Page 28 of The Breakdown

She protested playfully. “Why, a sweaty kiss from a stinky young man, thank you, Greer.”

He grinned. “There’s more where that came from, Miss June.”

“Oh, I have no doubt that there is.”

Vaughn came in the door walking slowly, hand on the back of her hip. She was limping. “Smells good,” she said.

June rushed to her. “That blasted back of yours,” she said. “You sit now, you hear?”

“I hear.” Vaughn sat carefully and June took her plate and filled it full of food for her.

“Why’d you boys let her bale the hay, huh? You know she’s got a bad back.”

“She wouldn’t listen,” Greer said. “We tried to stop her.”

“Well, try harder.”

“It’s not their fault, Gram,” Vaughn said. “We’re all doing the best we can.”

Natalie sat at the table, watching the exchange. It seemed her world wasn’t the only one full of trouble. Vaughn’s seemed to be as well. With the money troubles she’d heard firsthand from June, to needing good workers, to her back, it seemed her life was chock full of trouble.

Natalie could only hope that she wasn’t adding to that.

Chapter Eleven

Dinner was a noisy, fun-loving affair, and Natalie enjoyed herself immensely. As expected, Benny and Greer were great entertainment, telling all sorts of stories about the ranch and even a few about Vaughn herself. Natalie’s favorite was the tale about Vaughn out on the trail, running to catch up with her horse, when she rolled on a small rock and fell onto the arm of a cactus, getting needles stuck in her backside. She’d had to bend over and allow Greer to pluck them out so she could get back on her horse.

Needless to say, Vaughn didn’t like the telling of that story very much, especially when Natalie was almost in tears with laughter. June had laughed too, at Vaughn’s expense, but it was all in good fun and it was nice to hear that Vaughn, just like everyone else, had the occasional mishap as well. Natalie had had her on such a pedestal, having such great respect for her, that she’d begun to think that she walked on water. So hearing that she was indeed human, and just like her in some respects, helped her to relax a little.

So, when she’d followed her into the living room after supper, and at June’s insistence, she wasn’t as nervous as she’d previously been in being so close to her.

“Supper was sure nice,” Natalie said with ease as they neared the desk.

“It was.”

Vaughn motioned for Natalie to sit in the office chair, while she pulled up a little ottoman. “I should probably go and shower first, so you don’t have to smell me,” she said as she sat beside her at the laptop.

“It’s okay,” Natalie said. “I li—er, don’t mind.”

Vaughn glanced at her in confusion, but let the matter go it seemed, because she focused on the computer screen. “Show me what you got.”

Natalie woke the screen. “Well, as you remember, we have all the stock photos up on the mock site, but you can see here that June and I added a bunch of information on the horses and the ranch itself. She went from page to page, showing Vaughn everything she and June had managed to do that afternoon.

“You did a great job. It’s really very impressive.”

“It will be even more so, after we add your photos.” Natalie said, worried she’d said too much, forgetting to heed June’s warning.

Vaughn stared at the computer for a long moment, causing Natalie’s nerves to wreak havoc on her insides.

“Right. The photos.” She stood and turned toward an oak filing cabinet nestled against the wall. “They should be in here.” She opened a deep drawer and riffled through some files before pulling out a thick one. She set it on the desk and opened it. There, in the file, were dozens of beautiful 8x10 photographs of the ranch. Natalie couldn’t help but comment.

“These are incredible, Vaughn.” She leaned forward, trying for a better look as Vaughn thumbed through them, but Vaughn closed the file before she could see most of them.

“We need the digitals though, don’t we?” Vaughn said.

Natalie was taken aback at being shut out from the photos. “Uh, yes. Digitals would be preferable. But, Vaughn, these are—” She tried to touch the file, to open it once again, but Vaughn snatched it away and slid it back into the drawer.

“—amazing,” Natalie finished, letting her voice drop off.

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