“Thanks, Jace.”
Yep, Jace Rice was just the kind of man she was looking for. He didn’t look anything like Billy, but he did look mighty fine. He had broad shoulders, like a bull rider. His ash blond hair was closely clipped, but he let his beard go to stubble. His green eyes drew her in, especially the way they met hers and didn’t back away. This was a man who was confident, maybe even more confident than Billy.
She wished she could stop comparing every man she met to Billy. It was time to let a man show her who he was without being measured against the Billy Patterson yardstick.
“They’ll tell you when you check in, but we have free time in the evenings until next week, when the first guests arrive for the season. Once they get here, we’re on the clock almost twenty-four hours a day, except when we’re sleepin’ of course.” Jace winked at her. “And Sundays. We have Sunday nights off, as long as the
ranch is ready for the new guests arriving on Monday.”
She’d read most of this in the employee handbook they sent her.
“There’s dancin’ later, too, after dinner.” He shifted the cowboy hat he held in this right hand to his left. His right hand took hers, and he spun her around into him, then back out again. “Looks as though you know how to dance.”
She laughed. “It was a prerequisite for getting hired.”
“Yep.”
“Is it your job to make sure all the new cowgirls can dance?”
“Nope, not all of ’em. Just you.” He brought her hand up to his lips, turned it over, and kissed her palm.
Renie’s face flushed, she could feel it. As uncomfortable as Jace’s flirting made her, it was one of the reasons she was here. It was time to grow up and move on. This summer could mark the turning point in her life, and she planned to let it.
Jace didn’t disappoint on the dance floor later that night. By the time he walked her back to her cabin, her face hurt from smiling. It had been way too long since she smiled that much.
She was relieved when he didn’t try to kiss her goodnight. It would’ve been too much. Instead he said goodnight like a gentleman. Tomorrow she’d make sure there wasn’t a hot cowboy welcoming committee for all the new girls when they arrived. She had no desire to be someone’s conquest. She planned to be the one taking the prisoners, not the other way around.
“Will I see you tomorrow morning at breakfast?”
“Nope, sorry to say I won’t be able to join you. I’ll be out rustling cattle in the mornin’. I’d sure like to dance with you again tomorrow night after dinner.”
“I’d like that, Jace.”
He tipped his hat, said goodnight, and walked in the direction of a group of cabins cloistered further up in the woods.
“It’s gonna be a good summer,” she heard him say to the trees.
By the end of her first week at the ranch, Renie knew she was in over her head. She wasn’t cut out for the long days and hard work she’d craved before she got here. She’d never admit it though. She’d pull her weight the same as everyone else, but at the end of the night she was happy to be able to fall into bed and let sleep overtake her, sometimes before she got her boots off.
Other than her constant physical exhaustion, coming here to work was the best decision she could’ve made. The ranch catered to families mostly, but had a few weeks during the summer that were for adults only. She loved teaching the little kids how to ride. There was nothing like seeing someone take a horse across the river for the first time. Where it was deep enough, the horse would swim with the rider on its back, and the shock and joy that showed on the riders’ faces were priceless.
The ranch was all about making the best memories they could for the people who paid to spend a week there. She loved being a part of their memories.
Jace continued to flirt with her, but when guests were around, he played it cool. Part of the fantasy of spending a week at a dude ranch was falling in love with one of the wranglers. The cowboys played their part, but never took it further than a dance with a guest. There was a fine line they all walked, to not mix fantasy and reality.
Sunday nights, when the guests went home, the wranglers came out to play. They still walked a fine line when it came to romancing fellow employees. It was frowned upon, although Renie was sure not all the cowboys and cowgirls slept alone every night as she did.
Renie was taking her first guests white water rafting, which meant she’d be away from the ranch for a couple days. She’d be staying with the guests at the Glenwood Springs Inn, and had the option of going along on the daily excursions or hanging out at the inn.
When she brought her overnight bag to the van, she was surprised to see Jace already in the driver’s seat.
“What’s up? Schedule change?”
“Signed myself up for it.”
“Should I stay here?”
“No way, cowgirl, you’re the reason I’m goin’ along.”