Outback Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 1) (9 page)

Nancy looked the woman over. She’d noticed her the day before, but didn’t really pay much attention. The woman hadn’t done anything to garner any attention. In fact, she couldn’t remember what chore she’d been assigned the day before. Nancy noticed her shirt was about soaked through from the water she’d splashed on her face. Her face was rosy red from the heat and effort she’d been putting forth in the barn. She wasn’t as tall as some of the other women, and definitely not as slender, but she wasn’t really overweight either. Nancy wasn’t even one hundred percent convinced this woman was even a contestant on the show. She certainly didn’t fit the “mold” of the other contestants. Nancy knew she needed to get to know as many of the women as possible if she was going to be able to make an informed choice about who would stay and who would be leaving. She went with the assumption that this woman was a contestant.

“It’s okay, it
is
a hot day today. I’d rather you drink than pass out from heat exhaustion.” And with that she let down the wall she’d unconsciously put up and smiled at Sam. “What are you doing in the barn today? I can only think of one thing, and I’m sure it’s not pleasant. What job did you have yesterday?”

Sam smiled at her. “It’s not too bad, it’s nice to know that what I’m doing will help the horses have a comfortable place to sleep at night. And yesterday I did the same thing! Guess I was really lucky, huh?” she said with a grin.

Nancy couldn’t believe the woman had to muck out the barn twice! The “rules” didn’t say anything about having a different job on each day. It was the luck of the draw, she supposed. “Where are you from, Sammi?” Nancy asked.

“Albuquerque, New Mexico. I really like it there. It’s not so much a huge city, but it’s big enough to have what I want,” Sam replied.

“I’ve never been there,” Nancy responded somewhat expectedly, “but I’ve heard it’s a nice city. If you could’ve done any of the other chores today, what would you have chosen?”

Sam didn’t have to think about it and immediately told the woman standing there, “Help with feeding the animals,” she responded.

“You sound like you’ve thought it over. Wouldn’t you want to be in the house where it’s air conditioned?” Nancy asked, trying to understand.

“That’d be nice on a day like today,” Sam agreed, “but I love animals and I think it would’ve been interesting to see what everyone eats and how they’re all fed,” Sammi told her. “I’m a sucker for animals, especially dogs. I have three at home and I’m sure I’d have more if I could. I know feeding animals isn’t as simple as some people would assume. My dogs all eat the same food, but I have to remember to put Duke’s pills in his food, and the supplement in Albert’s.” Sam winced, it was a bit too much information, she was sure. She continued meekly, trying to forget that she was just babbling on to this stranger. “I would’ve loved to see the inside of the house, though. I bet it’s just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. I love to go to open houses and see all the fancy houses back in Albuquerque. ”

Nancy looked at Sam thoughtfully. “Well, I might be biased since I live here, but I sure think it’s a beautiful place to live.”

“Oh!” Sam exclaimed. “You live here? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take up your time. I’m sure you’re busy. I didn’t mean to keep you...I mean…I don’t know if I’m even supposed to be talking to you…I’ll just be on my way…” Sam looked around as if to see if anyone was seeing what she was going and looked down at her hands. “I’d offer to shake your hand, but I just washed them, and they’re still damp and certainly cold.”

Nancy smiled at her for the first time. “It’s okay, I’ve shaken cold hands before.” And with that she held out her own hand to Sam. Sam didn’t really have a choice. She took the woman’s hand and shook it firmly. They smiled at each other and each headed back from where they came.

When Nancy reached the house, she looked back to see Sam entering the barn. She tilted her head to the side, nodded, and continued into the house.

Sam entered the barn, and was glad for the shade, even though the smell was pungent. As soon as she shut the barn door she heard Courtnee talking.

“And we were working hard all day and she just walked out and left us to do her part. It’s not fair!”

Sam walked up toward the front of the barn and saw Courtnee and Missy talking with John, one of the jackaroos who worked on the station. Sam hadn’t met him face to face, but had seen him from a distance.

“Yeah,” Missy joined in. They hadn’t seen her standing in the barn door yet. “When we asked where she was going she just glared at us and said ‘out.’ We couldn’t do hers and ours and still get it all done.”

“That’s a lie!” Sam said loudly, not able to keep quiet anymore while the women ground her reputation into the dirt at their feet. She startled the trio and they all turned in her direction. “If anyone wasn’t doing their parts it was the two of you!”

Courtnee looked Sam up and down, paying attention to her wet shirt and then turned to John and somehow managed to have two tears fall from her eyes. “John, we’ve been here all day working really hard. Look at our hands, they’re filthy!” Missy and Courtnee held out their hands and sure enough they were very dirty. “Let’s see
her
hands.”

Sam knew this was going to end badly. She knew her hands weren’t exactly clean, but they were much cleaner than the other women’s since she’d just washed them at the back of the house. She figured the other two women had run their hands through the dirt on the floor recently, just for this reason. Sam hesitated, not knowing whether to show them right away or explain where she was and what she’d been doing. John took the choice out of her hand and didn’t let her say a word before saying gruffly, “Let’s see ‘em.”

Sam held out her hands. They were pretty clean as Courtnee accused them of being, albeit covered with calluses and a fresh blister, but clean. The water she’d used to wash them had finally dried.

“Go outside,” John said to Missy and Courtnee. The last thing Sam saw was the smirks on their faces as they went out the front of the barn.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” John asked Sam. Sam held up her head. She knew she wouldn’t win this and if she tried, it would turn out badly. She now knew what Courtnee and Missy were capable of, and she really didn’t want to make a big deal out of this. She knew she was an outsider in the group of women and if she made a misstep she would be even more on the outside.

She took a deep breath and willed the tears gathering in the back of her eyes not to fall and further humiliate her.

“Nothing I think you’d believe,” she answered John defiantly.

“I think it’s awful that you aren’t even trying to do your part,” John told her disdainfully. “Everyone else here is out of their element too, but you don’t see
them
trying to get out of their work, do you? Look at them, they’re all beautiful women who have everything going for them and they’re doing their part. I don’t know why
you
can’t do yours too. You look like you should know better,” John said in a scathing tone of voice. He continued, “I expect the rest of the
ladies
will be done with their chores soon, but since you decided you didn’t want to do yours, you can finish up in here. It looks like there are ten stalls left. You clean those out and put down fresh straw. Once you finish that you can come back and join the others. If there’s time left you can eat your lunch late, which is what everyone else will be doing while you’re doing the work that you should’ve done earlier today. I’ll inspect your work before you’ll be allowed to leave, so don’t think you can somehow get out of it. Everyone on this station does their part. We don’t tolerate those who don’t pull their own weight.” And with that John left the barn.

Sam took another deep breath and couldn’t keep a few tears from squeezing out of her eyes. She was exhausted. She’d already cleaned out most of the other stalls that day. She figured she’d do more in the first place since she knew Missy and Courtnee had no clue what they were doing and she figured they’d slack off. It wasn’t fair to the horses to come back to a messy stall just because she didn’t want to do extra. Besides, she really didn’t have a choice. What the hell was she doing here? This was one more thing that made her think it was time for her to go home. No one wanted her here, so why was she still trying to participate in this stupid show? No guy was worth this. Sam picked up the pitchfork, walked to the first stall and tried to forget how good looking Al was and how she felt when he singled her out to talk to.

The women were all gathered around the buffet table that had been set out on the expansive lawn of the station. Discussions were going back and forth about the day and about the adventures the women had. Jennie and Kiki were telling everyone they’d made most of the meal. They were very proud of themselves. They acted like they made the entire meal all by themselves, when most of the women knew that certainly wasn’t the case. They were all pretty tired from their chores for the day and for the most part took their seats on the long picnic tables and ate. There weren’t even that many comments about how many calories they were consuming, they were just too tired to think about it.

Alex had spent the day going from chore to chore, talking with the women and trying to get to know them all a bit better. It was tough, especially when they were competing for his attention. That was something he usually laughed about and enjoyed when he was out with his buddies, but for some reason it was grating on his nerves here. He went in the house to look for Aunt Nancy so they could go over the highlights of the day on the tapes.

Alex found Nancy in the back family room. It looked like she’d gotten a head start and was watching the tapes from the chores from earlier in the day. She was taking it very seriously. She had a notepad out and was taking notes about the women and their actions. Al smiled. He’d always liked his aunt and he was sorry they didn’t get to see each other that much since they lived on different continents.

“How’s it goin’?” Alex asked her.

“Hummm,” she responded, not really paying him any attention.

Alex laughed. “That good, huh? What do you think?”

Nancy turned her head and looked her nephew in the eye. “What I’ve noticed is that they were all on their best behavior when you were with them, and when you left their real personalities came out,” she told him honestly.

“I expected as much,” Alex replied. “Who’s on the top of your list to go today?”

“I still think I’m leaning toward Candi and Katie. They seem to be the ones that do the least work and want the most attention. They wouldn’t last very long at your ranch. It’s too far out and there isn’t enough attention there for them.”

“Who do you like the most?” Alex asked his aunt. Since she knew who she thought should go first, he wanted her honest opinion on the other women. At some point he was going to have to choose one to keep at the end of the show. “Does anyone stand out?”

Nancy pressed the pause button on the television and looked at Alex. “It’s hard to say. I don’t really know them all that well, and it’s hard to tell from meeting them on such short notice.”

Alex interrupted, “That’s what I’ve been going through. I tried to tell you.”

“Don’t be cheeky,” Nancy replied smiling, “there are a few I do like. I met that Sammi woman today. Did you know she had to muck out the barn two days in a row? I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. Even the jackaroos switch out that duty.”

“Yeah, I hadn’t realized it until today when I was helping them. That’s definitely one of the worst jobs the women had to do today. All three were doing a good job when I left, though. Where did you meet Sammi? Don’t tell me you took a trip down to the barn?” Alex asked his aunt with an arch of his brow.

“Don’t be absurd! Of course not. She came up to the water pump to get a drink and cool off,” Nancy replied. “We had a short conversation and she went back to the barn.”

“Who else do you like?” Alex asked, trying to get the conversation off of Sammi. He wasn’t ready to admit to his aunt how much he was attracted to Sammi.

“Amy seems to be nice, as well as Kathi and Ashley,” Nancy told him.

“That’s about what I think too,” Alex said, again downplaying his own thoughts about Sammi and the other women. “Let’s finish watching this and let Eddie know who the pick is and we’ll get out of your hair. I’m sure you’ll be glad to have your house back.”

The two sat and watched the rest of the tapes, laughing at the antics of the women trying to get and hold his attention. It was obvious they were all out of their element, but most were genuinely trying to do their chores. Finally, Nancy made her decision. It’d been a long day and it was time to have the ceremony so the women could go back to their camp and Alex and the producers could get back to theirs to start editing the tapes.

Alex and his aunt strolled out to the porch to see the women were done eating and were sitting around chatting. The food had been taken away and it seemed as if they were waiting on the camera crews and the producers to set them up for the final shot of the day. Alex saw Sammi walk over from the direction of the barn. Her shoulders were slumped and she looked dejected or exhausted. She didn’t look up as she walked, but instead stared at the ground as if it was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. Alex couldn’t understand what she was doing…did she go back to the barn after she ate? Something was going on and he didn’t know what it was. He hated that. There wasn’t any food left out, it had been taken away about half an hour ago. Had she taken another walk? If so, why did she look so sad and defeated? He watched her to go the end of one of the long picnic tables, sit, put her head down on her arms and go still. Alex looked at his aunt as if to ask if she had seen Sammi’s actions, but her attention was on one of the jackaroos, John, who was walking toward them.

“Ma’am, if I may have a word with you, please,” John asked Nancy in a grave tone.

“Of course,” she said, gesturing for him to continue.

John looked at Alex as if to ask Nancy if they could go somewhere private.

“Alex is my nephew, I don’t have any secrets from him, go ahead,” Nancy told him firmly.

John shrugged and continued, “I was checking on the ladies who were working in the barn and it seems we had a problem, but I took care of it.”

“I can’t imagine what kind of problem you’re talking about. The women weren’t expected to be perfect at their jobs, what’s the issue?” Nancy asked him with genuine bafflement.

“When I got there to check the work, there were only two women working. They told me that the third hadn’t done much work that day and that they had to do more than their fair share of the stalls. While we were talking the third came in and contradicted the others’ stories. I looked at their hands. The two women who were there had real dirty workin’ hands and the third didn’t have any dirt on her hands at all. So to make sure that everything was fair I had the third stay and finish up the barn. I just thought you should know. I checked her work and it was fine. The horses will be in clean stalls tonight, just like every night. I wanted to put your mind at ease. I also wanted to let you know what happened in case she tried to come complain to you…or to you,” he said, looking at Alex.

“John, are you sure that you took the time to read the situation right? If the third person is who I think it was, I met her at the water pump and she told me she’d just finished her stalls and was taking a break, washing her hands and her face and getting a drink of water,” Nancy questioned John carefully.

“Um, well, it seemed to be the right decision at the time,” John stuttered, not knowing what to think.

Alex was furious. He could just imagine what had happened. Missy and Courtnee had taken advantage of the fact that Sammi wasn’t there when John came in to check on their work and took credit for what she’d done. When she walked in the barn with clean hands John jumped to the obvious conclusion. They were all working when he was there with them, but he knew many of the women changed after he’d left their sight. He thought he knew Sammi pretty well, especially after watching her not complain about the treatment she’d received from some of the women in camp as well her lack of complaints when she was injured or uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure what happened, John, but I’ll find out, you can go. If I find that you misjudged that woman, you
will
apologize to her
and
be on stall duty for the rest of the week,” Nancy told him sternly.

John looked a little sheepish but said, “Yes, ma’am,” and headed for the bunkhouse.

Nancy looked at Alex, who looked ready to explode.

“Calm down, Alex, let me handle this,” Nancy told him sternly. “I don’t believe that’s what really happened either, but I won’t take the empowerment away from my jackaroos either.”

They both looked over at the tables. Sammi hadn’t moved. She was in the same position as a few minutes ago…head on her arms on the table. Since the production crew was still setting up for the final scene of the day, Nancy sent one of the kitchen staff over to get Sammi and told her to bring her to the front room in the house. They watched as the girl bent over Sammi, touched her shoulder, then finally shook her gently. Sammi lifted her head at the summons, then looked at the house and nodded to the girl. She slowly got up and headed for the front door.

“What’d ya do now, Miss Bitch?” Courtnee yelled out as Sammi shuffled past. “Getting called to the principal’s office because you didn’t do your work?” And with that she and several other women laughed.

Sam glared at Courtnee and said, “You should know.” She kept walking. It wasn’t worth it to continue to try to come up with a better comeback. She was beyond tired and every muscle in her body hurt.

Sam was surprised when she was asked to come up to the house. She figured it couldn’t get any worse than the jackaroo looking disdainfully at her and determining that her work in the barn was just “okay.” Dammit, she’d cleaned the entire barn by herself. Well, almost the entire barn, Missy and Courtnee had worked when Al had been there. Sam laughed at herself, well, she’d wanted to get a look inside the house and she guessed she was now getting her chance.

Sam was led into the front room and stopped short. The woman she’d met earlier that day was there, along with Al. “Shit,” Sam muttered to herself. She wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to stay standing or sit down…but she also wasn’t completely confident she’d be able to stand there without falling over, but she’d do it or die trying. She was embarrassed enough having to be there in front of the woman and Al like a naughty child. She wasn’t going to fall over, no matter what…maybe.

“Sit down, Sammi,” Nancy said, motioning toward a chair in front of the large desk.

Sam hesitated for half a second before deciding she’d better sit just so there was no chance she’d fall flat on her face. She gratefully sat, back ramrod straight looking only at the woman. She definitely didn’t want to look at Al. This was too humiliating. Some impression she was making. Maybe they were going to tell her she was going home right this minute. Was that it? That had to be it. But she hadn’t seen Eddie or Robert talking to the woman, although she’d seen the jackaroo from the barn talking to Nancy and saw Al’s frown. This wasn’t going to be a fun interview, she was sure of it.

“Sammi,” Nancy began, “my jackaroo told me quite a story about what happened in the barn today. Would you like to me tell your side?”

Sam looked at Nancy, then dared to glance at Al. He was standing with his arms crossed in front of him with a stern look on his face. There was no way Sam was going to rat out the other women. They were already making her life miserable. There was no telling what would happen if she made them be caught in a lie.

“No, ma’am,” Sam told the woman.

Nancy raised her eyebrows and said incredulously, “Nothing? So you admit you did nothing all day while the other women did all the work and you were just lounging around? You only worked when Al was there but stopped when he left? Is that right?” Nancy asked, deliberately trying to get under the young woman’s skin.

“Ma’am, John made a judgment call based on the facts he received. I can’t fault him for that. I willingly accepted my punishment. You’ll find your horses will be able to rest peacefully tonight in clean beds. That really should be all you care about. Not who did what. The chore was completed. You’ll never see me again after today,” Sammi responded in a dull voice.

“Damn it, Sammi,” Alex started to protest.

“No,” Sammi interrupted. “Neither of you were there and you have to trust your employees.” She looked Nancy in the eyes and continued, “You can’t go around second guessing decisions that are made around here. It’s a simple business decision. You empower your employees to make decisions and you stand behind them when they do, whether they’re wrong or right. If they’re wrong, you discuss what happened and talk about what might be done differently the next time. John did what he thought was right. I accepted it, end of story.”

The three of them sat there, looking at each other for a long moment. Finally, Nancy broke the silence, “I’m fairly certain you weren’t at fault today. I saw you at the pump, I know you were covered with dirt and who knows what else when you got there and that you cleaned yourself up. I do trust my jackaroos, but I also don’t like for anyone to get blamed and/or punished for something they didn’t do. Should I bring John in here to tell his side of the story again to see if we can’t get to the bottom of this?” Nancy asked in a hard voice.

Sam sighed. She’d screwed up and obviously pissed off the woman in front of her. The last thing she wanted to do was get someone else in trouble for her stupidity. She should’ve known that Courtnee would pull something. All in all it wasn’t that big of a deal. This was a stupid television show after all. Suddenly remembering Robert and the show, Sam looked around. She didn’t see any cameras…which was odd. “Where are the cameras?” she asked belatedly, more to herself than actually thinking that anyone would answer.

“This is a private matter, not one for television,” Nancy told her with crisp intonation. “Do you want me to get John in here?” she asked again, not letting Sammi leave the question unanswered.

“No,” Sam said sharper than she intended. She tried to calm herself down and said in a gentler voice, “Look, I’ll apologize to whomever you want me to. I took responsibility for what happened today. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” She laughed a bit at that and continued, “Not that I’ll have the chance to do it again.” She stopped laughing and looked the woman in the eyes and said earnestly, “I believe I did the best I could in that barn. John did the right thing, the only thing he could, and I probably would’ve done the same thing he did in the same situation. The evidence was against me and I took the punishment. Can I go? I’m sure the producers are ready to start by now.” She finished lamely and desperately.

Nancy and Alex looked at each other and Alex gave his aunt a curt nod.

“Fine, you can go. But Sammi,” Nancy said as Sam shakily stood up and started for the door, “not everyone is so easily fooled. Get some rest.”

Sam nodded and paused at the door and turned back to Nancy with a small smile. Even with everything that was said and the position she was in she couldn’t resist saying, “I was right, it
is
just as beautiful as the outside,” and she walked out the door.

“What was that about?” Alex asked his aunt, baffled by Sammi’s last comment.

“Never mind about that,” Nancy said gruffly but with a trace of a smile. “What do you think?” she asked her nephew seriously.

“I don’t know who or what she’s protecting, but it’s damn annoying. We both know she wouldn’t have shirked her duty. Why won’t she tell us what really happened?” Alex asked his aunt.

“I’m not sure, but she has nerves of steel. She was ready to fall over, but it looked like sheer stubbornness was keeping her upright,” Nancy said thoughtfully, then finished, “I like her.”

Alex looked at his aunt. “So do I,” he said solemnly.

* * *

Sam walked back out to the yard.
All I have to do is get through this so I can go back to the camp and get some sleep.
Her hands hurt. Her back hurt. Her legs hurt. Hell, there wasn’t a body part that didn’t hurt, but underneath the hurt, she felt strangely good. She’d done a great job today, and no one would be able to take that away from her.

It seemed as if Eddie and the other producers and Robert were finally ready for the “vote off,” as Sam started calling it. She was fairly certain she might be the one going home. There was no telling who else Missy and Courtnee had spewed their story to. If it was Eddie, he might make her go home for violating the rules of the show or something. All she could do was wait along with everyone else. At this point she almost didn’t care. Almost.

Sam watched as Al took his spot next to Robert. He looked good. He looked more rugged now than he had before. Sam figured it was because he’d been outside most of the day and doing all the chores. She really couldn’t see him doing the laundry or mopping the floor, but she’d heard snippets of the other women’s conversations who’d claimed he’d done just that.

Robert was making his speech about what a great job they’d all done that day and how he was impressed with their work ethic. He asked if there were any comments about the day. A few women spoke, but for the most part it seemed they were just as anxious to get this over with as Sam was. Blessedly, even Missy and Courtnee kept their mouths shut.
Maybe they figured the less people they tell their lies to, the more likely they’ll get away with it.
Sam thought. Finally, Robert was getting to the “vote off.”

“As you know, ladies, one of you must be going home today. We know it’s been a long day and you’re tired. No one wants to leave this beautiful country and miss out on the company of Al, but alas, it must be done.” Sam didn’t think Robert sounded very remorseful.

He continued with his grand speech, “There were many factors that were taken into account on who’d be leaving today. It wasn’t only one thing that sealed her fate, but a multitude of factors. To keep you on your toes, those factors will not be revealed to you. The person who will be leaving today is…” Robert paused to get the most dramatic effect out of his audience… “Katie.”