we can run down what’s planned for the day. The earlier, the better.”
“Um...okay. That might cut into some people’s schedules, though. Everyone arrives at different times. Plus, the schedules rotate weekly.” Lane pulled a binder from the bookcase and opened it on the desk. Lucy fought to ignore the way his arm brushed hers as he pointed to the first page. “We briefly touched on this yesterday. The current one is always on top. It’s just a printout from our stable-management software. Curly found using a printout faster than logging on to the computer every time he needed to see who was working where.” Lane rapidly turned the pages, creating a slight vibration against her skin. “If you look through the previous months, you’ll notice a pattern in the rotation.”
Lucy tried to make sense of the pages Lane flipped through, but his closeness made it difficult to concentrate. She flattened her palms on top of the binder, causing him to retreat. Thank you. “I’m capable of reading a schedule. How am I supposed to know what’s going on around here without a daily meeting?”
Lane propped an elbow on the filing cabinet and rubbed the side of his jaw. “Lucy, this is a quarter-of-a-million-acre ranch. We have employees coming in at daybreak who have very specific feeding times to adhere to. You can’t ask them to stop what they’re doing to attend a meeting. It’ll set off a chain reaction that will affect the meds, turnout and muck schedules. This is a huge operation and we’ve painstakingly planned it to maintain balance. I understand your reasoning, but not everyone works in or near the stables. You have employees out in the pastures, too. Everyone has a two-way radio.” Lane crossed the tiny office in three strides. He unplugged one of the radios and handed it to her. “You can get in touch with the people who aren’t in your immediate vicinity on here. Try not to tie up the frequency band with long conversations, though. Call them on the phone or take a utility vehicle out to wherever they are instead. If you want to see who’s clocked in or out, you can pull it up on the computer.”
Lucy ground her teeth together. She pulled her hair back at her nape and loosely knotted it while she attempted to formulate a response. This was exactly what she’d meant when she’d told Nicolino she didn’t have the practical experience for the job. Someone who’d apprenticed for years under a barn manager would know these things.
A sting of heat rose to her cheeks. “I will take your suggestions under advisement. Thank you.” She wished he’d leave so she could review the schedules without him watching her every move.
Lane lowered himself onto the chair next to her and set his hat upside down on the corner of the desk. “I’m going to offer you a little unsolicited advice. Instead of focusing on what you feel needs to change, concentrate on what you don’t know.”
“Such as?” Lucy wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer, but she was certain being alone with him in the small room was making it increasingly difficult to breathe.
“When was the last time you rode with a Western saddle? Better yet, when was the last time you saddled a Western horse?”
Lucy tapped a pen against her notebook. “The last time I was here.”
“Then that’s where you need to begin. There will be days when you’ll need to saddle a horse and get out there with the rest of us. I’ll pair you up with one of the grooms and they’ll walk you through the entire process of saddling a cutting horse and get you accustomed to riding Western again. You should shadow some of the trainers and ride a few of the cutting horses. You need to understand what we do and how we do it in order to run this facility.”
These were all things she’d thought about last night. She just hadn’t wanted to hear them from the man she knew still wanted her job. “Thanks, but these things are already on my list.”
“Okay, then.” Lane rose, grabbed his hat and strode to the office door. “I’ll leave you to it, boss.”
Boss? Great—attitude. She hadn’t expected anything less, and if she were honest with herself, he gave as good as she did.
After fumbling her way through the majority of the day, Lucy ran into town to pick up a phone for Carina. She couldn’t wait to get home to hear how her day had gone.
Shortly after Lucy arrived at the cottage, Ella stopped by to drop off Carina. When Lucy opened the front door, Carina made a beeline inside without a word. Lucy thanked Ella for bringing her daughter home, then said goodbye and closed the door, trailing after Carina. She yelped, practically tripping over a backpack on the floor. Usually her daughter wasn’t so careless. Seeing Carina’s bedroom door closed, she knocked—no answer. She tried the knob—locked. Typical Carina. Lock the door, pop in the earbuds and crank up the iPod. It used to infuriate Antonio. Luckily, their cottage was on one level. Lucy walked around the side of the house and found Carina’s bedroom window open. She climbed inside, scaring her daughter half to death.
“That’ll teach you.” Lucy grinned and gently tugged on Carina’s earbuds.
“What do you want?” Carina snarled in Italian.
What happened to the sweet little girl with the cheery disposition I raised? “How was school?”
“I hate it.” Carina pouted.
“Did you give it a chance?” Lucy sat on the edge of the twin-size bed. Her daughter had had a king-size one in their villa.
“Yes,” Carina huffed. “They talk fast and I don’t know what my homework is.”
“Did you ask your teacher to write it down for you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to look stupid.”
“I’ll call the school on Monday and ask the teacher to write out your assignments.” Lucy stopped Carina from putting her earbuds back in. “You can’t give up. It’s not easy for me, either.”
“Fine.”
Lucy stood, knowing she was about to be tuned out once again. “What would you like for dinner?”
“Nothing.”
One-word answers. Lovely. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone, but keep the door unlocked or I’ll take it off the hinges. Oh, before I forget.” Lucy fished the new cell phone from her pocket and handed it to Carina. “For you.”
“Great, now I have a phone and no one to call.”
Lucy threw her hands in the air and left the room. Skipping dinner, she sank into one of the white rocking chairs on the front porch. A refreshing breeze ruffled the collar of her Bridle Dance polo shirt. A lush green palette of the Texas Hill Country danced before her as the sun began to cast evening shadows against the house. The view was still gorgeous. She had seen her first American sunset with Lane. They’d been barely fourteen that first summer. He had placed his hat on her head, kissed her cheek and called her his Italian cowgirl. What she wouldn’t give to relive that moment again. There used to be so much hope in the unknown, before life became scary and real. She missed those days... More important, she missed those days with Lane.
* * *
LANE POPPED THE top off a longneck and sat on the wooden front steps of the bunkhouse. The setting sun reminded him of Lucy. It always had.
“Do you want a burger?” Rusty asked from behind the grill.
He eased his body up, grabbed a plate
