Forever And A Day (Montana Brides, Book #7) (5 page)

“Not much spontaneity then, Legs?”

Sarah squinted at him. “It’s Sarah. And no, I guess not.”

Jordan ignored the spurt of irritation in her voice. He found it sexy, in an employer-employee kind of way. “It’s just as well you’re working on the Triple L. By the time you’re ready to leave you’ll be used to living by the seat of your pants. You won’t want to see another schedule again.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being organized.”

“Didn’t say there was.” Jordan grinned. “But a little ruffling of the feathers is good for the soul.” He glanced down at his watch and turned to the Buchanans. “Five minutes, folks, then we’re heading back to the barn.”

Sarah hadn’t moved from beside him. “If you need a hand mounting Daisy, let me know.” He winked at her and left her standing on the plateau.

From the expression on her face, he’d say she wasn’t too interested in having her feathers ruffled. He’d leave her to think things through, maybe do a little scheduling of his own.

***

“We’ve got a problem, boss.”

Jordan lifted his horse’s saddle onto a rack in the barn and turned to Pete. “What’s happened?”

“Steve called. They’ve come across what looks like a wolf attack on his ranch. Three heifers were killed and the herd’s scattered across half the pasture below Devil’s Ridge.”

“
Shit
.” Jordan picked up his jacket and headed toward the main house. “Ask Jeremy to give Tim a hand to look after the horses. Has Steve called the Forest Service?”

“They’re on their way. Steve’s taken his helicopter into the mountains to see if there are more dead cattle anywhere. All of the cowboys he’s seen so far are okay. He’s called the other ranchers in the area to let them know what’s happened.”

“Have any of our cowboys seen anything?”

“They’re too high for cell phone coverage. I’ve sent Frank and Alistair to see what’s going on, but they won’t be back until later tonight.”

Jordan opened the front door of Trent and Gracie’s home and left his boots on the porch. “The Buchanans have gone back to the barn. They’re heading into Yellowstone to go white water rafting after lunch. Make sure everyone knows they’re not to take the horses anywhere when they get back.”

“Sure, boss. What about tomorrow? They were supposed to ride the northern trail.”

Jordan looked at the schedule he’d pinned to the wall, then walked across to a map. “Where did Steve say the attack happened?”

Pete pointed to an area not far from the Triple L’s boundary. “Here. You were damn lucky you didn’t come across the wolves this morning.”

“We weren’t up high enough,” Jordan muttered. But they’d been close. The last wolf attack had been about two years ago. Jeb, one of their ranch hands, had ended up with a track of stitches in his leg. After a few months of rest he’d been okay, ready to head into the mountains as fast as his horse could take him.

Jordan ran his hand down the list of things his guests were scheduled to do. “I’ll give Chris Tucker a call. The Buchanans were booked on a hike to Old Faithful in a couple of days. If he can switch dates, I’ll change their booking to tomorrow. That’ll give us a couple of extra days to see what’s happening with the wolves.”

“Sounds like a good idea. Do you want me to tell Sarah the plans for our guests have changed?”

“I’ll tell her after I’ve seen the Buchanans.”

Pete jammed his hat on his head. “I’ll make sure the horses are okay. If I hear anything, I’ll give you a call.”

Jordan nodded and followed Pete out the door. You were more likely to be stomped on by your horse than attacked by wolves, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Not with two kids on the ranch and a temporary housekeeper who hadn’t been on a horse in years.

When he walked into the converted barn, Sarah was busy getting lunch ready. Abby and Jennifer were curled up on the sofa with a stack of books and his sister-in-law’s cat between them.

“Is Peaches all right over here?”

Sarah looked up from the kitchen counter. “She’s fine. The girls don’t have any pets at home so it’s a treat having a cat to cuddle.”

Jordan frowned at the orange fluffball. “If she gets annoying just tell her to scoot.”

Sarah nodded toward the sofa. “I don’t think Peaches will annoy Abby and Jennifer. The cat and the girls have been inseparable since they arrived. Do you want some lunch?”

Jordan looked at the sandwiches Sarah was making. If the food on the counter was anything to go by the sandwiches would taste great. “I’ll get something to eat once I’ve spoken with the Buchanans. There’s been a wolf attack on the neighbor’s ranch.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

Jordan shook his head. “Not that we know of, but three heifers were killed. Steve’s called the Forest Service to verify the attack.”

Sarah’s face had turned white. “Will the wolves come down here?”

“No. They prefer the mountains. I want to change the Buchanans’ schedule so they keep away from our trails for a couple of days. Do you know where Pat and Alice are?”

“They should be here soon. They went upstairs to freshen up.” Sarah wiped her hands on a dish towel and opened her laptop. “What changes do I need to make?”

Jordan moved around the counter and stared at the fancy spreadsheet she’d opened. Color coded rows stared back at him. “You did all of this from the information I gave you?”

“Most of it. Pete gave me a list of the activities the Buchanans have booked in for. After you’ve spoken to them, I’ll make the changes. I’ve set it up as a template so you can use the same format for all of your guests, if you want to.”

“How did you learn to do all of this stuff? I wouldn’t have thought spreadsheets would be useful for housekeepers.”

“Spreadsheets work well in a lot of applications. It’s a way of…what?”

“Applications? You sound like you know your way around computers?”

Sarah went back to fiddling with the food in front of her.

“Where did you learn to create spreadsheets like this?”

“I haven’t always been a housekeeper,” she muttered. “I used to be a computer programmer.”

“You did?” She was the complete opposite of any computer geek he’d ever met. Not that he’d seen many. And they sure as heck didn’t have long blonde hair past their shoulders and legs that reached into forever.

The timer on the oven beeped and Sarah reached for the pot mitt. The smell of cinnamon wafted past his nose and made him remember how long it had been since he’d last eaten.

She lifted the muffins onto a cooling rack and rinsed the tray. “Don’t touch. You can have some once you’ve had lunch.”

Jordan frowned. She must have eyes in the back of her head to have seen his hand reaching out. “I’m the boss.”

“And I’m the housekeeper,” she said with a sweet smile. The one that made him forget what he was going to say next.

He cleared his throat, then looked back at her laptop. “So you worked with computers? Why did you change jobs?”

“The business closed down.” She took a plate of sandwiches across to the table, then returned for some napkins. She glanced at him from beneath her lashes, blushing when he raised his eyebrows.

Jordan felt a smile work its way across his face. “You wouldn’t make a good poker player, Legs. What is it you’re not telling me?”

She pursed her lips and did the little frown thing that wrinkled her nose. “I owned the business.”

He took a moment to consider what she’d said. “Closing everything down must have been a hard decision to make.”

“It would have been harder staying open.” She glanced up as Pat and Alice Buchanan walked into the kitchen. “Are you ready for lunch?”

“More than ready,” Pat said. “We’ve put spare clothes in our backpacks and left them beside the front door. The rafting company said we might need them.” He looked across at Jordan and smiled. “Thanks for taking us out on the trail today. We can’t wait to see more of the ranch.”

“That’s what I’ve come to see you about,” Jordan said. “There’s been a wolf attack on a neighbor’s ranch. They’re not common and no one’s been hurt, but I’d sooner keep you off the trails for another day or two. How do you feel about going to Old Faithful and the geyser tour tomorrow instead of Friday?”

Pat looked at his wife and she nodded. “Sure. If it stops us getting tangled up with the wolves we’ll do anything. Will the mountains be safe after tomorrow?”

“We’ll know more about what’s going on by Friday. There hasn’t been a wolf attack for a couple of years, so we’re not in any danger. I just want to make sure we minimize the risks.”

“As someone on the receiving end of those risks I couldn’t agree more.” Pat glanced at his daughters. “We’re all good riders so if there’s any trouble we’ll be able to get away in a hurry.”

“I don’t expect any trouble, but it’s good to know.” Jordan picked up a platter of fresh fruit and took it across to the dining table. “Enjoy your lunch. I’ll give the tour company a call and see if we can change your booking.” Sarah followed him with a big plate of sandwiches. “What time are you heading across to Alex’s place, Sarah?”

“Two o’clock. I’ll give you my email address so you can let me know what’s happening.”

Jordan wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. He wanted to know why she’d closed her company. From what he knew of her she wasn’t a quitter. She didn’t do spontaneous, so the decision to close wouldn’t have been made lightly.

He picked up his hat and watched Sarah fill another plate with food. “I’ll be back before you leave.”

She went to say something, then thought better of it. He didn’t stay to see if she changed her mind. He might not know much about computers, but he did know about women. And this woman wasn’t happy.

CHAPTER THREE

Sarah put the last plate in the dishwasher and turned it on. She went through the list of things she still had to do before she left for Alex’s ranch. Top of the list was emptying the dirty laundry bags in the Buchanans’ bathrooms.

Alex was happy for her to take the dirty laundry to his ranch to wash if it made her life easier, and for that she was incredibly thankful. Having fresh towels and linen each day could make a difference to what Jordan’s guests thought of their vacation.

She wanted the Buchanans to have a great vacation, to tell their friends about it. She knew better than most that word of mouth referrals were one of the best ways to sell your business. Just like bad reviews could make it crumble.

Before she’d walked halfway across the kitchen, her cell phone blasted out the opening tune of Star Trek. She pulled the phone out of her back pocket and stared at the number.

“Hi, dad. What’s wrong?”

There was a pause, a moment when Sarah imagined something had happened to her mom.

“Nothing’s wrong. Nothing that we haven’t talked about before, anyway.”

Sarah relaxed slightly, but only enough to cross her mom off of her potential problem list. She had a feeling she knew where this conversation was heading. The same way any conversation in the last twelve months had headed.

She gripped the phone tighter, prepared herself for what would come next. “I’m not coming home.”

Sarah heard her dad take a deep breath. Around about now he usually reminded her about taking responsibility for her life. He’d mentioned the thousands of dollars it had cost them to send her to MIT, the postgraduate computer engineering degree that was wasted on a ranch. He didn’t consider cooking strangers’ meals and changing their linen a responsible way for his daughter to act. All he wanted was for her to be happy. To be as successful as he was.

“Your mom showed me your email.”

Sarah could hear the disappointment in his voice. James Bennett, her one-time, low life, ex-fiancé, had tried to launch a software program that would change the way data was retrieved from databases around the world. It had the power to revolutionize the way people purchased goods online. It could make him a millionaire many times over.

No one would ever know that Sarah had spent two years working on the preliminary designs, building the theoretical models that eventually formed the structure of the retrieval process. James had been the mouthpiece of her company, the public relations superstar that would launch them into the stratosphere.

She’d fallen in love with him, trusted him to do what was right. But he hadn’t filed the copyright information as she’d asked and she’d been too busy to check. James had walked away with her software designs, a list of international corporations that were lining up to purchase the software, and her heart.

Not that she paid much attention to her heart nowadays. It was her pride that was taking precedence. A year ago she’d started court proceedings that would sue the pants off him. She wanted the ownership of her software back and James in prison.

A few days ago her lawyer had told her that the findings of the Court were nearly complete. He expected an answer within the next couple of weeks.

“I haven’t heard anything more from my lawyer, dad.”

“I’m not calling about the lawyer.” Her dad sounded preoccupied, as if there was something other than his disappointing daughter on his mind. “Your mom and I are planning a skiing vacation in December. We thought we’d head across to Montana and stay in the Big Sky Resort for a couple of weeks. We could combine it with Christmas.”