Page 11 of The Little Things

He never once made me feel out of place or incompetent. I actually got the impression that he was silently rooting for me, which wasn’t something I was used to. Other than my parents, I didn’t have many people in my life cheering me on, so Hal’s steady guidance and help had come as a pleasant surprise.

He’d taken the time to tell me about the ranch and the family who owned it. He talked about Rory and her parents, then explained that the mean cowboy was Zach, Rory’s son. He assured me Zach was actually nice. A “good man and fair boss”, but I wasn’t buying that. So far, in our very limited interaction, I hadn’t seen either.

When it was finally time to call it a day, it had taken everything I had not to weep tears of joy that it was over. Hal told me everyone usually headed over to the lodge for a home-cooked dinner—something I would eventually have to make—and invited me to ride with him, but despite the fact my stomach had been growling like a bear coming out of hibernation, I politely declined, claiming I wasn’t all that hungry even though it felt like my stomach was about to start gnawing on my backbone at any moment. The truth was, I’d reached the limit on my ability to fake it, and I needed to break down in peace.

I barely made it back to my cabin without limping like a lame horse—an expression I learned today. Zach had been right about my boots. They were a joke. The only thing they had managed to do was rub the soles of my feet and the backs of my heels raw. My blisters were so damn big they had blisters of their own. The longer the day wore on, I started to feel like those devil shoes were filling with my blood. I wanted to rip them off my feet, set them on fire, and scatter the ashes to the wind.

As soon as I was behind closed doors, I ripped off everything I’d worn today, cursing every article for basically being worthless, and hobbled to the bathroom. I still hadn’t made it to the grocery store, but I scribbled bubble bath and bath salts onto the mental shopping list I had running in my brain.

I didn’t have my credit cards any longer, but I wasn’t completely broke. I had money for some necessities, and hopefully a few pairs of jeans, a couple shirts, and boots that wouldn’t scrape off the top two layers of skin on my feet.

Honestly, I didn’t own a single article of clothing that would stand up to the work I’d be doing. They were all made for fashion, not function, and for the first time ever, I kind of hated all my clothes.

I soaked in the tub until my fingers turned pruney and had actually started to doze off in the warm water when the sound of knocking brought me back into full consciousness. I waited, wondering if I had dreamed the noise, but heard it again a few seconds later. It was a much lighter knock than the one from the grumpy cowboy earlier that morning, so it couldn’t have been him.

“Just a second,” I called out, then pushed myself to my feet with a pained groan. My arms trembled under the strain of lifting myself up, and I couldn’t help but worry how I was going to get through the following day.

Another knock sounded as I rushed the towel over my skin to dry off. I threw on the silk robe I had hanging on the back of the bathroom door, my wet hair soaking the material at my shoulders, and hobbled into the living area. “Coming,” I called just before reaching for the knob and giving it a twist. I pulled it open to reveal a woman who looked to be roughly my age with long, glossy black hair and deep forest-green eyes that sparkled, thanks to the beaming smile she had stretched across her face.

“Thank God you’re here!” the stunning beauty exclaimed, pulling me into a startling hug that made my entire body protest in pain. “It’s so good to meet you! I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you here. Don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but this place is a real sausage fest. Sure, that might seem like fun, but trust me, it’s not.”

“Ouch,” I hissed, followed by a low whimper I couldn’t help but let out when she squeezed, activating all the pain receptors in my sunburn and aching back.

“Oh my God!” The woman quickly released me, taking a step back. She looked me up and down, noting all the injuries on my legs, my blistered feet, and the sunburn stretched across my nose and cheekbones with a sympathetic wince. “Looks like you had a rough first day. I’m really sorry.”

I blinked, my confusion at who this person was palpable. “Um, thanks...?”

“Oh, crap. Sorry! I just unloaded all over you and you probably don’t have any clue who I am. I’m Lennix.”

“Oh. Rory’s daughter,” I said, once recognition of the name dawned.

“That’s me,” she beamed brightly. “I wanted to stop by and introduce myself yesterday, but I was stuck at the bar. Speaking of, I thought you might be in need of a little booze after your first day.” She snatched up a bag that had been setting on the wooden Adirondack chair on the cabin’s small porch and reached inside, producing a six pack of beer. I wasn’t much of a beer drinker, honestly, but after the day I had, I was willing to try anything, even more of that rot-gut bourbon that tasted like pure gasoline.

“You’re a lifesaver,” I declared, immediately deciding this woman was my new best friend. She giggled happily and extended the pack to me. I happily took it, holding it to my chest like my most prized possession. “Would you like to come in and have one with me?” I offered, taking a step to the side to make room for her to enter. I didn’t know this girl at all, but suddenly the idea of being alone didn’t hold the slightest appeal. To tell the truth, I was lonely, and it wasn’t just from being in a new place where I didn’t know anyone. I’d been lonely for a while now. Even when I was surrounded by people. The longer I was away from my life in L.A., the more I realized how empty it had been. None of my supposed friends really knew me. Hell, I barely knew myself. That wasn’t really a recipe for true and lasting friendships. Not that any of the people I surrounded myself with were looking for such things in the first place. We were all a bunch of coattail riding, opportunistic fakes.

She smiled at my invitation. “Sure, I’d like that,” she said, taking a step across the threshold. “I’ve got some other stuff in here as well.” She lifted the bag in indication. “Hal said you didn’t make it to dinner, so I fixed you a plate in case you were hungry. I also have some clothes. I’d guess we’re about the same size, so they should fit. I took a chance we were the same shoe size as well and brought you a pair of my old boots. They aren’t fancy or anything, but they’re comfortable.”

“Oh, wow. That’s—” I had to clear my throat against the lump of emotion that had formed there. “That’s really nice of you.”

She shrugged like it was no big deal. “The food was my idea, but my brother is the one who asked me to swing by with the clothes.”

Her admission caught me by surprise. Fortunately, even my eyelids hurt too much to go wide with shock. “Your brother?”

“Yeah. Zach? I’m sure you met him today.”

Oh, I had, that was for damn sure, but I couldn’t believe the guy who’d ripped me a new one earlier that morning would be thoughtful or nice enough to ask his little sister to spare me some clothes and boots that wouldn’t murder my feet. “Yeah, I met him. But I’ve been referring to him as Grumpy Cowboy.”

Lennix dropped her head back on a laugh. “I’m sure he’d love to hear that.”

A sudden wave of panic crashed into me. “Please don’t tell him I said that,” I pleaded, unable to mask my desperation. I didn’t know this Zach guy well, but I couldn’t afford to lose this job. If I got kicked off this ranch on day one, my parents would be so disappointed. I wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Lennix’s expression shifted, the humor falling into a frown of concern. “Hey, I was just teasing.” She reached out and wrapped her fingers around my forearm, giving it a comforting squeeze. “I won’t tell him, I promise. But I assure you, even if I did, he wouldn’t care. He’s actually really sweet when you get to know him. He’s just a little weird when it comes to change.”

The tension that had knotted up my shoulders let go, and I let out a sigh of relief, needing one of those beers even more than I had a second ago.

She moved toward the small kitchen table with the kind of ease that indicated she’d been in this cabin before and knew her way around. She placed the bag on top and fished around inside, unearthing a dish covered with tinfoil. “How about I heat this up for you while you get dressed, then we can have a couple beers and get to know each other while you eat. Sound good?”

It sounded great, actually. A hell of a lot better than the night I had planned, which basically consisted of curling up in bed and watching more mindless TV on my laptop until I eventually fell asleep. Hopefully that stupid bird wouldn’t be a problem again.

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