have pulled a con on some poor Joe, run off with his money, and the bruises were a sign that she’d been caught in the act.
But more likely, she’d been victimized and needed a helping hand. Wasn’t that the goal of the BBL?
“What kind of job are you looking for?” he asked.
Rachel twisted her hands together. “I can do anything—cook, clean houses or cabins, work with the kids, muck stalls, groom horses.”
“Have you worked on a ranch before?”
A nervous flitter entered her eyes. “Not exactly, but I’ve done lots of odd jobs.”
“What kind of jobs?”
She sighed. “Waitressing. Dishwasher. Factory work. Cleaning. Retail sales. Receptionist—”
He held up his hand. “Okay, I get the point.” She sounded educated, but all those odd jobs…
“Where are you from?”
She curled her fingers tighter inside her palms, another sign that she was trying to hide a case of nerves. Or lies.
“Here and there. We’ve moved around a lot.”
Uh-huh. Definitely sounded like someone running from trouble.
He lowered his voice, “And the boy’s father?”
She quickly glanced at her son, then back at him. “It’s just the two of us.”
“I see.” He reached inside the desk and removed an application for employment. “Here, fill this out and list your references. Then we’ll see what we can do.”
Her hand trembled as she took the application, then she cast a worried look at her son.
“I…don’t have any references to offer,” she said quietly. “Like I said, we haven’t stayed in one place very long this last year.” She drew a deep breath, making her chest rise and fall, and drawing attention to how thin she was. It looked as if she hadn’t had a good meal in days. The little boy looked a little on the lean side, too.
“But I’m a hard worker and a fast learner. And…” She gestured toward the brochure. “I’d like to be a part of what you’re doing here.”
He clenched his jaw so hard that it ached. Those protective instincts that had kicked in earlier roared off the charts.
“All right.” He made a snap decision and hoped to hell he wouldn’t regret it. “You can cook?”
She nodded a little too eagerly. “I’ve been cooking since I was born,” she said as if mirroring his earlier comment about riding.
“She makes the bestest blueberry pancakes on the planet,” Kenny said as he inched back to her side.
Rachel ruffled his hair with an affectionate hand, and Johnny’s reservations faded. He couldn’t turn her and this little boy away. He would give her a job.
At least temporarily.
“I’m afraid the salary’s not great, but we have a small cabin near the dining hall, where you and your son can stay, that’s included with the job. And Kenny can also participate in the camps as a perk.”
Rachel gave him such a relieved and appreciative smile that his chest clenched.
“That sounds wonderful.” She hugged Kenny to her, her smile deepening to reveal dimples. “Thank you so much.”
Johnny amended his earlier thought. She wasn’t attractive. The woman was downright drop-dead gorgeous.
But hell, that didn’t mean he trusted her.
Or that he would get close to her.
As soon as he showed her around and got her settled in a cabin, he’d run a background check and find out just exactly who she was. And if she was a criminal or dangerous, he’d send her packing.
RACHEL HOPED HER DESPERATION didn’t show, but she’d read the pitch for the BBL, with its promises, wide stretches of open land and location miles and miles away from San Antonio, and realized it was a perfect hideaway for her and her son.
And the type of place Rex might never think to look for her.
Rex liked city life, fancy shows, expensive restaurants and the glitzy nightlife. He wouldn’t be caught dead riding a horse, cleaning a stall or touching a cow, and had adamantly refused Kenny any kind of pet.
That had been another sign that he wasn’t the man she’d thought she’d married.
Besides, she and Kenny both needed to breathe some fresh air, take a break from the city hopping they’d been doing for months, and have some semblance of a normal life.
But Kenny would start school in the fall, and then what? She supposed she could homeschool, but their life had been difficult enough. Kenny needed friends his own age. Here, there would be other children and animals and land. At least for a little while…
“I can show you around and then take you to the cabin to settle in,” Johnny said.
“Thank you. I can start anytime.”
“Tomorrow’s good enough. We don’t have kids here tonight, but in the morning a group of teens from an orphanage are coming in, and we’re starting our first camps.”
Rachel tried to ignore the way her stomach fluttered at the sound of his rugged voice. He sounded excited at the prospect of the children’s arrival.
But she’d been fooled by Rex at the beginning, by his charm. She’d never make that mistake again.
Johnny led her and Kenny outside to his pickup truck, a big, shiny, red vehicle with a gigantic cab, backseat and a truck bed nicer than any car she’d ever owned. As he drove them across the property, he gave a running monologue describing the size of the ranch, pointing out the stables, pens, creek, river, pastures and rolling hills where they would eventually expand and add to the herd.
“We’re planning to teach the kids to ride, how to groom and take care of the animals—responsibility will be part of their discipline and therapy,” he clarified, “and we’ll organize trail rides, camps, shows and competitions.”
His enthusiasm seemed so genuine that the man intrigued her. And Kenny was staring out the window of the backseat in awe.
“We’ll also teach the boys how to rope and do tricks and maybe even help on a cattle drive. But in exchange they’ll have to work the ranch. Help clean stalls, mend fences, build pens, feed the animals.” Johnny paused. “Hard work builds character.”
Rachel nodded. Rex’s theory had been that money built character.
Instead, Johnny was a hands-on guy. And he had big, broad, callused hands… Sexy hands. No wonder all the women had found Johnny Long so irresistible.
But she had to be immune.
