Page 11 of Mister Cowboy
“That’s how it looks.” Tina’s voice lacked the surety it had held all morning, and January took note, wanting to ask if Tina didn’t think Brecken should sell. It wasn’t her place to ask, though, so she pressed her lips together as Timothy turned his smile on her.
“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Lyle, you can call me Timothy. I’ll come by after breakfast tomorrow. How’s six?”
“Six in the morning?” she asked with a grimace.
“Afraid so. After that, things pick up around here, and it’s harder to sneak away.” He paused and winked at Tina. “Don’t worry, the coffee around here is strong enough to get anyone up and ready to face the day.”
Tina stood. “Wonderful. Thank you,” she said in a hurried voice.
“Nice to meet ya,” Timothy said over his shoulder with a chuckle as Tina shut him out.
“Who was that?” January covered her mouth to stifle the laughter about to escape. Whoever that was had transformed Tina from professional to frenzy of nerves.
“Timothy Drado. He’s the ranch manager. This is a small ranch, so he oversees almost everything.” Tina fumbled through a stack of papers, and once she’d composed herself and was back to the professional January first met, she asked, “What questions do you have?”
“What is your job at the ranch?”
“Oh, I don’t actually work here. I’m the vice president of Blackstone Software.”
January chewed on the side of her lip, trying to figure out the dynamic here. “Do you often work here at the ranch, or are you only here to supervise me?” She wasn’t used to being supervised. Then again, packing up houses wasn’t something she’d been asked to do before. Couldn’t he have hired a moving service?
“No.” She shook her head and laughed as if the idea was crazy. “This is only the second time I’ve been to the ranch. A month back, we implemented Blackstone Software, and I oversaw the project. The entire ranch currently uses our new ranching software suite.”
“Ranching software? I didn’t realize ranches used software. I guess I pictured a bunch of cowboys on horses, making due with their bare hands and a whole lot of grit,” she admitted.
“Yes, I know the feeling. It loses a little something when you see for yourself that something as old school as a ranch is like any other business—successful only with efficiency and good record keeping.”
January nodded. “I’m surprised this ranch only recently started using Blackstone software. Hasn’t the company been around for a while?”
“It has, but this specific software is new. We implemented it here as a test case for the company.”
“This is a family ranch, right? Do Brecken’s mom and dad live and work here, too?”
Tina’s face was hard to read, professional to fault in most cases, but at the mention of Brecken’s family, she looked almost sad. “Both of his parents are deceased. He inherited the land recently when his father passed.”
“Oh.” She wished she’d done her own research on Brecken’s family. “What about siblings?”
Tina’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she stood, not saying a word until she reached the door.
“You seem like a lovely girl, and I have no doubt we are going to be a good team, but I don’t make it a habit of digging into Brecken’s personal affairs. I would advise you to do the same.”
January blinked, feeling a bit like a child who just got reprimanded “Of course. I didn’t mean to pry, I only want to understand the ranch and my job here. It helps me to wrap my brain around it when I know the people I’ll be dealing with.”
“I’ll be your point of contact. The people here at the ranch are good resources if you have questions about the house, but they won’t be able to guide you on the project. Most of them don’t even yet realize he’s selling.” She opened the door to leave. Her face softened again. “Look over the schedule, walk around the house and see everything for yourself. I have a few things to take care of before we leave.”
6
Brecken
Brecken tookthe squeaky steps to the second floor two at a time. The sight of January sitting in the office made a lump form in his throat. Her shoulders were slumped forward, and she had her eyes closed as she massaged her temples.
“Are you all right?” He approached her cautiously, cursing and running a hand through his hair.
She stopped rubbing her temples and straightened in the chair. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s been a long day, that’s all. I’m trying to make sense of all this.” She gestured to the table in front of her.
He picked up the papers and scanned them. “A schedule, huh?” He lifted his eyebrows and smirked.
“Yes, Tina said it might help keep us all on the same page.”
