said slowly as if struggling for the right words. “It’s just…well, it’s complicated. The best way I could explain it is that you intimidate him.”
“Intimidate him?” I frowned in confusion. “How? That’s not possible.”
“I can’t really explain it. Jordan would have to do that. But, trust me, he doesn’t hate you. Actually, I’m fairly certain he likes you.”
“Yea, right,” I snorted. Whatever feelings he had towards me were deep in the opposite direction of like.
“So, you seem to really be enjoying working with the horses,” she said. I thought this a deliberate attempt to change the subject. That was fine. I didn’t want to talk about Jordan anymore either.
“I do. I really love it.”
“Does that mean you’ll stay with us for a while?”
“Yes, I’ll accept the temporary assignment,” I said grudgingly. But, I couldn’t help smiling a little. I’d had fun today. Heck, I’d had fun all week. And, I hadn’t had this type of carefree fun in a long time.
“Yea!” she jumped up grabbing her now empty plate. This girl could eat. “We need to have cheesecake to celebrate.”
“I’ll have to visit my job occasionally, however. I’ve kind of left them shorthanded,” I yelled at her back as she headed to the kitchen.
“Hey, anytime. You just let us know,” She quipped, peeking her head back around the kitchen entryway. Then she disappeared again into the kitchen. I heard her moving around in the refrigerator as I finished up my considerably smaller portion of food. She returned after a few moments with two dessert plates. Though my piece was smaller than hers, it was still too big.
As I ate my cheesecake I decided to stick with my original plan and ignore Jordan and his dislike for me. Why should I care whether he liked me or not? I was enjoying myself. I wasn’t working with him anyway so why should I let him ruin this time?
Friday, according to plan, I was fairly successful at ignoring Jordan’s ignoring of me. Logan had come to eat lunch with us and tell me what a great job he thought I was doing. I had made rounds with Ethan earlier and tended to a few of the other animals needing minor medical attention like vaccinations or check-ups. I was actually surprised to find just how healthy and robust the animals were, not that I expected anything less. Anyone could plainly see that the Alexanders took very good care of their animals and employees. Their animals fairly glowed with a vitality I couldn’t describe. There really wasn’t much need for a vet. Caring for all of the animals was the bigger job.
Grace joined us shortly after her husband’s arrival and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Before she even sat down in her seat, however, she announced that she would be taking a look at me after lunch.
“I’m fine, Grace, really. I don’t know what you gave me, but I barely have any aches or pains and just some minor bruises.”
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