paused, tempted to accept yet not wanting to take advantage. “Sure?”
She tucked her notebook under her arm and headed for the open front door. She stepped outside, the sunshine illuminating her shapely legs. “Consider it my donation for your cause. Which, by the way, is a good one.”
Justin fell into step beside her as they continued toward her truck. “You think so?”
She tossed him an admiring glance. “Troubled kids need a place to go.” A hint of a smile curved her lips. “If that can happen in a beautiful setting like this, more power to you.”
“Thanks.” Not everyone was on board with his idea for the ranch. It helped to know she was.
The dogs raced forward, suddenly on full alert. A split second later, a car motor purred in the distance. Two vehicles appeared, the second one a black-and-white Laramie County sheriff’s car.
“Another lost tourist?” Amanda joked, her glance roving over him once again. “This one with a police escort?”
Justin shook his head, hoping it wasn’t more bad news. “Mitzy Martin. She’s the social worker tapped to work with the ranch. She’s also on the board of directors. The sheriff’s deputy is my brother Colt McCabe. He’s in charge of community outreach for the department. I have no idea who the teenage boy with her is....”
Amanda backed up. “Well, obviously you don’t need me for whatever this is.” Giving the other visitors a cursory wave, she walked to the truck, his dogs trailing behind her, and began unloading her tools.
The teenage boy stayed put as Mitzy and Colt got out of their cars. Both radiated concern as they approached. “We have a favor to ask,” Mitzy told him.
Justin looked at the sullen teen slouched in the passenger seat of Mitzy’s car, arms crossed militantly in front of him. Pale and thin, he wore a black T-shirt with a skull on the front. His dark ash-blond hair was on the long side. “What’s up?”
Mitzy shot him an imploring look. “We need a place for Lamar Atkins to stay during the day for the rest of the summer.”
Understandable, but... “The ranch isn’t open yet.”
Colt inclined his head toward the unfinished bunkhouse. “It looks like you could use a lot of help getting it ready.”
That much was certainly true, particularly in the bunkhouse. Justin paused, wanting to make sure he knew what they were expecting him to provide. “You want me to pay him?”
Mitzy shook her head. “Help him work off his community service hours.”
“For...?” Justin prompted.
His brother frowned. “Repeated truancy. He’s supposed to be in summer school now, but he keeps skipping, and the judge gave him one hour of community service for every hour of class he’s skipped. Which amounts to two hundred and thirty-six hours.”
Justin muttered a compassionate oath. That was going to take a while to work off.
“If you take Lamar on, and he sticks with the program, he’ll be finished with his community service commitment before school starts in the fall,” Mitzy urged. “And hopefully will learn something in the process.”
Justin looked at the kid. He had his earphones in, his eyes closed. Justin turned back to Mitzy and Colt. Both had also felt the call to help others. Although his brother was now happily married and father to a little boy, Mitzy was as single as Justin was, with as little time for her social life as he. All three of them took to heart the fate of those in need. “Where are the boy’s parents?”
Mitzy’s expression tightened. “Long gone. Fed up with trying to deal with his defiance, they severed their parental rights and turned him over to the state last March. The court placed him with a foster family in Laramie, but both foster parents work during the day, and they can’t be around to constantly monitor Lamar.” She paused. “He seems to like them, and they feel the same way about him, but they just can’t keep him in summer school.”
Justin squinted. “What happens if this doesn’t work out?”
“Given that Lamar was already on his last chance when I picked him up?” Colt exhaled slowly. “He’ll be labeled incorrigible and put in a juvenile detention center.”
Which meant an awful lot was at stake. Justin had seen enough kids spiral downward. He didn’t want to be personally responsible for the ill-fated future of another. “I want to help.” Wanted to give the kid a safe place to be during the day.
Mitzy regarded him with confidence. “We figured you would.”
“But...” Justin cast a glance over at Amanda, who was lifting toolboxes and a power saw out of the bed of her truck. “I’d feel a lot better about it if the place was finished and the live-in counselors were here.”
“You still want to be named ranch director by the board?” Colt asked. “Instead of just chief financial officer?”
Justin sighed, frustration growing. “You both know I do.”
Mitzy pushed, sage as ever. “This is your chance to prove yourself worthy of the job.”
Justin knew Mitzy and Colt were right. This was a prime opportunity to advance his career in the direction he wanted it to go, as well as a chance to help a kid in need. So the situation wasn’t perfect. They’d manage. “When do you want to start?”
The duo smiled their thanks. “First thing tomorrow morning,” Mitzy said.
* * *
“SO YOU’RE GOING to personally supervise Lamar?” Amanda asked in shock after Justin filled her in an hour later.
To his aggravation, she seemed to think he couldn’t—shouldn’t—do it. “Why does that surprise you?” Justin was more than a little irked to find her among the naysayers who were constantly doubting him.
Amanda surveyed the area surrounding her temporary home site. “From the way you were talking earlier as you showed me around, I had the impression you were more of a numbers guy.”
Being good at something didn’t mean it was the right fit, career-wise. Justin wished he could make people understand that. He followed her back to the trailer. “I studied business and accounting in college.”
Amanda chocked the tires so the trailer wouldn’t roll. Finished, she stood. “What practical experience have you had working with troubled kids?”
Not enough; he’d found out the hard way. But that, too, was about to change.
“I worked at a nonprofit that helped at-risk teens.” He helped her unhitch the trailer.
Amanda undid the safety chains. “And did what exactly?”
“Initially, I was the CFO.” Justin pitched in and took care of the sway bars. “Eventually, I coordinated services for the kids, too.”
“But someone else did the actual counseling and evaluating,” Amanda guessed.
Justin
