Ruth Jean Dale - The Wrangler's Woman

“What in the world?” she wondered aloud. “Granny—?”

The front door opened and Jack walked in, leading the old cowboy she’d met briefly at the barn. Hastily stuffing the piece of paper in her jeans pocket, she stood up to greet them.

While Jack made the introductions, she tried to calm her jangled nerves. Finding the unsigned note had upset her because she was sure her father had written it. Reading it had been like hearing his voice from the grave. While he was alive he’d had no interest whatsoever in his daughters, leaving Elk Tooth before they were born and never so much as contacting them afterward. It had been a shock to learn he’d left them this dude ranch, but she’d supposed he’d had no one else to pass it on to.

Now she wondered if he’d simply lured them here to torment them from the netherworld.

“And you met Dani at the barn.”

She smiled automatically and nodded, pulled back into the here and now. Dobe wasn’t looking at her anyway, but at Granny. And he wasn’t smiling, he was glowering.

So was she, Dani saw with surprise. Grandma, who liked everybody and was liked by all in return, did not look impressed by Dobe Whittaker. It didn’t take much to figure out why, either.

If Grandma looked like Mrs. Santa Claus, Dobe was the spittin’ image of Mr. Santa Claus. Tilly Collins didn’t like that, not one little bit. He was stealing her thunder, and worse, he’d got here first.

Dani intervened quickly. “So when will it be convenient for you to show me around?” she asked the old cowboy.

Dobe slanted a skeptical glance at Jack. “About anytime, I reckon. Maybe you can all come so I’ll only have to do it once. I’ll round up the horses and—”

“Not me,” Niki said quickly.

“Beg pardon?”

“I’m not a horse person.”

“Missy, this is a dude ranch. Horses are a real big part of it.”

Niki’s expression grew uncharacteristically stubborn. “There are a whole lot of things in this world that I can do happily, but messing with horses isn’t among them. Count me out, please.”

Dobe rolled his eyes expressively, but all he said was, “It’s up to you, missy. Tell you what, I’ll be ready first thing tomorrow morning and anyone who wants to come along is welcome.”

“Thank you,” Dani said. “And thank you for taking care of things after…after our father died. We do appreciate it.”

“Yeah, well…”

“You’ll be staying on with us, won’t you?”

Silence greeted her question, and Dani found herself holding her breath. They were starting so deep in a hole that without the continuity Dobe could provide, she couldn’t imagine what they’d do.

He let out his breath on a gusty note. “I’ll stay for a while anyway, till we see how it goes. In the meantime, I got chores.”

Turning, Dobe stomped out of the house. After a moment’s silence, Dani laughed a bit shakily. “Another crisis averted.”

Jack stirred. “Naw, no problem, he’s always like that. Just treat him fair and he’ll work his heart out for you. He goes back a real long way with this place so I think he can tell you a lot of things you need to know.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

For another long moment, she met his gaze directly, until a slight feeling of unease skittered up her spine. Looking down abruptly at the messy desktop, she said faintly, “Well, if you have to leave now… I mean, you’ve been very helpful, but I’m sure we’ve already intruded on your time quite enough.”

Jack said, “I can take a hint.” Turning toward the door, he put his hat back on his head. “If there’s anything else I can do for you—”

“You’ve done quite enough already.” The words sounded considerably more impatient than she’d intended.

“See you around, then. Ladies…” His nod included them all and then he was gone.

Everyone looked at Dani with various degrees of puzzlement. Then Toni said, “Gosh, he’s cute,” which pretty much broke the tension.

THE WOMEN HELD a war council that night over a supper of canned soup and crackers. They were all in complete agreement: their futures depended upon making the Bar K pay, so they’d knuckle down and work their fingers to the bone if need be.

Dani, proud of the lot of them, nodded approval. “It will be tougher because money is so short,” she said, “but when wasn’t it?”

“Money can’t buy happiness, anyway,” Toni said blithely.

“That’s only your opinion,” Dani snapped back. Softening her tone, she added, “It is a little strange that no money came with this place. With what we cleared for the house in Montana, though, we should be able to make it, God willing and the creeks don’t rise.”

“I can get a job,” Niki said suddenly.

Dani frowned. “Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, with all that has to be done here, you’d be working night and day.”

“It won’t be that bad. Besides, we need the cash.”

“I’ll bet they’d hire you at the chamber of commerce,” Toni predicted. “Remember what Mason said? You’re the best advertisement a town can have and you even have experience.”

Niki made a wry face. “I don’t want to do that again. I just want a job where I can maybe make a little money. Unfortunately, I’m not loaded with qualifications.”

“Tips,” Toni declared. “You need a job where you can get tips. All those cowboys at that café were just falling all over you. Maybe you could be a waitress?”

Niki perked up. “Or a barmaid.” She glanced at Dani. “Maybe we can ask Jack for—”

“Leave Jack out of it, why don’t you.” It sounded terribly ungracious, but that was how Dani felt. “I’m sure you can get any job you want without his help or anybody else’s. But a barmaid… I don’t know. I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

Her two sisters exchanged puzzled glances, but let it pass.

“While we’re splitting up jobs,” Tilly said, “I’ll handle the cooking and the kitchen, of course.”

“I’ll be Grandma’s assistant,” Toni said eagerly. “I can manage the housework, so once we get this place in shape, I’ll be the maid.” She grinned broadly. “And Dani will handle the business end of things, of course, and take care of all the outdoors stuff.”

“And,” Niki interjected, “when I’m home I’ll do whatever’s needed as long as it has nothing to do with horses.”

Nods of understanding greeted this pronouncement. Niki’s fear of horses was well known in the family; they understood its roots and accepted it with regret.

“All right,” Dani said decisively. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, so Niki and I won’t be able to get anything done in town until the next day. Then, while she fills out job applications, I’ll put an ad in the newspaper. We need wranglers and we need them bad if we hope to be ready for the first guests.”

Granny blinked. “What first guests?”

“These!” Dani held aloft a handful of reservation forms. “I found these in the desk in the big room in front—the great room, I guess you’d call it. Apparently there are quite a lot of people who come here every summer and have for years. If we can just pull everything together in time… But it’ll take help, so it’s important that we get the ad into the newspaper right away.”

“Hey,” Toni said with a smile, “things are looking up!”

“Don’t count your chickens,” Dani warned. “We can’t let down our guard for a minute. Don’t forget, this is Texas. It’s a man’s world down here. You saw how those guys swarmed around you today? Well, don’t let ’em fool you. If you give any of them an inch, he’s sure to take a mile.”

“Really?” A very faint smile curved Niki’s lips. “Are you thinking of anyone in particular, maybe someone like that good-lookin’, slow talkin’ Jack Burke?”