Page 6 of Ashes of the Past
I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Can’t you just throw him to the wolves? Isn’t he supposed to be quick on his feet?”
“I mean, if you want to start paying him today, then I guess we can.”
I let out a soft groan, low enough that my dad can’t hear it.
“No, it’s fine. I am leaving the shop now. I’m going to pick up Olivia, and then we’ll be home.”
I hang up and drop my head against the steering wheel. The pressure in my chest feels like it might crack me open. Between the shop, the ranch, and Olivia—my twelve-year-old daughterwho’s too smart for her own good—it feels like I’m barely treading water and the sharks are circling faster.
My dad hired a new ranch manager without my knowledge, swearing up and down that this Jack Renfrew guy’s experience would save us. But I’m not certain anyone can save us. It’s like we’re on theTitanic, and it’s sinking faster than it should be. The only reason I am going along with it is because I know his sister.
I grit my teeth and start the truck, the engine rumbling to life. I take a quick detour to my friend Joanne’s house to pick up Olivia. The kids are playing outside; Joanne is on the porch when I pull into the driveway.
“Hey, girl,” Joanne greets me excitedly.
“Hey, Jo, thanks so much for grabbing Liv today.”
“She’s welcome here anytime, you know that.”
“Dad said your brother showed up early, so I’m going out to introduce myself and get him set up.”
“He’s not early,” she says with a furrowed brow. “I’m pretty certain today was the day your dad told him to start.”
I blow out a breath. “Miscommunication with me and Dad, I guess.”
He’s been forgetting a lot lately.
“You’re going to love Jack,” she gushes. “He’s so intelligent. The kids adore him. He’s a good man, and he’s going to take a lot off your plate with the ranch. It’ll be good, I promise. I know I’m biased, but you’re just going to love him.”
She keeps saying you’re just going to love him as if she has an ulterior motive, and knowing Joanne, she does.
“Hey, Mom!” Olivia says as she hurries to climb into the passenger seat. “Thanks for having me, Mrs. Jennings.”
“Of course, sweet girl! We’ll see you guys around!” Joanne calls out.
JoAnne, her son Bret, and her daughter Ava stand at the edge of the driveway, waving goodbye to us.
“Grandpa needs us,” I tell her. “The new ranch manager that he hired showed up today.”
“Ava’s uncle? I met him earlier. He seems really cool.”
“Good to know.”
As I pull onto the dirt road leading home, I replay my run-in with the cowboy. I grip the steering wheel, still feeling the frustration from how rude he’d been to me.
You know how they are, Brynn. You’ve grown up around cowboys your entire life, and they’re all the same: rude, emotionally unavailable assholes.
It’s really hard to date in a small ranching town when you’ve sworn off cowboys.
I shake the thought away as I pull into the ranch’s long gravel driveway. My childhood home, the house my father still resides in, looms ahead of us. Off to the right and next to one of the barns is the bunkhouse where the single ranch hands stay. It reminds me of an old log cabin with dark wood and a covered front porch. It’s big enough to fit ten employees, so they have plenty of room to move around. It’s dark, and none of the lights are on, so I can only assume they’re all out in the pasture with my dad. My house is off to the side of my father’s home.
“I’m going to go check on the new foal,” Olivia says as she hurries out of the truck.
“Make sure Barney has food and water,” I tell her, referring to her Australian Shepherd.
She runs off, her dog right on her heels. I look around and notice the shiny new Ford truck sitting next to my dad’s rusted-out truck.
That must belong to the new guy.
