welfare comes first. We’ll think of something.”
“There is another option,” she said.
“What kind of option?”
“Get a fill-in for me.”
“Who? I can’t think of anyone we can get on such short notice. I mean, we’d need someone who could manage the team and wagon as well as rustle up the kind of grub you’re famous for.”
“Not necessarily,” she said. “Andy can drive the wagon. He was going to help me at the camp anyway, so he’s a logical choice.”
“Andy can make a decent cup of coffee if you don’t care about stomach ulcers, but he can’t cook.”
“So we get someone else for that job.”
Tyler thought through their current roster and tried to think of anyone, man or woman, with the skills to handle the specific requirements of cooking over open fireboxes and all the rest. He’d been trying to introduce some conveniences for food prep, things like gas burners and refrigeration, but Rose had steadfastly refused to modernize all the way.
“Someone like Julie,” she added.
“Julie?” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait just a minute—”
“Let me remind you that she rode out with us for several years. She knows how to cook and manage a fire. I packed all the food yesterday and the menu is in the kitchen by the phone. Everything is ready to go.”
“Julie won’t do it,” Tyler said. “Why should she? She didn’t like helping out when she had a vested interest in the place, so why would she consent to dirty her hands now? Anyway, I think she left with Lenny—”
“No, she’s still here. I spoke with her already,” Rose said. “She agreed to take my place as a favor to me.”
He leaned against the doorjamb and stared at her. The feeling he was with a stranger returned full force. How could he handle seeing Julie again after what had happened the night before? “Is this all a put-on?” he asked. “Are you really sick?”
“Of course it’s not a put-on. I’m just reminding you that at this late date we have two options. One, we cancel and refund. Two, Julie goes and does her best.”
“So, it’s a done deal. I have no choice.”
Rose said nothing.
He knew they couldn’t afford a loss of this magnitude. He rubbed his forehead and glanced out the window where he saw John Smyth ride by. As Tyler watched, Smyth tossed a lasso and roped a post. He got off his horse and walked up to release the rope, remounted and rode off toward the barn as though he’d been doing it his whole life.
“I bet he could help,” Tyler mused aloud, nodding at John’s retreating figure. If Andy was driving the chuck wagon, they’d be a little shorthanded on horseback. “That guy seems capable of doing anything.”
“No,” Rose said emphatically.
He raised his eyebrows in query, surprised at her tone of voice.
“I don’t like him,” she added.
“I kind of got that feeling. He seems like a nice-enough guy. What’s your problem?”
“There’s something about him that puts me off. I think he’s trouble. You shouldn’t have much to do with him.”
“I’ve never heard you talk like that before,” Tyler said. His sense of unreality was growing greater by the minute. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Can’t a person just not like another person?”
“Not when one of them is a guest of the other, paying good money for a good time,” he said. “I believe I’ve actually heard you say as much to some of the wranglers.”
She shook her head. “I’m just off-kilter right now. Let me be. What happens on the trail is your concern, not mine. Go on now, get going.”
He stood and for a second wondered if it was wise to leave her to deal with this alone. Really, though, what choice did he have? The cows needed the pasture, the ranch needed the income from the guests and the guests needed him to hold things together. And there were half a dozen reliable people around the place to help her if it came to that.
“We’ll miss you,” Tyler said, tugging on his
“There is another option,” she said.
“What kind of option?”
“Get a fill-in for me.”
“Who? I can’t think of anyone we can get on such short notice. I mean, we’d need someone who could manage the team and wagon as well as rustle up the kind of grub you’re famous for.”
“Not necessarily,” she said. “Andy can drive the wagon. He was going to help me at the camp anyway, so he’s a logical choice.”
“Andy can make a decent cup of coffee if you don’t care about stomach ulcers, but he can’t cook.”
“So we get someone else for that job.”
Tyler thought through their current roster and tried to think of anyone, man or woman, with the skills to handle the specific requirements of cooking over open fireboxes and all the rest. He’d been trying to introduce some conveniences for food prep, things like gas burners and refrigeration, but Rose had steadfastly refused to modernize all the way.
“Someone like Julie,” she added.
“Julie?” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait just a minute—”
“Let me remind you that she rode out with us for several years. She knows how to cook and manage a fire. I packed all the food yesterday and the menu is in the kitchen by the phone. Everything is ready to go.”
“Julie won’t do it,” Tyler said. “Why should she? She didn’t like helping out when she had a vested interest in the place, so why would she consent to dirty her hands now? Anyway, I think she left with Lenny—”
“No, she’s still here. I spoke with her already,” Rose said. “She agreed to take my place as a favor to me.”
He leaned against the doorjamb and stared at her. The feeling he was with a stranger returned full force. How could he handle seeing Julie again after what had happened the night before? “Is this all a put-on?” he asked. “Are you really sick?”
“Of course it’s not a put-on. I’m just reminding you that at this late date we have two options. One, we cancel and refund. Two, Julie goes and does her best.”
“So, it’s a done deal. I have no choice.”
Rose said nothing.
He knew they couldn’t afford a loss of this magnitude. He rubbed his forehead and glanced out the window where he saw John Smyth ride by. As Tyler watched, Smyth tossed a lasso and roped a post. He got off his horse and walked up to release the rope, remounted and rode off toward the barn as though he’d been doing it his whole life.
“I bet he could help,” Tyler mused aloud, nodding at John’s retreating figure. If Andy was driving the chuck wagon, they’d be a little shorthanded on horseback. “That guy seems capable of doing anything.”
“No,” Rose said emphatically.
He raised his eyebrows in query, surprised at her tone of voice.
“I don’t like him,” she added.
“I kind of got that feeling. He seems like a nice-enough guy. What’s your problem?”
“There’s something about him that puts me off. I think he’s trouble. You shouldn’t have much to do with him.”
“I’ve never heard you talk like that before,” Tyler said. His sense of unreality was growing greater by the minute. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Can’t a person just not like another person?”
“Not when one of them is a guest of the other, paying good money for a good time,” he said. “I believe I’ve actually heard you say as much to some of the wranglers.”
She shook her head. “I’m just off-kilter right now. Let me be. What happens on the trail is your concern, not mine. Go on now, get going.”
He stood and for a second wondered if it was wise to leave her to deal with this alone. Really, though, what choice did he have? The cows needed the pasture, the ranch needed the income from the guests and the guests needed him to hold things together. And there were half a dozen reliable people around the place to help her if it came to that.
“We’ll miss you,” Tyler said, tugging on his
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