Page 21 of Second Chance with the Rancher

“You’re not going to fall off. Macklin won’t let that happen. Just relax. You’re tense and he feels that. If you relax, he’ll relax.”

Macklin was so used to this kind of thing, that her stress wasn’t really fazing him, but Nate needed to drive home the point of how astute and empathic horses could be. They picked up on your emotions, on your stress and your tension, and even though Macklin wasn’t appearing to be affected by it, Umber was. Nate could feel Umber tense beneath him and he made a couple of huffs and puffs like he wanted to get away from Mieka because she was stressing him out.

“Easy, buddy,” Nate murmured, leaning forward and stroking his horse’s neck. “Just be patient.” He turned back to Mieka. “Loosen your grip.”

She did as she was told and loosened her grip. Her shoulders rolled back and she sat up straighter, breathing out slowly through her mouth.

“There you go,” Nate said. “Macklin’s not going to let you fall. Neither will I. This is supposed to be fun. Have some fun.”

She shot a glare at him, but he just smiled wider until her stony expression faded and she reluctantly lifted her lips into a half-smirk of amusement. “So when do your first guests for the cabins arrive? Have you opened up the booking calendar yet?”

He led Umber away a few feet and the horse relaxed beneath him. “Two weeks.”

Her eyes widened. “Two weeks? Cutting this a little close, don’t you think?”

“We had some issues with getting the plumbing and generators set up. And Triss was supposed to order the furniture and décor but she got pulled away last week for a work thing in Sacramento, and the furnishings just slipped mine and Asher’s mind. We’ll get it done though. With you helping us for sure. The stores we’re going to order from are all in Denver, so we’ll place the orders online, then go into Denver a couple of days later and pick up the orders. Faster than having them ship them to the ranch. We’ll just take a truck and trailer with us. It’ll be great.”

She didn’t seem convinced, but she focused her eyes forward again and relaxed her shoulders. “So how rustic are we talking? You mentioned plumbing, so the places have bathrooms and running water. What about Wi-Fi and electricity? What appliances are you providing?”

“Each cabin will have a fridge, albeit a small apartment-sized one, those are already out there since we took advantage of our friend with a helicopter and he dropped them off for us a couple of weeks ago. They’re just not plugged in or anything. Smart ovens, and hot plates. We thought about gas stoves, but then we’d have to run gas lines out there, or constantly be worried about refilling the tanks. Plus, the risk of a fire or explosion just increases when you bring gas into the mix. There is running water, but the tanks will be heated via the generators, which our buddy with the chopper also delivered for us. Each cabin will have a queen-sized bed, a couch or futon, no television because that’s not what this is about, some tables like coffee tables, kitchen tables, side tables or whatever, and books and maybe board games or something. I’ll let you decide on that.”

“How do the generators run?”

“Solar power. We have solar grids on the roofs and placed in ideal locations around each cabin.”

“And who is going to be cleaning these places in between guests?”

“Triss said she would help, or Asher, or me, or we can send a ranch hand. We’ve talked about hiring a cleaner, too, if it gets too demanding.”

He could see the cogs spinning in her head and he liked it.

“And your target demographic for guests is?”

“People with money and a sense of adventure. They want to get away from it all and unwind, get reacquainted with nature and go off the grid for a bit. We’ll have a radio for them and us in the event something goes wrong, but for the most part, they’ll be on their own. We’ll take them in, then come and get them when their stay is over. Minimum three-night stay is required, otherwise it’s not worth our time.”

“And what are you charging a night for these cabins?”

“Three-forty a night in the peak season, two-ninety during the off season and we’ll shut ‘er down completely for winter since it’ll be too risky to take people out there in the snow. Don’t want them to get stranded.”

“And how many reservations do you have so far?”

That was the question he was waiting for. He grinned. “We’re completely booked until October thirty-first. Then we shut down from November first to March thirtieth for winter.

Her jaw dropped. “Completely booked in what way?”

“Starting May thirtieth, we have guests in all four cabins nearly every day until Halloween. We have one-day gaps between guests to go out and get the cleaning and set up done.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Thanks. It’s sure to bring in a lot more revenue and interest in the ranch. We’re still doing the petting farm, too, which opens up fully even on weekdays at the end of May, then the ranch will be crazy-busy from sun up to sun down.”

“You guys have certainly created a thriving business. Add in Triss’s practice, the place is just a money-making machine.”

“Costs a lot to run, too. Gotta pay the staff, feed the animals, something’s always broken down—right now it’s my truck apparently. I’ll run it to Larry when we get back. We might make a lot of money—now—but we spend a lot, too. Sometimes it feels like it just bleeds out of us.”

“Gotta spend it to make it.” She cringed. “Sorry, that was so cliché. I know it takes a lot to keep a place like this running.”

He chuckled. “It’s okay.” She was uncomfortable, he could tell. Was it because she was with him? Or what happened between them last night in the barn? Or his text messages? Probably all of the above. He wasn’t doing a very good job at making her feel comfortable. If anything, he was probably succeeding more at making her feel extra uncomfortable. He needed to fix that. “I like your hair,” he said, lifting his chin to indicate her complex double braid and updo at the back of her head.

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