AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I guess there’s no arguing with that,” Hilary said and went back to her enormous stack of pancakes.
“What can I get for you, my dear?” someone said at her elbow. Laura jerked and turned to find the woman they’d called Nettie there with a plate of eggs and toast so far.
“Um, that’s fine, thank you, ma’am. Could I have some coffee too?”
“Of course,” she said, beaming. “You take this and sit down. I’ll get that for you.”
“I got it Nettie,” Sunny said, already at the coffeepot with two mugs. “How do you take your coffee?” he asked Laura over his shoulder.
A flicker of warmth heat spread in her belly, but she squashed it. He was just being friendly.
“Just a little milk and sugar, thank you,” she said. It shouldn’t mean so much that these people were nice to her, but she’d experienced so little of it in her lifetime that itdidmean something to her. Harper glanced sideways at her and shrugged, as if to say she understood. Which she did. Harper’s life had been worse than hers before they left.
She ate her breakfast fast and headed back to the barn, but Eli caught her on the way out. “Did you want to have a staff meeting to go over anything with the guys?”
“Not yet. I want to go through the records first to get an idea of what’s been going on. It seems like the basics are covered right now and if we need an action plan, I want to put it all in at once rather than piecemeal.”
Eli smiled. “I like how you think. I don’t know anything about the business end of things. All I was ever responsible for was caring for the animals, which is the part I like best, anyway.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “I think that’s the part most of us like best. I just look at management as implementing the best way to do that.”
“Better you than me, but if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”
“I will.”
The morning passed in a blur of notes and figures. Before she knew it, Rafe was knocking on the door of the office.
“Hey, boss,” he said.
“Hey. Did you need something?”
“No, I’m finishing up, but I went to the cabin and grabbed you a sandwich since you didn’t look like you were going to come up for air anytime soon.”
Laura blinked at him before her brain kicked back in. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”
She cleared a corner of the desk and he set a plate with a sandwich, chips, and a water bottle there for her.
“I guess tomorrow I’ll have to remember to set a timer, so I get up there to eat.”
“Probably a good idea,” he said. “I won’t be here tomorrow to fetch it for you,” he said with a smile.
Laura frowned at that. She didn’t need him to him to bring her food, but she bit her tongue against that response since it would sound rude.
“Right. You’ve got guard duty?”
“Yup, so we always take the next day off to sleep. I’ll be back in the day after tomorrow.”
Laura looked around the office and then back at Rafe. “Sorry, I guess I don’t even know what you do? Will I need to tell someone to replace you tomorrow?”
His answering chuckle was a little bitter. “I keep the place clean. Stalls, aisles, tack. No one wants me taking care of the animals besides Barbosa.”
Laura flipped through her mental notes. “Is he your horse?” she asked when her mind recalled him.
“Not officially, no, but Eagle lets me use him.”
“Why do you call him Eagle?” she blurted out.
Rafe frowned at her. “Because he’s got eagle eyes. He’s a crack shot with a rifle. He was one of the snipers on our team.”
