“Look, guys. I tried to talk him out of it. I really did.” His hands splayed in aplease believe mesort of way.
Bill started chuckling at the foot of the table. A little one at first that grew into a full-fledged belly laugh. Henry’s fingers inched toward the conference telephone in front of him as he regarded Bill with all the caution a citizen of Gotham would give Jack Napier after he escaped Arkham.
“Joe has been threatening to go Texas on us for years.” He shook his head as his laughter fizzled.
Joe? He didn’t mean…
Of course he did. Bill wasn’t chairman or a relative, but he still played a round of golf at the boys’ club with big boss Joseph Whalen at least once a week. And Mr. Whalen hailed from Texas. Cattle money, if I remembered correctly.
Good-bye, cruise. Good-bye, glorious Riviera. Hello, dude ranch. My lips curled. What did one even do on a dude ranch?
As if reading my thoughts, Sam gave my question a voice.
Jayden picked up his stack of papers and passed them around the oval. “It’s a working ranch. My uncle believes that collaborating together in this type of environment will bring cohesion and synergy to the team in the office.”
The closest I’d ever been to a cow was when I ordered a medium-rare steak from a restaurant. I enjoyed the movieSecretariat,but I’d never ridden a horse in my life. Henry passed me a print-off, and I scanned the paper, my throat tightening at a four-letter word plus-ing.
Camping.
Money and Scarlett O’Hara had failed me.
“Anyone know of a cowboy-outfitters store nearby?” Donald laughed at his attempt at a joke, but his voice held a nervous pitch.
I snorted. Might as well make it a corporate field trip. Neither the left nor the right side of my closet held items appropriate for a week as Annie Oakley. Pumps and sandals but no boots. Business suits and boho dresses but no jeans. That’s right, I didn’t even own a pair of jeans.
Tonya slid her cell off the table. Though she held her posture perfect, her gaze darting to her lap every once in a while gave her away. No doubt the woman was researching the ranch and making a list to prepare for the trip. A list she wouldn’t share with the rest of the group.
“There’s a Tractor Supply out in El Cajon.” Jayden spoke from the head of the table.
Donald’s face reflected my thoughts. Jayden not only knew there was a store called Tractor Supply, he knew its location.
Boss-boy flipped the handout over. “If you haven’t noticed, I took the liberty of adding a list of suggested items to pack, based off the ranch’s recommendation, along with a number of stores in the area where you can purchase said items if you don’t already have them at home.”
I turned my paper to the other side, scanning the list. The only recommended item I already owned was sunglasses. A line from Liesl’s song fromTheSound of Musicfloated through my mind—Totally unprepared am I.Except I wasn’t about to face a world of men but a world of… I didn’t even know. Cattle and horses seemed a given. Dust. Insects. And yeah, probably men. Cowmen. Er, cowboys.
Oh well. Nothing to it. If I could conquer fiscal statements and wrangle expenditures, then I could surely figure out how to survive a week on a working ranch. I’d use the time before the retreat to study up on everything I’d need to know about horseback riding and—I glanced back at the hand-out—whatever team penning was, so that by the time I walked onto that ranch, I’d appear the confident cowgirl instead of the girl who’d grown up in the inner city and never come face-to-face with an animal larger than a pit bull.
Jayden called the meeting adjourned, and I filed out of the conference room with the rest of my peers. Bill didn’t seem too worried about the unexpected locale of the retreat and even offered a few encouraging words to the rest of us.
“This is an insurance nightmare,” Henry muttered as he pushed the elevator button. I didn’t disagree with him, but there was no point in wasting any more time complaining. What was done was done, and none of us had enough influence to change anything, so we might as well get on board and make the most of it.
I collected my black, second-hand Kate Spade satchel from my desk and locked my office door behind me. A quick twenty-minute drive and I pulled into the driveway of the Spanish-style house I shared with my roommate Molly.
“Mol, you home?”
“Back here!” she called, surprising me. Lately she’d been spending more time at her boyfriend Ben’s house than she did here. Not that I blamed her. Ben was as great as they came, and his four-year-old daughter was cuter than a kitten in a handbasket.
I let my bag fall to the floor, my heels clicking against the terra-cotta-colored tiles as I made my way down the hall toward Molly’s bedroom.
She stood with her back to the closet, holding a sequined evening gown out in front of her. “Will this work?”
Betsy sat cross-legged on Molly’s bed, her lips puckered to the side. “Do I have to go?”
Molly’s brows folded over her eyes as she marched the dress to Betsy. “Yes.”
Betsy rolled her eyes but unfolded her legs. “Fine. Give it to me.” She stood and took the hanger. “At least it’s black.”
Molly closed the bedroom door behind her so Betsy could try on the dress. She grinned and leaned her shoulder against the hall wall.
