They both nodded in the affirmative. “Why do you ask?” Judd shoved an oversized bite of cake into his mouth.
“You need help?” Travis asked.
“Say the word and Travis will be there,” Judd said.
“What about you?” Travis asked.
“My job’s more important than yours.”
Travis gave him a look, but Kat knew Judd wasn’t lying when he said Travis would be there. She also suspected Judd would be there to help her out, too, should she say she needed them. The thing was, she wanted to do this one by herself. She was stubborn that way, wanting to know she had built something alone. If her family helped her out, it would feel like a favor, like charity. So, she shook her head.
“I don’t need any help, guys,” she said. “At least, not yet. I promise to call if I do. Thank you. And thank you for the cake, Mom.”
She finished her dessert and said goodbye to her family. On her drive back to the ranch, Kat couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened over the last forty-eight hours. It was better that she not have too many distractions in the end, anyway. She had a business to think about. That had to be herfocus from now until the day the place started making money. The day she could honestly say she had saved her uncle’s ranch would be the day she could let go and start thinking about potential romantic relationships in the area. And the next time she got involved with a man, she was absolutely going to do a background check first.
She pulled into her driveway and went straight to her cabin. Tony had told her not to worry about taking care of the animals that night. He would have it handled, he said. When he wasn’t looking, Kat made sure there was nothing he would need that would be too heavy. She secretly emptied half the feed from the bags, so he would never have to lift a full one. It had been as much work as feeding the animals on her own, but it was worth it.
Tony’s pride was worth preserving. Having him around felt like having the spirit of her uncle around with her. He was part of the ranch, so his help didn’t feel like charity the way her brothers’ help would.
Cole was gone, and she’d be OK. He probably would never be back. No matter. She’d still be OK. Kat was far from the little lost kitten Cole had originally taken her for. No matter what happened to her, what roadblocks threw themselves in front of her, she would always, always be OK.
PART III
CHAPTER 16
KAT
After a number of weeks with only Tony to help her, Kat had gotten used to getting up two hours earlier than she used to. She had to do physical labor around the ranch as well as budgeting and creating social media posts. Her habit of editing extra posts before she got started and scheduling posts so she had a little leeway for times like these was definitely coming in handy. But her leeway wouldn’t last forever.
At some point, she would have to make the actual ad posts—those that made it clear this was a hospitality ranch. For now, she was busy gaining a following for her cute baby animal videos and rescue videos. She incorporated some renovations in them but was saving the guest cabin renovations for later.
Either way, it was time for her to start interviewing potential new hands. Poor Tony had taken on too much, and if she was honest with herself, so had she. Today was her fourth interview. The others had all been a bit disastrous. One was too old, and one was far too young. One had no experience whatsoever, and the other one’s background check had come back with a couple red flags. No one could ever claim she didn’t learn from her pastmistakes. Hiring a ranch hand was easy. Hiring a good ranch hand was a lot harder than she had expected.
Today’s interview was with someone named Charlie. She got her kitchen table ready with drinks, cookies and a notepad with the appropriate questions to ask. Like always, she was organized, detailed, meticulous. She found Tony tending to the two old goats. “My next interview is in an hour,” she told him. “Do you need help with anything before then?”
“I’ve got things handled here,” he said, pulling the plug on the first trough. The greenish water drained away and formed a little river in the dirt.
“Do you need me to scrub that when it’s drained? I do have a free hour.” Just imagining him bent over the trough, scrubbing the bottom of it, had her back twinging in sympathetic pain.
“Well, I’m not gonna stop ya,” he said. So, Kat went and collected the hose and scrub brush while Tony moved on to the next trough. “You got another interview today, huh?” he asked. “Any hope for this one?”
Kat lifted her head out of the trough for one second to answer. “There’s always hope for all of them.”
“That’s the spirit,” Tony said with a grin. “Never give up.”
“You know me. I don’t know the meaning of the words.”
Tony chuckled and pulled the plug on the next trough. “What will you do if this candidate’s a dud? You gonna ask your brothers for help?”
“Only if you need me to,” she said.
Tony shook his head. “If you’re good, I’m good. You know, toward the end there, your Uncle Roy wasn’t doing much in the way of physical labor. He took it a little easier because of his heart, and it was just him and me. With you around, it’s like a vacation.”
“That’s a straight lie, and you know it,” Kat said, still deep in the trough. “But I appreciate it. And I appreciate your guidance, too. Seriously, Tony. Thank you for sticking around.”
“It’s been my pleasure,” he said. “And in case you’re worried about that interview today, don’t be. That Cole character taught you quite a bit, and you learned fast. You’re a good rancher.” He nodded to emphasize his conclusion. “You can afford to be picky this time. Trust me.”
Kat finished scrubbing and rinsing the trough with a lighter heart. In all the time that she’d gotten to know Tony recently, she could tell one thing about him in particular. He was a terrible liar. Right now, she could tell he was being honest, and the fact that a person with as much experience as he had believed in her meant the world to her. If he believed in her, maybe she could believe in herself again.
