Outback Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 1)

by Stoker, Susan

  “Hummm,” she responded, not really paying him any attention.

  Alex laughed. “That good, huh? What do you think?”

  Nancy turned her head and looked her nephew in the eye. “What I’ve noticed is that they were all on their best behavior when you were with them, and when you left their real personalities came out,” she told him honestly.

  “I expected as much,” Alex replied. “Who’s on the top of your list to go today?”

  “I still think I’m leaning toward Candi and Katie. They seem to be the ones that do the least work and want the most attention. They wouldn’t last very long at your ranch. It’s too far out and there isn’t enough attention there for them.”

  “Who do you like the most?” Alex asked his aunt. Since she knew who she thought should go first, he wanted her honest opinion on the other women. At some point he was going to have to choose one to keep at the end of the show. “Does anyone stand out?”

  Nancy pressed the pause button on the television and looked at Alex. “It’s hard to say. I don’t really know them all that well, and it’s hard to tell from meeting them on such short notice.”

  Alex interrupted, “That’s what I’ve been going through. I tried to tell you.”

  “Don’t be cheeky,” Nancy replied smiling, “there are a few I do like. I met that Sammi woman today. Did you know she had to muck out the barn two days in a row? I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. Even the jackaroos switch out that duty.”

  “Yeah, I hadn’t realized it until today when I was helping them. That’s definitely one of the worst jobs the women had to do today. All three were doing a good job when I left, though. Where did you meet Sammi? Don’t tell me you took a trip down to the barn?” Alex asked his aunt with an arch of his brow.

  “Don’t be absurd! Of course not. She came up to the water pump to get a drink and cool off,” Nancy replied. “We had a short conversation and she went back to the barn.”

  “Who else do you like?” Alex asked, trying to get the conversation off of Sammi. He wasn’t ready to admit to his aunt how much he was attracted to Sammi.

  “Amy seems to be nice, as well as Kathi and Ashley,” Nancy told him.

  “That’s about what I think too,” Alex said, again downplaying his own thoughts about Sammi and the other women. “Let’s finish watching this and let Eddie know who the pick is and we’ll get out of your hair. I’m sure you’ll be glad to have your house back.”

  The two sat and watched the rest of the tapes, laughing at the antics of the women trying to get and hold his attention. It was obvious they were all out of their element, but most were genuinely trying to do their chores. Finally, Nancy made her decision. It’d been a long day and it was time to have the ceremony so the women could go back to their camp and Alex and the producers could get back to theirs to start editing the tapes.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alex and his aunt strolled out to the porch to see the women were done eating and were sitting around chatting. The food had been taken away and it seemed as if they were waiting on the camera crews and the producers to set them up for the final shot of the day. Alex saw Sammi walk over from the direction of the barn. Her shoulders were slumped and she looked dejected or exhausted. She didn’t look up as she walked, but instead stared at the ground as if it was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. Alex couldn’t understand what she was doing…did she go back to the barn after she ate? Something was going on and he didn’t know what it was. He hated that. There wasn’t any food left out, it had been taken away about half an hour ago. Had she taken another walk? If so, why did she look so sad and defeated? He watched her to go the end of one of the long picnic tables, sit, put her head down on her arms and go still. Alex looked at his aunt as if to ask if she had seen Sammi’s actions, but her attention was on one of the jackaroos, John, who was walking toward them.

  “Ma’am, if I may have a word with you, please,” John asked Nancy in a grave tone.

  “Of course,” she said, gesturing for him to continue.

  John looked at Alex as if to ask Nancy if they could go somewhere private.

  “Alex is my nephew, I don’t have any secrets from him, go ahead,” Nancy told him firmly.

  John shrugged and continued, “I was checking on the ladies who were working in the barn and it seems we had a problem, but I took care of it.”

  “I can’t imagine what kind of problem you’re talking about. The women weren’t expected to be perfect at their jobs, what’s the issue?” Nancy asked him with genuine bafflement.

  “When I got there to check the work, there were only two women working. They told me that the third hadn’t done much work that day and that they had to do more than their fair share of the stalls. While we were talking the third came in and contradicted the others’ stories. I looked at their hands. The two women who were there had real dirty workin’ hands and the third didn’t have any dirt on her hands at all. So to make sure that everything was fair I had the third stay and finish up the barn. I just thought you should know. I checked her work and it was fine. The horses will be in clean stalls tonight, just like every night. I wanted to put your mind at ease. I also wanted to let you know what happened in case she tried to come complain to you…or to you,” he said, looking at Alex.

  “John, are you sure that you took the time to read the situation right? If the third person is who I think it was, I met her at the water pump and she told me she’d just finished her stalls and was taking a break, washing her hands and her face and getting a drink of water,” Nancy questioned John carefully.

  “Um, well, it seemed to be the right decision at the time,” John stuttered, not knowing what to think.

  Alex was furious. He could just imagine what had happened. Missy and Courtnee had taken advantage of the fact that Sammi wasn’t there when John came in to check on their work and took credit for what she’d done. When she walked in the barn with clean hands John jumped to the obvious conclusion. They were all working when he was there with them, but he knew many of the women changed after he’d left their sight. He thought he knew Sammi pretty well, especially after watching her not complain about the treatment she’d received from some of the women in camp as well her lack of complaints when she was injured or uncomfortable.

  “I’m not sure what happened, John, but I’ll find out, you can go. If I find that you misjudged that woman, you will apologize to her and be on stall duty for the rest of the week,” Nancy told him sternly.

  John looked a little sheepish but said, “Yes, ma’am,” and headed for the bunkhouse.

  Nancy looked at Alex, who looked ready to explode.

  “Calm down, Alex, let me handle this,” Nancy told him sternly. “I don’t believe that’s what really happened either, but I won’t take the empowerment away from my jackaroos either.”

  They both looked over at the tables. Sammi hadn’t moved. She was in the same position as a few minutes ago…head on her arms on the table. Since the production crew was still setting up for the final scene of the day, Nancy sent one of the kitchen staff over to get Sammi and told her to bring her to the front room in the house. They watched as the girl bent over Sammi, touched her shoulder, then finally shook her gently. Sammi lifted her head at the summons, then looked at the house and nodded to the girl. She slowly got up and headed for the front door.

  “What’d ya do now, Miss Bitch?” Courtnee yelled out as Sammi shuffled past. “Getting called to the principal’s office because you didn’t do your work?” And with that she and several other women laughed.

  Sam glared at Courtnee and said, “You should know.” She kept walking. It wasn’t worth it to continue to try to come up with a better comeback. She was beyond tired and every muscle in her body hurt.

  Sam was surprised when she was asked to come up to the house. She figured it couldn’t get any worse than the jackaroo looking disdainfully at her and determining that her work in the barn was just “okay.” Dammit, she’d cleane
d the entire barn by herself. Well, almost the entire barn, Missy and Courtnee had worked when Al had been there. Sam laughed at herself, well, she’d wanted to get a look inside the house and she guessed she was now getting her chance.

  Sam was led into the front room and stopped short. The woman she’d met earlier that day was there, along with Al. “Shit,” Sam muttered to herself. She wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to stay standing or sit down…but she also wasn’t completely confident she’d be able to stand there without falling over, but she’d do it or die trying. She was embarrassed enough having to be there in front of the woman and Al like a naughty child. She wasn’t going to fall over, no matter what…maybe.

  “Sit down, Sammi,” Nancy said, motioning toward a chair in front of the large desk.

  Sam hesitated for half a second before deciding she’d better sit just so there was no chance she’d fall flat on her face. She gratefully sat, back ramrod straight looking only at the woman. She definitely didn’t want to look at Al. This was too humiliating. Some impression she was making. Maybe they were going to tell her she was going home right this minute. Was that it? That had to be it. But she hadn’t seen Eddie or Robert talking to the woman, although she’d seen the jackaroo from the barn talking to Nancy and saw Al’s frown. This wasn’t going to be a fun interview, she was sure of it.

  “Sammi,” Nancy began, “my jackaroo told me quite a story about what happened in the barn today. Would you like to me tell your side?”

  Sam looked at Nancy, then dared to glance at Al. He was standing with his arms crossed in front of him with a stern look on his face. There was no way Sam was going to rat out the other women. They were already making her life miserable. There was no telling what would happen if she made them be caught in a lie.

  “No, ma’am,” Sam told the woman.

  Nancy raised her eyebrows and said incredulously, “Nothing? So you admit you did nothing all day while the other women did all the work and you were just lounging around? You only worked when Al was there but stopped when he left? Is that right?” Nancy asked, deliberately trying to get under the young woman’s skin.

  “Ma’am, John made a judgment call based on the facts he received. I can’t fault him for that. I willingly accepted my punishment. You’ll find your horses will be able to rest peacefully tonight in clean beds. That really should be all you care about. Not who did what. The chore was completed. You’ll never see me again after today,” Sammi responded in a dull voice.

  “Damn it, Sammi,” Alex started to protest.

  “No,” Sammi interrupted. “Neither of you were there and you have to trust your employees.” She looked Nancy in the eyes and continued, “You can’t go around second guessing decisions that are made around here. It’s a simple business decision. You empower your employees to make decisions and you stand behind them when they do, whether they’re wrong or right. If they’re wrong, you discuss what happened and talk about what might be done differently the next time. John did what he thought was right. I accepted it, end of story.”

  The three of them sat there, looking at each other for a long moment. Finally, Nancy broke the silence, “I’m fairly certain you weren’t at fault today. I saw you at the pump, I know you were covered with dirt and who knows what else when you got there and that you cleaned yourself up. I do trust my jackaroos, but I also don’t like for anyone to get blamed and/or punished for something they didn’t do. Should I bring John in here to tell his side of the story again to see if we can’t get to the bottom of this?” Nancy asked in a hard voice.

  Sam sighed. She’d screwed up and obviously pissed off the woman in front of her. The last thing she wanted to do was get someone else in trouble for her stupidity. She should’ve known that Courtnee would pull something. All in all it wasn’t that big of a deal. This was a stupid television show after all. Suddenly remembering Robert and the show, Sam looked around. She didn’t see any cameras…which was odd. “Where are the cameras?” she asked belatedly, more to herself than actually thinking that anyone would answer.

  “This is a private matter, not one for television,” Nancy told her with crisp intonation. “Do you want me to get John in here?” she asked again, not letting Sammi leave the question unanswered.

  “No,” Sam said sharper than she intended. She tried to calm herself down and said in a gentler voice, “Look, I’ll apologize to whomever you want me to. I took responsibility for what happened today. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” She laughed a bit at that and continued, “Not that I’ll have the chance to do it again.” She stopped laughing and looked the woman in the eyes and said earnestly, “I believe I did the best I could in that barn. John did the right thing, the only thing he could, and I probably would’ve done the same thing he did in the same situation. The evidence was against me and I took the punishment. Can I go? I’m sure the producers are ready to start by now.” She finished lamely and desperately.

  Nancy and Alex looked at each other and Alex gave his aunt a curt nod.

  “Fine, you can go. But Sammi,” Nancy said as Sam shakily stood up and started for the door, “not everyone is so easily fooled. Get some rest.”

  Sam nodded and paused at the door and turned back to Nancy with a small smile. Even with everything that was said and the position she was in she couldn’t resist saying, “I was right, it is just as beautiful as the outside,” and she walked out the door.

  “What was that about?” Alex asked his aunt, baffled by Sammi’s last comment.

  “Never mind about that,” Nancy said gruffly but with a trace of a smile. “What do you think?” she asked her nephew seriously.

  “I don’t know who or what she’s protecting, but it’s damn annoying. We both know she wouldn’t have shirked her duty. Why won’t she tell us what really happened?” Alex asked his aunt.

  “I’m not sure, but she has nerves of steel. She was ready to fall over, but it looked like sheer stubbornness was keeping her upright,” Nancy said thoughtfully, then finished, “I like her.”

  Alex looked at his aunt. “So do I,” he said solemnly.

  * * *

  Sam walked back out to the yard. All I have to do is get through this so I can go back to the camp and get some sleep. Her hands hurt. Her back hurt. Her legs hurt. Hell, there wasn’t a body part that didn’t hurt, but underneath the hurt, she felt strangely good. She’d done a great job today, and no one would be able to take that away from her.

  It seemed as if Eddie and the other producers and Robert were finally ready for the “vote off,” as Sam started calling it. She was fairly certain she might be the one going home. There was no telling who else Missy and Courtnee had spewed their story to. If it was Eddie, he might make her go home for violating the rules of the show or something. All she could do was wait along with everyone else. At this point she almost didn’t care. Almost.

  Sam watched as Al took his spot next to Robert. He looked good. He looked more rugged now than he had before. Sam figured it was because he’d been outside most of the day and doing all the chores. She really couldn’t see him doing the laundry or mopping the floor, but she’d heard snippets of the other women’s conversations who’d claimed he’d done just that.

  Robert was making his speech about what a great job they’d all done that day and how he was impressed with their work ethic. He asked if there were any comments about the day. A few women spoke, but for the most part it seemed they were just as anxious to get this over with as Sam was. Blessedly, even Missy and Courtnee kept their mouths shut. Maybe they figured the less people they tell their lies to, the more likely they’ll get away with it. Sam thought. Finally, Robert was getting to the “vote off.”

  “As you know, ladies, one of you must be going home today. We know it’s been a long day and you’re tired. No one wants to leave this beautiful country and miss out on the company of Al, but alas, it must be done.” Sam didn’t think Robert sounded very remorseful.

  He continued with his grand speech, �
��There were many factors that were taken into account on who’d be leaving today. It wasn’t only one thing that sealed her fate, but a multitude of factors. To keep you on your toes, those factors will not be revealed to you. The person who will be leaving today is…” Robert paused to get the most dramatic effect out of his audience… “Katie.”

  Sam let out a breath she wasn’t even aware she’d been holding. She’d thought for sure her time was up. Katie cried and hugged some of the other women she’d gotten to know on the show. She walked up to where Al and Robert were standing. Al led her away to the waiting car to say goodbye.

  “It’s time to go back to camp, ladies,” Robert told them. “Please gather up your belongings and say goodbye and we’ll go.”

  Since Al was walking back to the group most of the women walked toward him to say their personal goodbyes for the day. Sam went to sit at one of the tables until they had to load up the bus. As she was walking toward a table she saw Henry approaching her. Sam veered a bit to meet him. She’d liked the gruff jackaroo. He’d made the first day of mucking out the stables pretty fun. Sam put her hands in her back pockets as they approached each other.

  “Hey, Sammi!” Henry said with a drawl. “You look like shit,” he continued with no remorse.

  Sam laughed as she was sure he meant her to. “Thanks, you sure know how to make a lady feel good.”

  “No, really, you look worn to the bone. What time did you finish up today?” he asked her.

  “You’ll never guess.” Sammi grinned up at him, avoiding directly answering his question.

  Henry raised his brows while waiting expectantly for her to answer.

  “Let’s just say I’m starving because I didn’t make dinner,” Sam told him with a grin, not about to go into the details about why she hadn’t gotten to eat.

  Henry put his head back and laughed. “Damn, that’s bad luck! Why’d it take so long?”

  Sam’s smile dimmed a bit. Not wanting to answer him, she skirted around his question and instead shrugged and said, “I’ll be glad not to see another barn for a while.” She ran her hand through her hair, brushing it back off her face.