Cowgirl in High Heels

“There’s enough for me,” Ellie said. “By the way, I can’t find the employment records.”

“They should be there...somewhere,” Angela said absently, telling Ellie exactly how important such things were to her.

“I can’t find the employees, either.”

“Really? Then who’s running the ranch?”

“Good question.” Ellie rubbed her fingertips over her forehead. “Do you have any idea what’s involved in running a ranch?” She was curious whether Angela had any inkling at all, or if they were both equally clueless.

“No idea. This is Milo’s baby.” Angela spoke with tolerant affection and, indeed, she was devoted to her husband, who in return showed his love by giving her everything she wanted.

That said, Angela hadn’t been all that broken up about her husband’s retirement being delayed after he’d been named chief of staff three months ago, and Ellie understood why. Angela did not have a rural bone in her body. Milo, on the other hand, had appeared torn between accepting the job he’d always wanted and retiring to his ranch to take over operations. Ultimately, though, he chose the job he’d been striving for his entire career—and therein lay the rub.

There were a lot of unknowns about the Rocky View Ranch that needed to be addressed. Such as could it be more profitable? Was it being run well? Her uncle had put off getting immediate answers to those questions, leaving the existing management in place after the purchase, thinking he’d be there within a year to observe operations and make decisions. But now things had changed, and that was where both Ellie and the consultant came in.

“Milo’s baby is beautiful,” she said to her aunt with a slight smile. “I’ll find out what I can about operations, fill him in.” This was not her field of expertise, but employees were employees and efficiency was efficiency. And until she figured out her next steps in life, she’d have plenty of opportunity to observe.

“Exactly what we wanted, dear. You really are doing us a favor.”

Ha. They were doing her the favor. Ellie was about to say something to that effect when the back door rattled, startling her.

“There’s someone at the door,” Ellie said.

“Maybe one of your lost employees.”

“Maybe,” Ellie said. “I’ll talk to you later.” She set the phone on the table as she passed through the kitchen to the back door, which rattled again as the tall dark-headed kid who stood outside knocked.

“Jessie wanted me to bring you this,” the boy said, holding out a box. Ellie automatically took it, noting that the bottom was warm just before the spicy pumpkin scent hit her nostrils full force and made her stomach roil. “It’s a pie,” he added helpfully.

“Thank you,” Ellie said, looking around for a place to set the box out of olfactory range. “I’ll, uh, just put it in the fridge.”

“It’s warm. Jessie says it’ll do something funny if you put it in the fridge before it cools.”

“Okay, then,” Ellie said, setting the pie on the counter as she tried to gain control over her stomach. “I’m Ellison Hunter.”

“Nice to meet you,” the boy said as if by rote. Someone had taught him manners.

“And you are?”

“Oh. I’m Lonnie. I live one place over.”

Well, that explained nothing. “Do you know where Mr. Feldman is?” she asked, noticing that the truck that had been parked next to the small house was now gone, although the long horse trailer was still there.

“No.”

“How about Mr. Madison?”

“Ryan? He’s probably gone.” The kid kicked at the step, looking as if he wanted to escape.

Not yet. “Gone, as in...”

“He had a rodeo this weekend,” the kid said as if that answered everything.

“How long does the rodeo last?”

“His part?” The boy screwed up his face. “Only a day usually, but it’s a long drive home.”

It was Monday. A workday in her book. Perhaps the employees worked flex time. Ellie had no way of knowing, since there appeared to be no records on the ranch other than a file folder with tax information.

“Great. Well—” she held out a hand “—it’s good to meet you.”

The kid grabbed her extended hand, pumped it once, hard, then released it. Ellie smiled briefly, waiting until the kid had started down the steps to the all-terrain vehicle parked near the front gate before rubbing her hands together to get the feeling back into the one he’d just crushed. The kid was almost to the bottom of the walk when he turned. “Hey, you might want to keep an eye out for Hiss.”

“Hiss?”

“He catches mice. He’s harmless.”

“Hiss is a cat?” Ellie asked, wondering why she needed to keep an eye out for it.

“A snake,” Lonnie called, then with a cheerful wave got on his ATV and started the motor.

“Great,” Ellie muttered. “Thanks.” Mr. Madison was at the rodeo, Mr. Feldman was nowhere to be found and she needed to watch out for Hiss the snake. She couldn’t say she was overly impressed with Milo’s ranch operations so far.

Ellie stepped back into the kitchen, then instantly turned toward fresh air as the pumpkin smell hit her. Taking a deep breath and holding it, she went inside, picked up the box with the pie and opened the sliding door off the dining room. She set the box on the back-patio picnic table, then quickly went back into the house. The smell lingered, not as strongly as before, but enough that Ellie knew she’d be spending some time at the other end of the house.

The baby suddenly seemed a bit more real.

CHAPTER THREE

“IT WAS BAD,” Francisco said as he took the cup of coffee Lydia handed him. “Not as bad as right after he signed the sale papers, but I think he can’t hold his alcohol as well as he used to.”

“If he’s going to do this every time someone from the family comes to the ranch... Well, that isn’t going to work at all,” Lydia said. “He’s going to—” She abruptly closed her mouth as the bathroom door opened, and then slow footsteps came down the hall.

“Son of a bitch,” Walt muttered as he walked into the kitchen, rubbing a hand over his forehead. “Where’s the truck that hit me?”

“The truck had a big Budweiser logo emblazoned on the side,” Lydia said as she folded a dish towel. “And you know better than to stand in the middle of the street in front of it. Sit down.”

Walt sat. He was a small guy, with a thin, wiry frame that had caused a lot of people to misjudge his strength in his younger days. “Who rescued me?”

Francisco raised a hand.

“I owe you.”

“Yeah, you do,” Francisco said. “More than that, you owe Jessie. It was bath night.”

“Sorry about that.” He raised red-rimmed eyes toward Ryan. “You’re quiet.” Ryan shrugged. “Did you win?”

“Of course he won,” Lydia snapped. “The question is, are you going to keep doing this?”