Rancher at Risk (7 page)

When Ryan was upstairs in his bedroom, just down the hall from hers, she even did her best not to make too much noise…if she remembered. Her forgetfulness about that had been a source of never-ending complaint with Mark, too.

Maybe this sharing a house would work out.

They hadn’t discussed his reaction to her being deaf. Or the fact that she was deaf. In fact, except for his momentary surprise at her announcement, whether or not she could hear hadn’t seemed to register on his radar at all. A unique experience for her.

She should just give thanks for his lack of response since she’d given him the news.

But most likely, judging by her latest experience with a hearing man, they needed to get the issue out in the open. The thought had led her to detour to Harley’s General Store on her way home from Kayla and Sam’s this afternoon.

Despite her good intentions to watch for Ryan, he seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“Oh, hi.” The tightness of her throat told her she hadn’t managed a casual tone at all. She tried again. “Want a brownie?”

He couldn’t mask his surprise—not from someone who depended on reading expressions the way she did. Yet even with a lifetime of experience, she couldn’t quite decipher the look in his eyes.

“Yeah,” he said finally. “If the coffee’s on offer, too, I’ll go grab an extra mug.”

He left the room and she rolled her eyes and told herself to get a grip. Except she already had one on the magazine she was crumpling in her fingers. Immediately, she forced her hands to relax. This was a simple snack. He wasn’t a date. She could act like a rational woman.

She fanned herself with the magazine.

Yes, he had come in and showered earlier, then gone out to the bunkhouse for dinner with the cowboys. He had done that every night this week. But this was the first time he had changed into shorts no larger than a scrap of denim and a faded blue T-shirt that clung like the plastic wrap she’d covered the pan of brownies with.

On the couch beside her, the screen of her cell phone lit up. She grabbed the phone—her lifeline, she called it. Her link to
both
her worlds, hearing and deaf. And, right now, it also provided a distraction she welcomed.

As she was responding to the text, Ryan came back with the mug. He took a chair across from where she sat on the couch.

“I just had a message.” She waved with the phone and reached up with her free hand to find the lamp switch. The overhead light she had turned on earlier left his face partially shadowed—and she didn’t want to miss reading a word on his lips. Or miss his lips, for that matter.

Get a grip.

She shouldn’t have needed to repeat the warning. Or to have told herself the first time.

“Caleb’s on his way over,” she said.

“I figured he’d be spending the evening with the family.”

“So did I. That’s where I thought he was all day. It’s the first time I’ve heard from him.”

“He was down in Tucumcari.”

“Umm…where?”

He repeated the name more slowly.

She still didn’t get it but knew it was somewhere she’d never heard of. She dropped the cell phone onto the couch. “He didn’t tell me his plans.”

He shrugged. “Ranch business.”

Meaning it didn’t concern her—in his opinion. “What kind of ranch business?”

“Checking into buying a stud mare.”

“Oh.”

He pointed to the tray of brownies. “What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion. I wanted chocolate.”
And something to fortify me during this talk.
“How are things going?”

“All right.” He frowned. “Why?”

“Just making conversation.”

He said nothing.

She tried again. “How do you like working here?”

“Caleb has a good bunch of men on the payroll.”

“I’ve been tied up with the contractor’s crew. I haven’t met any of the cowboys yet.” When he said nothing, she went on, “Except Tony. I like him.”

“Me, too.” He poured coffee and took a sip.

“What do you think of New Mexico?”

“It’s nice enough, from what I’ve seen so far. I haven’t been anywhere but the Whistlestop and here. The environment’s different. The dryness takes some getting used to.”

“That’s for sure.” She sipped from her mug. “The other day, Caleb said you came down from his ranch in Montana. Have you got family back there?”

He had reached for the brownies and now held the knife suspended over the pan.

She waited a beat. Even though she’d asked a direct question, his lack of response almost didn’t surprise her. But when he didn’t move the knife, she frowned. “What’s the matter?”

He looked up. “I’m deciding how big a piece to cut. You having one?”

“Yes. And I’d better get it before you and Caleb start in. I saw how much you both ate at dinner last week.”

“Not our fault. Ellamae and Roselynn kept pushing seconds.”

“And thirds.” She took a napkin and a brownie.

He did the same and sat back in his chair. “You’re from the city, you said. Chicago.”

“That’s right.”

“The school will have lots of horses, according to Nate. You know about tending horses?”

“No, not a lot.”

“Surprising, since you’re running this ranch. Also according to Nate.”

“Of course I’m not. I’m project manager for the school. I do office and admin work. You know that. We discussed it last week. As I recall, we discussed my qualifications then, too.”

Again he said nothing. Now she could clearly see doubt in his eyes. She set her mug on the table. Hot coffee splashed onto her thumb. Nothing she couldn’t handle—one wipe, one tight fist, and the crumpled napkin dropped into her lap.

“Trust me, Ryan, this project won’t be a problem for me. I’ve worked at all kinds of jobs in my life. This isn’t any harder than any of them.” She forced a smile. “I waitressed in college. That’s a lot tougher than maintaining a few spreadsheets.”

“How did you wait tables when you couldn’t hear the customers?”

Finally.

As out in the open as it could get.

He might have tried for simple curiosity in his tone. But she didn’t read tones. She read body language, expressions, gazes. Now she saw stiff shoulders, a tight jaw, narrowed eyes. Resistance. And plenty of doubt.

“I’m doing fine talking to you, aren’t I?” Well, fine except for the one miss—that she knew of. That happened with relying on lipreading alone.

He shrugged.

She sighed. “Look at it this way. How do you know to close the windows when there’s a storm coming? Or to figure out if a horse is sick? Or to be suspicious of a shady salesman?” No sense waiting for answers she knew wouldn’t come. “You use your eyes, your experience, your gut. You use whatever it takes in the situation. Right?”

Though he nodded, the slight tilt of his head said he still mistrusted her as much as he would any dishonest salesman.

She took a deep breath and let it out again. “I’m no different from anyone else. That’s what I do, too. With my customers, I used what I knew, starting with reading their lips.”

“Last week at the Whistlestop, I saw you struggling. Missing parts of the conversation. Not understanding everything folks said.”

What he said was true—and she would never deny a natural part of her life, a part she accepted every day. But his words stung because he felt it necessary to say them. To show he thought she was less than equal.

Blinding headlights swept a path outside the house. Caleb.

She stood, looking down at Ryan. “Not everyone’s easy to lip-read. In the case of my customers, I would ask them to write notes. Or have them point to what they wanted on the menu. We got the job done, just as I’ll do here.”

As she always did, she would show her competence through her actions. She would
prove
to this irritating cowboy that she could handle whatever came her way.

* * *

O
NCE
C
ALEB
SETTLED
in with his own mug and brownie, he said, “I’m leaving town in the morning, and I wanted to run a few things by you both.”

“You and I already discussed our agenda for tomorrow,” she reminded him. She could work just as well without him. “There’s nothing on it I can’t handle on my own.”

“True. But I’ll be gone longer than just tomorrow.” He shifted in his chair so he could see them both. “I’m going to Montana again. Tess and Nate are staying since Nate still has a few weeks of school. But I’m shorthanded up north, and I can’t let things slide.”

“No, you can’t.” And with him gone, she could stay away from Ryan altogether.

“I’m headed up there tomorrow morning.” He reached to pick up the leather satchel he used for his laptop.

She took a sip of coffee.

Ryan sat leaning forward, elbows on his knees and both hands wrapped around his mug, muscle ticking in his jaw. With his head tilted down, she couldn’t see his eyes. Everything else screamed tension.

Caleb was watching her, waiting to continue. She flushed. How long had she been lost in thought? Had he seen her looking at Ryan?

“I know you’re on top of everything we’ve got going regarding the school.” He pulled a file folder out of his satchel and handed it across the coffee table to her. “I’ve looked over all the resumes and agree with your assessments.”

“Great.”

“And here’s something new to you both.” He pulled out another file. “We’ve got a group of scouts coming in for a week in June. All the cabins and outbuildings should be ready by then.”

She nodded. “And the insurance is already in place.”

“Right. It’ll be a good test run.” He hefted the folder. “This is contact info and the notes I made during the call.”

Before she could raise her hand, Ryan reached for the file.

“Seeing as they’re dudes, Tony and the boys and I will take care of this.”

“I’ll need the contact info,” she said. “And a supply list.”

“Sounds good.”

Their gazes met. She dragged hers away to focus on Caleb again.

He turned to Ryan. “There’s a clearly marked public trail just past the western boundary, less than a stone’s throw from the supply shed we rode out to the other day. Tess and I haven’t hiked it in years.”

Ryan nodded. “I remember the shed. I’ll check out the trail.”

“Good. And while I’m gone, you’re in charge here.”

What did that mean? She set her mug on the table and concentrated on reading Caleb’s lips.

He turned to her. “Lianne, you’ll fill Ryan in on the admin part of the project, take him around the construction site, introduce him to the contractor’s crew out there.”

“Sure,” she said, fighting to keep her expression neutral. Seeing her control over her job slip away.

“Ryan will oversee the school project, take care of anything you need. You can always reach me by email or text, but—” he looked at them both again “—unless something major comes up, I figure between the two of you, you’ll be able to sort things out.”

“No problem,” Ryan said.

“Of course,” she agreed. What else could she do?

Caleb had confirmed her fears. But as both men left the house to talk to the cowboys in the bunkhouse, irritation at Ryan overtook her.

He knew where Caleb had been today.

Had he also known this was going to happen? When he’d asked about her experience, had he been leading up to telling her the news?

Had he already wanted to show her he would be her boss?

She took a deep breath. No need to jump to conclusions, as he liked to claim she did. No need to dwell on what might have been. More than likely, he wouldn’t answer her questions anyway. And she had enough to worry about going forward.

Irritation gave way to a confusing blend of anger and worry.

All this week, Ryan hadn’t made an issue about her being deaf. Until tonight. How would that affect her job now that he
was
her boss?

Was he going to be just another hearing man who thought she couldn’t survive in his world?

Chapter Six

Ryan stood beside the desk in the office and looked into his mug at coffee as black as his thoughts.

If not for him, Caleb wouldn’t have had to leave his new family alone again. If not for the accident,
he
would still be in Montana with his family.

The boss had headed out early this morning, trusting him to take care of business. With luck, he’d fare better than he had so far. And from now on he aimed to make his own luck.

A few feet away Lianne slammed file drawers closed, one after the other.

“Is that necessary?” he demanded.

She didn’t turn around, didn’t pause, didn’t even flinch.

Well, yeah. She couldn’t hear him.

She couldn’t hear the drawers slamming, either.

Or maybe that was a not-so-subtle way of making her opinion known. As unhappy as she’d been at first over their living arrangements, she couldn’t feel at all pleased with the new work situation.

For a moment, he missed the smiling woman with the sparkling blue eyes and the pan of brownies. He pushed the image aside, not needing or wanting thoughts like that. Especially not since this chance Caleb had given him.

She turned from the file cabinets and moved over to the desk. “Are we finished with all this?”

“Yes. For now.”

She scooped another armload of folders from the desk and began returning the files to the floor. Experience told him not to offer a hand.

Organized chaos or not, he had to admit, she knew her stuff. They had gone over detailed schedules and building plans and budgets and forecasts. She had reviewed financial spreadsheets for things he’d never heard of.

Pushing paper was only part of her job, though.

Would Caleb being away keep her from getting that job done?

He thought of the trouble he sometimes had understanding her voice. Of the times she had asked him or Caleb to repeat something. Of what she had said about waiting tables.

Would she write notes with the contractor’s men if they had problems communicating? How would she handle hiring staff? Hell, how would she manage to do the thousand things needed to get the project up and running? And if she messed up…