boxes
scattered all over the highway made her stomach knot. Parking at
the end of the row, Terri got out of her car and saw a pickup truck
parked in front of the unit she rented, but not her
movers.
She hurried down the row and peeked inside of
the unit and saw all of her belongings stacked neatly against the
walls and to the ceiling. Her furniture was in the middle covered
by sheets. Three very buff cowboys were shifting stuff around to
make it fit better.
"Who are you?" she asked in confusion when she
found her tongue.
They all turned toward her and easy smiles
lifted their lips. The dark-haired cowboy with the dimple took off
his hat and took a few cautious steps around her furniture, then
said, "Terri?" before extending his hand to her.
"I'm Dylan, and that's Matt and
Skeeter...we're new hands at the ranch. Joel just got back from
Dallas and couldn't come, so he sent us out to help you unpack and
get what you needed back to the ranch."
"Well, isn't that nice," she said and a smile
kicked up her lips. Unlike last night, she could definitely use
help today. Terri took Dylan's large callused hand in hers and
pumped it a few times. "Well, thank you," she told him then asked,
"How many ranch hands are there?"
"Seven, so far...one's a woman," he told her
and glanced over his shoulder at his friends giving them a curious
look.
"How many other employees are there
now?"
"Well seven ranch hands, you, two cooks, a
guest coordinator, and the western store manager...oh and there's
Gigi, she's not an employee though, she works with Joel on
marketing, I think. She was at the ranch earlier, but she
left."
That was a lot of employees for a fledgling
new business, in Terri's opinion, but she had no idea what Joel's
financial situation was, so she couldn't doubt his decisions. She
was an employee, nothing more, and as long as she got a paycheck,
she wasn't going to worry about anything but the job he hired her
to do. With that many people around though, plus the guests, she
shouldn't have trouble steering clear of her confusing new
boss.
"You guys did a great job stacking my boxes,
and I appreciate it, there's only one problem," she said with a
twist of her lips.
"What's that?" Dylan asked in his lazy
drawl.
"I marked some of those boxes to take with me
to the ranch, and I have no idea where they are. The movers mixed
them up with my storage stuff."
Dylan groaned, but he turned back toward his
partners and told them to start unstacking the boxes to find the
ones she'd marked. Two hours later, they'd found all six boxes and
loaded them in the back of their pickup, and restacked the rest.
Terri put a new padlock she'd bought on the door, then headed to
her car to follow them to the ranch.
When they got to the long driveway to the
ranch, the sun was setting. Nature painted her a masterpiece as she
drove up to the ranch house with dust trailing her Miata. Blues
blended with oranges and purples nestling the bright yellow orb of
the sun as it slowly faded behind the trees at the back of the huge
pasture behind the barn off in the distance.
Terri watched the display in awe as she
followed the ranch hands in the pickup as they drove around the big
house, down a long winding dirt road, through a fence. They turned
left, drove a little ways then stopped in front of a long u-shaped
building.
A little kick of excitement passed through
Terri as she surveyed her new home. New beginnings were always
exciting Terri imagined, but she wouldn't know. She'd been isolated
to her small world in Henrietta so long...all of her life. This
change was going to be good for her she decided. Things happened
for a reason, and Terri was going to grab the opportunity to
reinvent her life with both hands and squeeze out every ounce of
potential it had.
Terri wasn't a country girl, so every nuance
of the ranch fascinated her. Sitting behind the wheel of her car,
she took a look around. In addition to the barn and bunkhouse she
saw when they drove in, another
scattered all over the highway made her stomach knot. Parking at
the end of the row, Terri got out of her car and saw a pickup truck
parked in front of the unit she rented, but not her
movers.
She hurried down the row and peeked inside of
the unit and saw all of her belongings stacked neatly against the
walls and to the ceiling. Her furniture was in the middle covered
by sheets. Three very buff cowboys were shifting stuff around to
make it fit better.
"Who are you?" she asked in confusion when she
found her tongue.
They all turned toward her and easy smiles
lifted their lips. The dark-haired cowboy with the dimple took off
his hat and took a few cautious steps around her furniture, then
said, "Terri?" before extending his hand to her.
"I'm Dylan, and that's Matt and
Skeeter...we're new hands at the ranch. Joel just got back from
Dallas and couldn't come, so he sent us out to help you unpack and
get what you needed back to the ranch."
"Well, isn't that nice," she said and a smile
kicked up her lips. Unlike last night, she could definitely use
help today. Terri took Dylan's large callused hand in hers and
pumped it a few times. "Well, thank you," she told him then asked,
"How many ranch hands are there?"
"Seven, so far...one's a woman," he told her
and glanced over his shoulder at his friends giving them a curious
look.
"How many other employees are there
now?"
"Well seven ranch hands, you, two cooks, a
guest coordinator, and the western store manager...oh and there's
Gigi, she's not an employee though, she works with Joel on
marketing, I think. She was at the ranch earlier, but she
left."
That was a lot of employees for a fledgling
new business, in Terri's opinion, but she had no idea what Joel's
financial situation was, so she couldn't doubt his decisions. She
was an employee, nothing more, and as long as she got a paycheck,
she wasn't going to worry about anything but the job he hired her
to do. With that many people around though, plus the guests, she
shouldn't have trouble steering clear of her confusing new
boss.
"You guys did a great job stacking my boxes,
and I appreciate it, there's only one problem," she said with a
twist of her lips.
"What's that?" Dylan asked in his lazy
drawl.
"I marked some of those boxes to take with me
to the ranch, and I have no idea where they are. The movers mixed
them up with my storage stuff."
Dylan groaned, but he turned back toward his
partners and told them to start unstacking the boxes to find the
ones she'd marked. Two hours later, they'd found all six boxes and
loaded them in the back of their pickup, and restacked the rest.
Terri put a new padlock she'd bought on the door, then headed to
her car to follow them to the ranch.
When they got to the long driveway to the
ranch, the sun was setting. Nature painted her a masterpiece as she
drove up to the ranch house with dust trailing her Miata. Blues
blended with oranges and purples nestling the bright yellow orb of
the sun as it slowly faded behind the trees at the back of the huge
pasture behind the barn off in the distance.
Terri watched the display in awe as she
followed the ranch hands in the pickup as they drove around the big
house, down a long winding dirt road, through a fence. They turned
left, drove a little ways then stopped in front of a long u-shaped
building.
A little kick of excitement passed through
Terri as she surveyed her new home. New beginnings were always
exciting Terri imagined, but she wouldn't know. She'd been isolated
to her small world in Henrietta so long...all of her life. This
change was going to be good for her she decided. Things happened
for a reason, and Terri was going to grab the opportunity to
reinvent her life with both hands and squeeze out every ounce of
potential it had.
Terri wasn't a country girl, so every nuance
of the ranch fascinated her. Sitting behind the wheel of her car,
she took a look around. In addition to the barn and bunkhouse she
saw when they drove in, another
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