The Rancher's Untamed Heart

"Yes, sir?" I asked, hastily putting my yogurt and spoon down.

He stepped into my office and took a seat in the chair that was nominally for clients, but mostly ended up being used by Sarah.

"I have a quick favor to ask you," he said.

I smiled at him, pushing my yogurt a little to the side. "How can I help, sir?" I asked.

"I am afraid that I made a little mistake with a friend's paperwork," he said, wincing self-deprecatingly. "I got busy and didn't get it through in time, would you go ahead and take care of that for me?"

I blinked. That seemed pretty minor, something he'd normally e-mail me about.

Well, me and every other junior in the office at once, knowing that one of us would quickly take care of it.

"Not a problem, sir, happy to help. Do you have it with you?" I asked, gesturing at the folder he had in his hand.

He nodded. "Here you go," he said, opening the folder and passing me one sheet. It was for a basic yearly checklist that all of the farms we worked with had to do. Very simple, ten-minute job on my end.

I smiled at him. "Thank you, sir."

"Ah, Naomi, you'll fill it out just like that, right? Not change anything?" he asked.

I skimmed the paper that I now held.

"Of course, everything but the date will be the same," I said.

He winced again.

"Yes, that's it. It's not really fair that he should pay a fine for a problem on our end, is it? He's been a good farmer for a long time, and five hundred dollars at this time of year isn't always fun to pay out," Herman said.

I hesitated. Five hundred dollars was small potatoes as a fine from our office went, and I didn't have any proof that the rancher had turned in the paperwork on time.

On the other hand, my boss was asking me, and if it wasn't all right, surely he wouldn't get me to do it?

I smiled at him.

"Not a problem, you're right, that doesn't seem fair," I said.

He flashed me a white grin full of teeth. Sarah called it his 'Standard Suckup Smile' and I tried not to show my own amusement, smiling politely back at the boss.

"Great work, Naomi, I knew I could count on you," he said. "I'll see that on my desk by five?"

I nodded.

"Absolutely, sir, I'll take care of it right away," I said. On the last word, he was already walking out of my office.

I started to work on the simple form right away, getting it off my to-do list immediately. It really only took ten minutes, and I didn't even get any granola on it.

As I was giving it a last once-over, I realized that I'd accidentally put the correct date on it, today's date. I hovered over the 'submit' button, but sighed and stopped, changing the date to the one a week before that was written on the sheet Herman had handed me.

It wasn't a big deal, I told myself. Just a favor for my boss, who had made a small mistake.

I tried to ignore the small feeling of wrongness that made the hair on the back of my neck prickle.

Two weeks later, that stupid form was back on my mind. Clint and I were out at a nice Friday-night dinner, but I only picked at my pasta.

Clint watched me.

"I thought you liked Italian food," he said, finally.