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It was bad enough that we’d been caught, but we’d been caught by our boss… kissing his childhood friend.
“Sorry, sir,” Andrew said, straightening up and turning to face Declan.
“Seriously, Dec. Do you always have to spoil my fun?” Tori huffed, squeezing out from between us and walking toward him.
“I think you have me confused with Thomas.” His eyes narrowed as she stopped two feet from him.
Tori smacked him on the chest and then kept walking past him. “See you at dinner, boys,” she called over her shoulder before she disappeared out the door, leaving us with Declan.
Our first day on the job, and this happened.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see any of that. I don’t know which talk to be giving you—the boss rundown or the big brother one. All I’m going to say is, be careful. I have no doubt you’ve heard the stories about our previous engagement, but there’s a lot in that tiny package. Don’t let that prim exterior fool you. She is a force to be reckoned with and has a sensitive heart, so whatever you do, don’t hurt her.” Declan finished with pointing to the office. We had a meeting.
Alex walked into the barn a second later with a knowing smile on her face. “Did you enjoy yourself last night, Drew?” She winked at us.
I followed Alex into Gavin’s office, followed by Drew and Declan. We all took notepads from the corner of the desk, and I leaned against the bookshelf while Declan and Alex took the chairs.
“Shall we get down to business?” Declan asked. “What are we looking at?”
My brother and I had already discussed this early this morning, so we were on the same page when we met with everyone.
“The office in the other barn is not big enough for what we need. We walked around, but it would be counterproductive to have our office and supplies in a building away from the barns. We propose adding on to the second barn,” Andrew started.
“We can knock out the exterior wall on the office in there and expand from it. If we extend in the same direction as the paddocks, then it won’t stick out awkwardly. We would only take up an unused patch of grass,” I continued. “We would have enough room for both of us, storage of supplies, and filing. If we extend all the way out to the edge of the paddocks, then we would have enough room for Dr. Brooks as well.”
“Do you agree?” Declan addressed Alex for confirmation.
She nodded. “I think it’s a great idea. They’ll have to use the other space temporarily, but I think having the space closer to the barn would be helpful. Especially in the winter.”
“Gavin, get a quote from the company in town and see what the timetable will be. I don’t want this to take too long,” Declan instructed. “Alex, see what you can do about helping the guys get organized. You know what they need for the office. Take inventory of what we have here and then order whatever supplies, medical and office, that are needed. Gavin has the budget for the computers and other things, so get approval from him before ordering. Don’t go crazy, but make sure you get good shit. I won’t have things breaking down on us.”
“Yes, sir,” my brothers and I said in unison. I was already envisioning what the office would be like. I was more like Gavin in that aspect. I liked organization.
“Caleb, when we finish here, Alex was going to check on the new colt. Please shadow her. Even though she will head the breeding program, you will be the second in command, in case she’s unavailable,” Declan said, confirming our assignments. Even though I wasn’t in charge of the breeding program, I was excited for the opportunity to help with the new baby.
“Andrew, you will be head on the cattle side with me. I believe it’s almost time for their quarterly checkup. You will need to meet with Travis and his team to go over the rotation and Alex to work out the aspects of what needs to be done.”
It was everything we already expected. Alex had already brought over the records for us she had weeks ago, so we could review the history. Over the next year, we would transition Alex out and take on the full responsibilities as the ranch’s vets. We would shadow on a lot of things until we were ready. She has the final say until she gives us the green light to operate on our own.
“If everyone knows their assignments, I’m going to go to my office and put together a few things for Andrew. Caleb, I know Thomas is doing the same thing for you. I expect he will want you on location at the next horse show.” Declan nodded and then stood to leave.
“Caleb, stay a moment, and we can discuss those layouts you drew up and then make the call together,” Gavin said when we began filing out of his office. Until ours was ready, we were working out of either our living room or his office.
Andrew shut the door on his way out, leaving me alone with my big brother.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “What were you doing before the meeting? You came in here looking guilty and Drew had a shit-eating grin on his face.”
“Nothing.” I hated how well our big brother knew us. I chose not to respond, since I didn’t know what to say.
“Right.” He wasn’t convinced. “Any chance it has to do with Tori?”
My head snapped up. Gavin had a knowing smirk stretched across his face.
“Why would you say that?” I said, not wanting to give anything away. Not because my brother wouldn’t understand, but because I didn’t know where it was going yet.
“Because Blake couldn’t stop talking about how Drew and Tori were glued to each other last night at the bar. I’m guessing you ran into her this morning. Did things not go well?” His brow furrowed.
I sighed. “Things went well, but that might be the problem. I like her, and so does Drew, but she’s the boss’ friend. I think that’s the world’s biggest no, don’t you?”
