Turn and Burn (Blacktop Cowboys 5)

“Why is everyone so vague about why these positions are temporary?”

“Are you lookin’ for something permanent?”

I don’t know.

“All three of the big bosses will be out of commission for a while. My sister-in-law Janie—she’s married to Abe—deals with sales and PR for the resort and she just had her second baby. Harper Turner runs Wild West Clothiers and is set to deliver her second baby any day.” Celia shook her head. “Harper will have had two kids in twenty-two months. Janie had two kids in two-and-a-half years. Tierney Jackson is in charge of the resort’s finances and she’s pregnant with her first baby. She’s fine to do her job, but she can’t pitch in or fill in for anyone else like she’s done in the past. Her husband Renner put his foot down and since Renner is the majority owner, what he says goes.”

“So Janie and Harper will be coming back to work?”

“Be hard for them not to come back since they’re both owners,” Celia pointed out. “They’ve each decided to take a three-month maternity leave and summer is the busiest time at the resort, which puts everyone in a bind. Finding qualified people is hard enough around here and no one wants to take a job even temporarily if there’s no chance the position will become permanent. When they mentioned their staffing problem, I recommended you as a possible hire for the short term. Lainie vouched for you too.”

“I appreciate it. I’ll get used to the funny way y’all talk and that you don’t put sugar in your tea,” Tanna drawled.

Celia smiled. “Tierney’s sister Harlow will be filling in at the resort this summer too.” Then her smile dimmed and she placed her hand on Tanna’s injured knee.

Tanna braced herself.

“I’ve gotta ask. Have you gotten on a horse since the last time we talked?”

Tanna shook her head.

“You need to.”

They’d had this discussion several times and neither Tanna’s mind nor her response had changed.

Celia kept pressing her point. “It’s part of who you are. You’re scared. Which is understandable, given what happened.”

Tanna could still hear the horse’s high-pitched whinny echoing in her head. That noise haunted her. “My physical therapist said—”

“That you were fine to resume riding.”

Her eyes narrowed on Celia. “How do you know?”

“You called me after the appointment.”

“I did not.”

“You did too. But I’m pretty sure you’d been drinking.”

Tanna had done a lot of drinking in the last nine months since the accident—although some people didn’t refer to it as an accident. They called it negligence.

God. Even saying the word made her want to throw up. She’d never been negligent with a horse entrusted to her care. Never.

“Tanna?”

She glanced up at Kyle. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“I said I know where you’re coming from. You’ll know when the time is right to face them demons.” Celia opened her mouth to retort but Kyle shook his head. “Leave it be, Cele.”

“Fine. But can I at least introduce you to Eli?” Celia asked.

Tanna said, “I guess.” No point in adding more fuel to Celia’s need to “fix” her by admitting she didn’t believe Celia’s good friend and longtime horse trainer Eli Whirling Cloud could help her—despite his reputation as some kind of magical horse whisperer.

“You still plan on leaving your horse trailer here while you’re workin’ at the Split Rock?” Kyle asked.

“If that’s okay. I took out everything I’d need and packed it in my truck.”

“Let’s get it parked and get you settled in up at the resort.”

When they caravanned down the highway, Tanna couldn’t help but gawk at the diverse scenery. The landscape looked like West Texas for a few miles and then sheer rock cliffs seemed to rise out of nowhere. Followed by miles of sagebrush and scrub cedar. Then miles of nothing.

After turning down a wide gravel road, the topography changed once again to a wooded area with rolling hills and scrubby pine trees. They started up a steep rise and at the top were two stone pillars with a wooden sign hanging between them, denoting the Split Rock Ranch and Resort.

Tanna caught her first look at the place. Wood and stone with metal accents. Bigger than she’d thought. Classy but it had a low-key vibe too. At one time she would’ve stayed in a place like this. Now she was here as an employee.

Even with Celia and Kyle accompanying her inside she was nervous. She had nowhere else to go so she had to make this job work.

She caught a brief glimpse of the great room before Celia cut down the right hallway, with Kyle’s hand in the small of her back. Celia leaned into him and murmured something that caused Kyle to kiss her cheek. Even Tanna’s cynical side, which scoffed at the idea of true love and soul mates, thawed the teeniest bit seeing her friends so attuned to each other.

Celia stopped in front of the office and knocked.

The door was opened by a pregnant brunette. She adjusted her glasses after she looked at Celia’s baby bump and then at hers. “I don’t think we can walk through the door at the same time.”

“Funny.” Celia stepped aside. “Tierney Jackson, meet Tanna Barker. World champion barrel racer, awesome friend and your pinch hitter for the summer. Tierney is the financial guru around here but don’t let that fool you. The girl knows how to shoot tequila.”