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The afternoon was the hottest one so far this summer. And the heat hit us a bit by surprise. No one was yet acclimatized. Tempers heated up proportionally. By 3 p.m. I’d already broken up two fights and narrowly managed to prevent a third from starting up. I went back to the office. It might have been a stuffy box, but it did have a desk fan I could sit in front of for a few minutes’ relief.
Wolf’s office was next to mine, and the walls were paper thin.
Wolf must have known I could plainly hear his phone conversation. That’s probably why he had the conversation in the first place: to get the word out about his threats without having to actually make them face to face. Hell, for all I knew, there might not have been anyone on the other end of the line talking with him. He might have staged the whole thing for my benefit. Either way, I did listen. And I did take note.
“Because she’s the mayor’s daughter for chrissake! Need I say more?”
The creak of his chair and the ruffling of papers.
“I already told her she wasn’t welcome around here. She’s a girl. She don’t listen. I’m counting on you to be more persuasive.”
I had my head rested on my desk in the crux of my elbow, but I perked up as his ‘conversation’ began to take on a familiar early-days tone.
“Wyatt and Grayson and a few others,” he said. “Whoever she’s with, you send the message to them too, you hear?”
I turned off the fan. I didn’t want to miss a word.
“That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
What’s a bit extreme for Wolf?
“Sure. Fine. If that’s your idea of a good time. But I’m not paying you to have a good time. I’m paying you for results. If I see her ‘round here again, hers isn’t the only head that’s gonna roll. Is that clear enough? Good.”
I didn’t wait to hear any more. I had to go out and warn Wyatt. Didn’t Wyatt tell me Ruby was planning on coming by later? I can’t let that happen.
I asked around in the stables. Nobody knew where Wyatt was.
Finally, I found Samuel.
“Have you seen Wyatt?”
“Yeah. He had to go on into town, run an errand. He should be back any minute.”
I thanked Samuel but grumbled under my breath, “He should be here working.”
“It’s a work-related errand,” said Samuel.
I nodded. “Yeah, yeah, fine. I just need to talk to him and soon.”
“When I see him, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”
“Will you also tell him he can’t bring Ruby round here anymore.”
Samuel, who never had a contrary word to say, set the shovel down and put his hands on his hips. “Ah, come on now, Teddy. What’s the harm in having a nice girl around?”
I chuckled. “There’s plenty of harm could come from having a nice girl around. But that’s not my point.”
“What’s your point?”
Judging from the sharp tone of his voice and the angry crease in his brow, the heat had gotten to Samuel too.
“My point is, there’s plenty of girls—hell, when the rodeo starts up, there’ll be hundreds of girls you can fool around with. But until then, we need to focus on work.”
“Okay, it’s like you want it, boss.”
Samuel calling me ‘boss’ was not a term of respect. He followed that dig with, “We’re on schedule. We’re getting the work done. It’s not about focusing on work, is it?”
“Of course it’s about focusing on work,” I said, a bit louder and more aggressively than intended. “That’s what you’re here to do: work.”
“It’s Ruby,” said Samuel. “You’re jealous. Is that it? You can’t stand the thought of us being with Ruby. You want her all to yourself.”
I stepped up to him. “Samuel, have you lost your mind!? Are you having a heat stroke or something? That’s crazy what you’re saying.”
“It’s crazy what you’re saying,” said Samuel, his voice now loud and aggressive too.
“Whoa, there.”
I turned and saw Wyatt coming over to us with open hands extended as if we were about to come to blows and he was rushing in to stop us.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “What’s with all the shouting?”
Samuel looked at Wyatt and pointed at me. “Boss, here, doesn’t want us hanging out with Ruby.”
“That’s not what I said.”
Wyatt now stood next to Samuel and he wore the same furrowed brow and the same angry scowl on his face.
“I said I don’t want you hanging out with her here at the ranch. What you do and who you see ain’t none of my business when you’re off the ranch. But as long as you’re working here, you need to keep to a few simple rules.”
“Such as?” asked Wyatt with a defiant tone of voice.
“Such as, Ruby-Rose Davis is not to set foot on this ranch.”
