Chapter Three
Instantly, the kitchen grew silent.
Dair felt suddenly like a bug under a microscope, all three people staring at her. What was that all about? She was about to withdraw the roll she’d held out to Garret Fleming across the table, when he held up his hand. Then he looked over at Shay.
“I don’t care who Noah wants for an assistant horse trainer, Shay. Hire this woman.” And then he turned to her. “Dair? You’re my kind of wrangler. You’re a team player, you know how to share, and you’re unselfish. You keep your rolls, though. I’ll make do and give Kira one of these. Thanks, though. Your offer means a lot to all of us.”
She put the roll down next to her plate, shaken by Garret’s rumbling words. Harper was enthusiastically nodding his head.
“Hey, Shay. You got a keeper here in Dair. Don’t let her get away, okay?” He held up his plate of rolls. “And thanks for these. I’m gonna eat them now so Fleming doesn’t try and steal one of ’em.” He laughed and ambled out of the kitchen.
Shocked, Dair looked over at Shay, who had an amused look in her dancing blue eyes. “I . . . er . . .”
Holding up her hand, Shay said, “No apologies. Sit down, Dair. Enjoy the rolls while we talk.”
“I guess,” she admitted, sitting. “I’m not used to wranglers talking back to the boss.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “We’re not like other ranches, Dair. We’re all military vets here. We’ve all been wounded, whether you can see our scars or not. And we all have PTSD. We see ourselves as a family. Garret fondly calls us ‘the squad,’ as in a squad comprises ten military people within a platoon. We see everything through the military lens because we were in the service.” She opened her hands, becoming serious. “What you did just now? Well, it means a lot to all of us. I’ve interviewed two other vets for this position and they weren’t right for it.”
Frowning, Dair picked at the roll, delicately unwrapping it, the thick white frosting dripping over her fingers. “I thought I’d done something wrong.”
“Oh, no,” Shay reassured her, reaching out and patting her lower arm, “just the opposite. I started a program nearly two years ago here at the Bar C, with the intent of hiring only military vets who had been wounded in one way or another. I had my own PTSD to contend with and I knew I wanted to encircle myself with my own kind, military men and women. We were all hatched from the same egg. And while I do all the hiring, my vet wranglers, including my husband, Reese, all weigh in on the person. Between all of us, so far, we’ve chosen the right people who hold the same values and morals that we do.” She pointed to the roll between Shay’s long, delicate fingers. “When you offered Garret half your rolls? That was huge in their eyes because, believe me, they covet these things when either me or Garret makes them for everyone. We all share. And even though Garret was trying to hornswoggle me out of an extra one for his wife, Kira, he was just joking. You know how vets can unmercifully tease one another?”
Dair nodded, allowing the warm, doughy roll to melt sweetly in her mouth. “Yes, it’s a take-no-prisoners kinda teasing. I’m very used to that.”
“Right.” Shay smiled warmly over at her. “You just became the darling of our ranch by offering Garret one of your rolls. That gesture meant everything to them. And to me.” She sat back, sipping her coffee and assessing Dair. “Let me tell you about the job. And I’m hoping you think it’s a fit. Noah, who runs the horse training program here, will have to interview you, too, but Garret will grab him as soon as he comes up the driveway and tell him what you did just now. Sharing goes a long way around here. And we share more than just food. We give one another support, too.”
“That sounds really good,” Dair said, wondering if she was making this all up. How long had she ached to have a second family instead of an employer-employee relationship? Garret was a wrangler, yet he cooked Sunday dinner for everyone. The two wranglers treated Shay like a beloved sister, and Dair saw the respect for her in their eyes. Reese was easygoing and didn’t try to lord over her or use his power to control her. Instead, he’d walked in, introduced himself, and was not only respectful toward her, but kind.
“Okay,” Shay said, placing her hands flat on the table, “here’s your job in a nutshell. Noah is a military vet, too. Even though he was a WMD combat dog handler for the Army in Afghanistan, when he got out, he found us. His background was horses growing up. Matter of fact, his parents live in Driggs, Idaho, just across the Wyoming border. Noah has a way with animals, and I must say, with people, too. We hired him in response to the pleas from the valley folks to have a real horse trainer around. So, he stepped up to the call. He’s been with us for less than a year, and he’s contributed to our ranch not only monetarily, but in every other way. When we got the arena raised this last summer, he became the manager of it. We rented out horse box stalls to valley residents, teaching riding classes, plus training personal horses for people around the area. He’s overly busy and can’t do it all by himself any longer.”
“So I would do all the above with him?”
“Well, I’m not sure. Noah needs a horse trainer more than anything else. He likes teaching riding classes. But besides all of that, Dair, we have a unique way of doing the finances around here. When I first got home to the ranch, my father, Ray Crawford, had had a stroke at forty-nine and he could no longer run the place.” She frowned. “And he’s an alcoholic to this day, and that didn’t help his condition. Anyway, because of his alcoholism, and I was away in the military for many years, I didn’t realize he was running the Bar C into the ground. Before, when he managed the ranch, most of our pastures were leased out to other cattlemen wanting to fatten their cows up over the summer months.”
“I’ve never seen more beautiful, lush green grass than right here in Wyoming,” Dair agreed.
“You’re right. But my father’s disease not only drove off all our wranglers who used to work here, but he lost the grazing leases as well, because he let the wood fences fall into disrepair. You can’t have cattle in a fence that falls down by pushing it over with your index finger.”
Grimacing, Dair said, “That bad?”
“Yes, that bad. I had to figure out a way to stop the ranch from dropping into bank foreclosure, as well as start repairing the miles and miles of fences. I didn’t have any money, the ranch was two months away from being lost. The bank was wanting it to fail so Marston, the valley banker, could sell it to a company that wanted to tear out everything, grade it flat, and build condominiums on it.”
Dair made an unhappy sound. “That’s enough to scare me to death. You said this ranch is over a hundred years old. Right?”
Giving an adamant nod of her head, Shay said, “Right. And I wasn’t going to lose our family ranch to a greedy banker. I hired Garret first, and I made a deal with him. He had to give me fifteen percent of what he earned outside the ranch. All the wranglers have other skills and they are expected to have part-time work to bring money into the failing ranch. And for that fifteen percent, I provide three meals a day and a home for them. Their weekends are free. But they volunteer to work for the ranch on the weekends and usually it’s post-hole digging, replacing the rotted ones, or putting up new barbed wire for a sagging fence line. Everyone around here ends up working about six days a week. I insist that on Sunday everyone get a rest and personal time for themselves.”
“And you expect me to have an outside job off the ranch and give you fifteen percent of what I earn?” Dair asked.
“You’ll earn your fifteen percent by training horses right here on ranch property. Noah has a set fee for all types of services, and you’ll use that as your ruler to charge people bringing their horse in here for training.”
“That’s good,” Dair said. “I can do that.”
“We have four homes we built for the wranglers, two employees assigned to each home. My father claimed one of them. I wanted you to be assigned to Noah’s home. There are two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and we ask that you split the rent, which is two-hundred a month, between you. And we have a savings program on the ranch where we ask that you put ten percent of your monthly earnings into it. You won’t make a lot, but you will have great food, a home, and a job you love with people who are like you, Dair. I’m not here to assess your skills in horsemanship. Noah will do that later today. And if you think you can get along with him and vice versa, then I’m hoping very much that you’ll come and stay with us.”
Dair nodded, mentally calculating the money going to the ranch. What she didn’t know was the price that Noah charged for horse training, which sounded like that was where he needed the most support. “That’s fair enough.” She chewed on the cinnamon roll, loving the sweetness and spices.
Just then, the door opened and closed. Shay lifted her head. “Oh! That must be Noah!” She straightened, looking toward the kitchen entrance. “He’s home early. Wait till you meet him! You’ll love him!”
Dair barely had time to choke down the roll and turn her head when the wrangler entered. He was in his sheepskin coat, taking off his tan Stetson, when she gasped. It was Noah Mabry! Oh, my God! All she could do was stare at him when he jerked to a halt, his gaze flying and fixing on her.
For a moment, there was crackling silence in the kitchen.
“Dair?” he asked, disbelief in his voice. “Is that you?”
Shay frowned and halted by Noah. “Do you two know each other?”
Gulping, Dair whispered, “I didn’t know you were here . . .”
Noah smiled a little, his hat dangling between his fingers. “Yeah, we do know each other, Shay. Met nine months earlier at the Danbury Farm in Maryland.” He shook his head, giving Dair a questioning look. “You’re here for the assistant horse trainer job?”
Her throat closed with terror. “Yes.”
“Noah, come over here,” Shay invited. “You’re just in time. Go get rid of your coat and hat out in the mudroom. I saved two cinnamon rolls for you. Would you like some coffee, too?”
He managed a shy nod. “Yes, please, Shay.” And then he looked at Dair. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere . . .”
Dair didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about seeing Noah again. Why hadn’t she put it together? He’d said he trained horses when they’d met in Danbury. But that burning, slow, hot kiss he’d shared with her, melting her into his arms, made her face burn with a blush. And he hadn’t forgotten it either, if she was any judge of the look gleaming in his light gray eyes. Did he seem regretful that she was here? Dair wasn’t sure of anything at the moment, feeling like an IED had just exploded next to her.
“I didn’t know you two knew each other,” Shay said, bringing the plate of cinnamon rolls to the table, setting it near where she sat.
“Well,” Dair managed in a strangled voice, “I lost track of him. I didn’t know he worked here, Shay. When you used his first name, I wondered, but you know. Coincidences happen.” She saw understanding in Shay’s eyes as she sat down.
“I think it’s a great sign!” she said, excited. “And you met at Danbury Farm. Noah is good friends with Henry Danbury.”
“Yes, I saw them together in the training arena at that farm.” Dair saw the amazement in Shay’s eyes, a dreamy look. She wasn’t sure what that meant, either. Nerves skittered through her and she was suddenly afraid she’d not get the job. She wasn’t sure how Noah felt toward her, either. She’d not had the guts to email him after meeting him at Danbury. Oh, God.
* * *
Noah took his time wrestling out of the thick sheepskin coat. He’d already hung his Stetson on a nearby peg. Of all the people he never expected to meet again, it was Dair Wilson! Stunned by the turn of events, he ran his fingers through his hair, taking a deep breath, centering himself. He hadn’t missed the surprised look in Dair’s beautiful golden-cinnamon colored eyes, either. She looked like a deer paralyzed by a set of car headlights. And he’d kissed her in the tack room. Long, slow, deep, and forever . . .
Just thinking about that life-altering kiss he’d shared with her, anchored him to where he stood. His heart was flip-flopping in his chest because she’d never emailed him. And when she didn’t, he had decided the attraction was just one way. On that weekend, he’d wanted to comfort her, but she was in rehab with the partial loss of a leg to an IED. And now, she was here. Asking for a job. How the hell had that happened?
Rubbing his brow, Noah knew he had to go face her. And Shay seemed giddy about having Dair apply for the job. Never mind that Garret had stopped him the minute he’d parked his truck and got out. He’d grabbed him by the shoulder and said, “Hire her. She’s the right person to help you.” And then, he’d walked away without any other explanation. What the hell!
What was worse? Noah couldn’t justify the sudden sexual urge running through him. That was embarrassing. Dair was a beautiful woman. There wasn’t anything to dislike about her; otherwise, he’d never have kissed her. Because he’d wanted more, much more from her. But it had come at the wrong damn moment in his life. He’d just gotten a job at the Bar C, and what could he offer her at that moment? Nothing. Besides, he knew she had at least another six months in rehab, stuck at Bethesda Medical Center.
Hell, he was in a fix and he didn’t know what to do. Turning, Noah strode toward the kitchen. Entering, he saw Shay gesture for him to come over to the table. And he saw the stark uncertainty in Dair’s darkening, worried-looking eyes.
Sitting down, he thanked Shay for the coffee she’d put in front of him. He figured he’d better start eating the rolls or she’d start poking at him and asking him why he wasn’t hungry. Noah didn’t want to go there with her. Lifting his gaze to Dair, he saw the concern and worry in her eyes as she moved her slender fingers slowly around the coffee mug in front of her.
“How did you two meet?” Shay demanded, all ears.
Noah cut her an uncomfortable glance and forced himself to eat. “I was at Danbury visiting Henry.” He moved his gaze to Dair. “And the reason I didn’t contact you by email after we met was because I had just gotten a job here at the Bar C.”
“That’s all right, Noah, I understand,” Dair said.
“It wasn’t like we had much time to talk,” he apologized to her. No, they had been so damned drawn to one another, social conversation evaporated into that hot, melting kiss they’d shared.
She shrugged. “Life happens. I need a job since the medical center cut me loose and I’m finished with my therapy.”
Noah was careful not to bring up her amputated leg. He didn’t want to embarrass Dair in front of Shay. He knew that Shay and everyone probably already realized she was an amputee. It wasn’t table talk, and he had no wish to make Dair feel any more uncomfortable than she looked right now. “I do need an assistant,” he added quickly. “Since Shay and Reese had the arena raising, I’ve been overwhelmed.”
“Shay said you are the manager of the arena, plus schooling horses,” she ventured.
“Right.” He smiled a little over at Shay, finishing off the first roll and wiping his fingers on the paper napkin. “We have snow here eight months out of every year, and Wind River Valley has a lot of quarter-horse people who show their animals around the nation. They need somewhere that’s enclosed to continue to train their horses throughout the winter months. Our newly built arena has been a godsend to them and a financial windfall for the Bar C.”
Shay glowed. “But the people are here because of you, Noah. You’ve made a name for yourself since you started working here.”
Lifting a shoulder, Noah said, “In part, Shay. But the rest was your brilliant idea to build an arena in the first place.” He glanced over at Dair, wanting her to feel a part of the conversation. “Shay is always looking for ways to make money for the Bar C because her father lost all the summer grass leases five years ago. Now, this place is getting rebuilt, literally, from the ground up. Me and the rest of the wranglers mend fences every week. We try to do it every day, if our schedule allows.” He thumbed toward a side window in the kitchen. “But when you have five feet of snow out there, it’s impossible to do any fence mending.”
Dair nodded. “That’s true. So with the arena built, you can train horses all year around?”
“Yes.” He took the second roll in his large hands, opening it up. “The problem is me. We’ve got a state-of-the-art facility for boarding, riding, and training, but too few personnel to run it. I’m looking for an assistant who does a lot of the training while I manage the place, giving riding lessons and ensuring the boarded horses get cleaned, fed, and watered daily.”
“How many horses are boarded?”
“Twenty-five,” Noah said.
“And by the time he’s done watering, feeding, and cleaning their stalls, most of the day is gone.” Shay gave him a worried look. “Actually, you could use two more hands plus a horse trainer.”
“I can clean stalls,” Dair said quickly.
“Well, what I’d like to do,” Noah said between bites of the tasty roll and sips of coffee, “is take you out to the area and give you a sense of it all. And if you’re up to it, I have a nice, well-mannered horse I’m training for a ten-year-old little girl, which I’d like to see you work with for a bit. I need to get an idea of how you are around a horse. That’s not something that you can put on your résumé.”
Dair knew Noah had refused to hire two earlier applicants for the position. “Sure, not a problem. I’ve brought my toolbox, my gloves and working gear. They’re in the truck.”
“Great,” he murmured, licking the last of the frosting off his fingers. He looked over at Shay. “I’ll drive her down to the arena and we’ll finish the interview there.”
“That’s fine. But you need to know that everyone wants to hire her, Noah.”
He managed to give her a sour look. “I’m listening, Shay.”
“Good,” she said, standing and patting his broad shoulder.
“It’s gonna take a few hours, maybe until four p.m.”
“That’s fine,” Shay said.
Noah was concerned about Dair’s performance. He remembered nine months earlier she had been unsteady walking on uneven ground. Yet, when he studied her beneath his lashes, Dair looked confident. Maybe it was her high cheekbones, her burnished skin, those incredibly beautiful eyes that he could lose himself in. At the same time, he cautioned himself. Their kiss had meant something to him. He wasn’t sure what it had meant to her. It had been a damned long time since he’d kissed a woman, and Dair’s lips had felt like a soft welcome against his mouth as he’d tasted her fully.
He nodded to Dair and stood up. Trying not to stare at her as she rose, he wanted to assess her balance. Knowing she was nervous, he understood better than most. “This should be a piece of cake for you,” he said, wanting to tamp down the sudden tension he saw in her body as she stood and squared her shoulders. Dair relaxed a bit, and that was good. He’d been around all ten of those military vets for a day and a half at Danbury Farm. And it struck him as never before how lucky he was to have his arms and legs.
Leading the way down the hall to the mudroom, he saw her old Army jacket and picked it up, handing it to her.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“It’s warming up out there,” he said. “But it’s about fifty-five out in the arena, a good temperature.”
She shrugged on her coat and buttoned it, pulling the red knit muffler around her shoulders and neck. “How many people are down there riding right now?”
If Noah didn’t know she was an amputee, he’d never have guessed it. Dair wore Levi’s and thick, rugged-looking sneakers. She walked with balance and with ease. “Probably five or six.” He looked at his watch. “It’s getting close to lunchtime, so most of them will be gone soon. We’ll probably have the arena to ourselves for an hour or so.” There was relief in her eyes. No one knew better than he that when some horses got around one another, territoriality ruled. Especially with stallions.
Opening the front door for her, he said, “Let’s get your tack gear. We’ll take it down to the arena in my truck.”
“Okay,” she said.
There were steps to go down, and Noah watched her from behind. She had a fine butt, of that there was no question. He watched her reach for the rail with her gloved hand, probably to balance herself. Otherwise, he’d never have suspected she didn’t have two good legs. At the bottom, he gestured to his truck that was parked next to hers. “Why don’t you climb in? Your gear on the seat of your truck?”
“Yes, in a cardboard box. Nothing fancy.” She managed a half smile.
Noah opened up the door on his black Toyota truck. He started to cup her elbow, to help her climb in.
“No . . . I can do this by myself,” she said.
Stepping back, he gave her room. Noah remembered their conversations when they were together. Dair had been working to appear not to be an amputee. That had been her goal. She didn’t accept help or handouts, as he’d found out at Danbury. She hauled herself up, and although a bit awkward, she climbed into the truck just fine. He knew she had powerful upper-body strength in order to compensate for that leg that wouldn’t always act like a real one would. He closed the door for her.
Walking over to her parked red Dodge Ram truck, he opened up the passenger-side door and pulled out the box that contained her gear. He set it in the back of his pickup and climbed in. The sky was getting less gray, with more blue spots opening up in the low cloud ceiling. The wind was brisk, off and on. But it smelled clean. Shutting the door, he started the engine, turning to her.
“What time did you get here?”
“At 0900,” she said, falling into familiar military time.
He grinned. “Well, it’s 1030 now. Let me get you to work with Thunder, a nice five-year-old gray mixed-breed mare. They want her trained for their ten-year-old daughter, who’s horse crazy.”
“What’s the girl’s name?”
Noah backed out and then turned down the muddy driveway, heading down a narrow gravel road between the wrangler housing area and a group of pipe corrals. “Lori. She’s a cute little redheaded kid with huge freckles across her cheeks and nose. Her parents bought the mare and she named her Thunder.”
“Oh? Is that because she is?”
Noah tried to quell his sensitivity toward Dair. He wondered if she even remembered their kiss. She was a damn fine-looking woman any man would be proud to have on his arm. He tucked that all away. “No. Lori loves storms. The mare is sweet, quiet, and she listens well. I don’t think you’ll have any problems with her.”
“Where are you at within her training schedule?”
“I’m longeing her daily, using voice commands right now at the walk, trot, and canter. This is where I start the basic foundation work.”
“It’s a solid plan,” Dair agreed.
“Here’s the arena,” he said, gesturing with his gloved hand in that direction.
“It’s huge.”
“Only one in Wind River Valley. Shay struck it rich on this idea. It’s bringing in badly needed money for the ranch as a whole. It’s going to allow her to probably hire two more wranglers before late spring. And we desperately need them.”
He pulled into the asphalt parking lot next to the huge Quonset-hut-looking building made out of aluminum and glass. The green tin roof was shaped to make the arena look like a loaf of French bread. The curved roof forced the heavy snow to automatically slide off it so the structure remained sound and sturdy.
“Okay, here we are.” He pointed to a red door on the side. “That’s our office. We’ll go in there first.” And then he hesitated, realizing he’d used the word “our.” It was probably just the team spirit that the Bar C wranglers had with one another, as well as with Shay and Reese. But maybe it wasn’t. Maybe, Noah thought as he climbed out and pulled her cardboard box of gear into his arms, he’d already made up his mind to hire Dair, even though he’d not seen her work with a horse. That flummoxed him, because he was conservative and careful about people being around a horse he was training. Not all horse people knew everything they needed to know about a horse—how to ride it, how to care for it, or train it. He needed to see that Dair was at that pinnacle where she had enough experience. Walking around the truck, he opened the door for her, noticing she had a bit of a slip on the icy area. But anyone would, not just her.
In the next hour he would know whether he was going to hire Dair or not. And as much as he personally liked Dair, he wouldn’t put his horses at risk with anyone who didn’t know their horses a hundred percent. He hated having to be the teacher rating the student, but that is what this was all about. And judging from Dair’s unreadable expression, she knew it, too.
How badly Noah wanted her to pass with flying colors. Because he wouldn’t hire her if she couldn’t do the job.