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Alittleoperation.What an oddly humble description for such a massive horse training empire. Drew was a rancher at heart and had no intention of doing anything else if she could help it, but she also knew her father would skin her alive if she didn’t at least press this nice multi-millionaire for a few details.
“What did you have in mind?” Drew reached for a brush and began smoothing it over Stormy’s sleek coat.
“Now, that depends. You the only trainer for this horse?”
Translation: Is there a brother or daddy I should be talking to instead?
“Ever since I pulled him out of his mama.” Drew continued with her brushing but couldn’t resist sneaking a glance to catch his reaction. She was rewarded with a begrudging look of respect.
“In that case, and assuming you place in the top twenty-five percent this week, how about you take this?” He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a business card, and handed it to Drew. “All the details are there, salary and the like. Give my manager, Sam, a call. We’d be happy to have you on board.”
“Thank you, sir.” Drew cracked open her purple vest and tucked the card into the breast pocket of her black shirt, waiting until he was out of sight before pulling it back out and flipping it over to see the offer.
In truth, it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was generous as these things went. The starting salary was about average, room and board were included, plus they’d give her a percentage of prize winnings. And, considering the card had been filled out before he’d discovered she wasn’t a guy, Drew could be assured this was truly his best offer, with no pink tax built in.
All she had to do was place in the top twenty-five percent. Drew chuckled as she shoved the card back into her pocket. Too bad for Mr. Walker, but she had every intention of coming in first and making more in one day than what he was offering for a decade. And she wouldn’t have to split that prize money with anyone.
“Was that Emmett Walker I just saw?”
Drew looked up to see Cord Dalton, a man who had been a ranch hand back home on the Lazy C in Wyoming for so long he was like family, standing at the front of the stall. “Yep. That was him.”
Cord let out a low whistle, the lines deep around his puckered mouth. “What’d he want?”
“To hire me, apparently.” Drew fished out the business card and passed it to Cord. “Too bad for him I’m not looking for a job.”
“Now, don’t be hasty. This is a solid offer.”
“I’m aware.” Drew put the brush down and gave Stormy an affectionate pat. “And this is a solid horse. No reason I have to settle when I have every chance of winning big.”
“Sure, sure,” Cord said, his tone suggesting there was abutcoming. “I had a winning poker hand a bit ago. No reason I couldn’t have gone home a millionaire. Except the other guy had better cards.”
“I’ve been training Stormy for three years,” Drew pointed out. “It’s not the luck of the draw.”
“Not quite, no,” Cord agreed. “But everybody out in that arena tonight has been working equally as hard, and at least a handful of them are just as good. Skill’s important, but some of it comes down to luck.”
“I love my horses, but I’m a rancher at heart.” Frustration was growing in Drew’s chest at having to explain what Cord should already understand. He’d known her since she was born, and she wasn’t expressing anything different now than what she’d been raised to believe her whole life. “I don’t want to settle for a pittance and working for somebody else. Even with all the perks, it’s barely fifty thousand a year.”
“Ranching’s a tough business with no guarantees,” Cord shot back, ducking through the bars of the stall with the agility of a man half his age. “How much you gettin’ paid right now.”
Honestly? Once she factored in the rising cost of feed, falling price of cattle, and the big ol’ pile of debt the ranch had accumulated over the years, she and her father were pretty much working their asses off seven days a week and paying the bank for the privilege.
“It’s not about the money.” Drew pressed her lips together, drawing a deep breath even as she had to grit her teeth at the irony. Money might not have been her purpose, but she absolutely was in need of some.
“It’s always about money, at least a little.” Cord didn’t need to know the details of the Lazy C’s situation to understand what she was facing. He’d been in the business long enough to have seen it all and lived through it a hundred times over. “It’s a hard life. Too hard for most.”
Too hard for her mother, for instance, who’d up and left their family when Drew was a teen because her father had refused to give up the ranch after her baby sister, Hannah, was born. Drew pushed down the memory, swallowing the hurt as she had so often in the past. There was no use dwelling on what she couldn’t change. “Well, it’s not too hard for me.”
“How about Hannah? What is she now, fourteen?”
“Sixteen.” Drew stiffened a little, knowing full well what Cord was trying to do. As if he didn’t know how old Hannah was. The two of them were thick as thieves. “And no, the ranch life isn’t what I want for her. Hannah’s smart. She’ll be going to college soon.”
“College costs money, kiddo.” Cord placed a gnarled hand on Drew’s shoulder. “What would your dad tell you to do?”
Simple. He’d say take the job. It wasn’t a secret her father wanted her to have an easier life, one with more stability. He wanted that for both his daughters, and why wouldn’t he? Fathers were like that. It didn’t mean Drew had to agree. Even though her old man might like to think he was invincible, without the two of them working equally, side by side, the land that had been in the Campbell family for over a hundred years would be lost. Drew couldn’t have that hanging over her, no matter how appealing it might seem sometimes to have a dental plan and a 401K. The Lazy C Ranch was in her blood. There was no replacing that first hot cup of coffee, sipped slowly, while the sky was painted in brilliant colors as the sun rose over the land that had been in her family for generations. Letting it go would be a last resort—one that might kill her.
“You and my father both need to give me a little bit of credit.” Drew shrugged off Cord’s hand under the pretense of tidying up her grooming tools. It made her feel too much like a child, however well-meaning he’d intended it. Drew was a grown woman and could get by on her own. She didn’t need anyone else for comfort or support, except maybe her horse. “For your information, I didn’t tell Emmett Walker no. I’m not a complete idiot. I’ve got his information in case I ever need it. But right now, I’ve got a horse to ride, an arena full of spectators waiting to watch, and a big barrel of prize money to win.”
“Stubborn as a mule,” the old man muttered, shaking his head as he left the stall the same way he’d come, ducking back through the bars with ease.
