Page 72 of A Rancher's Love
“How?” demanded Sasha.
Ginny shrugged. “I thought you were training the goats.”
Sasha made a rude noise. “Goats aren’t horses.”
“I should think not, but if Emma wants to do the accounting for the ranch down the road, do you think she knows everything she’ll need for later? Even though she knows her numbers really well, and things like adding and subtracting and multiplying.”
Emma wrinkled her nose. “I don’t have all of them memorized yet,” she confessed.
Sasha nodded slowly. “If I get really good at training Eeny, Meany, and Miney, that’ll help me train horses?”
“Plus, we have lots of ranch dogs,” Ginny pointed out. “It’s always a good idea to train them to be better behaved.” She tapped her niece on the nose. “It will all add up, a little bit at a time.”
Emma turned to Sasha. “Like Mr. Tucker. He knows lots of things, but Papa says he’s going to ’prentice with Mr. Ashton until he gets really good as a foreman.”
“I want to apprentice with someone,” Sasha said seriously.
“You should tell Papa,” Emma said. She caught Sasha’s hand in hers. “I’ll come with you. And if you have to practice lots, I’ll come and help you practice. Because you’re my big sister, and I love you.”
“I love you too,” Sasha said.
Then the whole thing dissolved into another round of little girl hugs. Then Ginny was being tugged into the fray, and the paper with the doodles was put back in her pocket because being in the middle of so much current happiness and joy was more important than solving a mystery from the past.
After settingthings up so he could take Ginny dancing, or at least innocently ask her to dance while they were all there in a crowd, Ashton messed with Tucker’s plans. They headed out on Thursday night to the Pincher Creek area where the Stones’ Uncle Frank had land.
Tucker still didn’t like the other man very much. He was pretty sure Frank didn’t like him either, simply because Tucker had witnessed the first time Caleb took charge and refused to cave to his uncle’s requests.
Thankfully, it was a short visit, and Tucker only had to work on being cordial for a few nights.
When they got back, another weekend had passed, and the end of January approached. It had been more than a week since he and Ginny had touched base for their last OperationProve Itmeeting, and Tucker had every intention of another happening sooner than later.
The next thing he knew, it was the afternoon and he was seriously wondering if he’d see her before the spring.
“There you are.” Luke poked his head into the office where Tucker was pouring over employment records. A room which, thank God, had a window facing toward Big Sky Lake. Luke patted one of the piles of the papers on the desk in the ranch office. “Looks ominous.”
“Ashton gave me the dubious privilege of taking over the portion of payroll he’s been responsible for up until now. I might like spreadsheets, but I already know this will be one of my least favourite tasks,” Tucker shared. “Thank God, I’m nearly done.”
Luke slapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Good. Because we’re going fishing.”
Tucker eyed the to-do list open beside him. “Maybe.”
“Come on,” Luke said. “I know you’re busy, but someone really smart recently made a comment about making sure we took the time to do the things that are important. Which means if Ashton’s been doing the job of two men, you need to think about hiring somebody else as an assistant.”
“Damn if I want to look as if I can’t keep up this close to the beginning,” Tucker complained.
“Bro, you put in full days. You’re allowed to take some time off.” Luke dropped the joking and spoke far more seriously, which cut through Tucker’s wavering.
“You’re right.”
Luke winked. “Finish up. I’ll pack what we need.”
“I’m game, but I don’t want to go anywhere too far into the bush or be gone overnight,” Tucker insisted. He was determined to see Ginny today, even if he had to burn the midnight oil to make it happen.
“Fishing right in our backyard.” Luke gestured out the window where the sunlight reflected on the frozen surface of the lake. “We’ll drill a few holes and drop in a line.”
Perfect. “You’re on. I need half an hour to finish here, then I’ll bring the whiskey.”
Luke slapped him on the shoulder. “Good man.”
