River Road (River's End Series, #4) (2 page)

AJ REED WATCHED THE silver sports car crunch over the drive until it disappeared. Wow. Nothing like the women around here. That woman was exquisite. A tall, long, crystal vase among a sea of broken pottery. She was as tall as him. Right in the eye she looked at him. Her blonde hair was cut in some crazy, short but sophisticated style. Kind of long bangs with a short back and a silver, honey color. It made her blue eyes seem huge and cool in her face. She wore a lot of makeup, which he wasn’t too keen on. But she made it look good. No doubt. Her long legs were barely confined to a pair of jeans that molded over their long leanness. Her tank top left her equally slender, smooth arms exposed. The muscles were nicely defined on her arms. She was intimidating. The kind of woman he really didn’t associate with much. Obviously, she came from the city.

Of course, it wasn’t like he ran into women very often. Not around there. It was all men he oversaw and worked with. A few of the Rydells had wives and one had a girlfriend, but he didn’t associate with them much. He’d never been very good with women. He didn’t have a way with words, obviously. He always struggled to think quickly or appear charming under pressure. He was lucky not to become tongue-tied when speaking to any woman like the one who just stopped by.

Once, he had no problems with the opposite sex, but that was back when he was on the rodeo circuit as a bull rider; drinking, gambling and raising hell in whatever little town he happened to find himself. In that loose atmosphere of anonymity and gallons of alcohol, he’d always been full of himself. That false confidence unfortunately didn’t carry over when he finally sobered up and turned to clean living. Back then, his biggest problem was merely a matter of choosing a different woman almost every night. Lots of cowgirls or wanna-be cowgirls played groupie to him as well as the other cowpokes after they performed. Being in towns for only a day or two or three, back then, it was easy to love ‘em and leave ‘em.

Then… Well, then he did that stint in prison. That ended his rodeo career, his drinking, his partying, his womanizing, and sadly enough, his confidence.

As far as he was concerned, however, that was a positive. There was nothing redeeming about his youth, or the man he’d been before. Not like the man he was now, head foreman and dedicated employee of the Rydell family. A title he proudly clutched. He was finally someone. He had a job, a safe place to live, and more importantly, an
address
. A real, permanent address. Even if someone else held the deed.

AJ never had a permanent address before, not one that he could remember. His earliest recollections were of trailers, bedrooms, motel rooms, everywhere and nowhere. His dad dragged him from one gambling game to the next, then one rodeo to the next. AJ dutifully followed the Reed family morals and legacy to a tee. His dad sometimes relinquished him to the state, abandoning him in foster care for extended stays. But he eventually always came back and took AJ with him again. AJ’s schooling was sporadic at best, continually interrupted and left unfinished. The only person on the Rydell River Ranch who knew that, however, was Jack. AJ told Jack everything before Jack even hired him, including his interrupted education as well as his stint in prison. Being upfront and honest, AJ emphasized how the prison sentence was deserved. He was guilty. Strangely enough, Jack appeared to show a surprising compassion for AJ. Jack didn’t seem too concerned about his lack of education or his ex-convict status. He allowed AJ to stay on a probationary status at first with explicit instructions that AJ avoid the family house and not be allowed near any finances or money.

But later, Jack gave him access to his personal office, the petty cash funds, and even started letting him make repairs at the main farmhouse. It bolstered a deep loyalty in AJ. He felt obliged that a man as upstanding and honorable as Jack Rydell would give him another chance, and then go beyond that to actually trust him. Jack truly, and with an open heart, allowed AJ to prove himself. AJ responded by striving to prove his loyalty, work ethic, and physical strength each and every day for the Rydells. They had become his family, from a distance of course, since he wasn’t really related to them. He might have been uneducated, but he was no imbecile. He was confident he possessed average intelligence, and clearly understood what his place and status with the family were. But they were all unfailingly polite to him. They were as respectful to him as they were to the reverend and even toward each other. AJ responded to their upstanding behavior by trying to emulate them as much as possible.

He flung his hat back on his head and adjusted it lower to cover his eyes. He preferred it that way. It dulled the effect of another pair of eyes staring at him. Well, hell! Why was he standing around now thinking about a model-worthy woman before retreating into the vast, bottomless, and hollow memories of his misbegotten youth? There was work to do; livestock to manage, hay bales to move, and he had a meeting with Jack later on.

There was always something to do and AJ loved that fact. In the off hours and on weekends, Jack asked him to do some side work by helping to build Joey Rydell’s house, currently under construction.

AJ glanced up towards the blue sky, bright with the morning May sun. Simmering heat was starting to evaporate off the dirt and fields. It would surely be a warm one today. May could be the best month, with its pleasant sun and cooling breezes; if they were lucky, even a light rain that lasted only an hour or two. And other times, the day would foreshadow the stifling heat that became as oppressive as a tight lid sealed over the land.

He grabbed the bandanna in his back pocket and wiped it over his face. Didn’t matter. Rain or heat, he could work in any kind of weather. He’d done so his whole life. His best qualities were having the arms of a gorilla, the back of a mule, and the determination of a thoroughbred. Unlike his gambling, feckless father, AJ worked. It was the only honorable thing he did, and all he had to offer others, and society at large. He felt he owed a bigger debt to the community than the eighteen months he served in prison, so he worked.

Jack had started him off at minimum wage, as most ranch hands weren’t very skilled. However, he quickly singled AJ out and began to raise his wages by degrees. Every six months, like clockwork, AJ received what he considered a generous, almost undeserved pay hike. He was earning nearly the same as a guy in a worker’s union. Considering he had no more than an eighth-grade education, that seemed pretty generous to AJ. Jack explained that good, loyal, trusting foremen were hard to find and golden to keep. AJ never knew how to respond to such a compliment. He didn’t get it; so he merely did the work Jack asked him to do.

When Ian, Jack’s brother and right-hand man, decided to leave, Jack tapped into AJ like never before. Side by side, they managed everything: the horses, the alfalfa, the orchards, and all the building maintenance. Ian’s departure turned out to be the best thing, career-wise, to ever happen to AJ. Then, to his surprise, the brother who was third in line, Shane Rydell, started to stay around the ranch more than he ever had before. Shane never so much as shoveled a scoop of horse shit or fed a grain of barley to a horse for years. However, he began to settle down after meeting the local school teacher. He married her and started to work alongside Jack. Shane was inadvertently pushing AJ backward. He returned to being more of a ranch hand than Jack’s right hand man. It was a bit of a disappointment to AJ, but he fully understood. Family first, family always, and blood was thicker than water. He would have expected nothing less of the Rydells.

In that time, they expanded the ranch, erecting a series of cabins that eventually became the Rydell River Resort. It was all at Ian’s instigation. AJ was fascinated by the venture and eager to help even though he had no idea of the big picture. Ian just came out one day and said they were going to start clearing the land by the river, which was not too far from the cemetery. After that, they were digging and clearing the site according to Ian’s specifications. They built footings, and concrete trucks filled them, forming the foundation. All of it was new to AJ, who’d never done any real construction work from the ground up before. Both Ian and Jack were patient, showing him how to do different things, the purposes of all the tools, how to use the laser-level to square things up, the safest way to do the prep work, and how to minimize the costs.

They didn’t have to take time from their busy schedules to actually teach AJ or give him the required skills. But they often did. Low and behold, all the little squares of concrete were soon framed and the cabin roofs were put on. Finally, AJ learned they were building cabins and planning to open the ranch up to people as a vacation destination. AJ never pried before then. He always knew it was
their
place,
their
family,
their
stuff,
their
horses, and
their
buildings. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, despite how he was salivating with curiosity.
What was going on? Why were they doing this?
When Jack finally explained the plan to him, AJ’s surprise must have shown on his face. Jack even apologized for not realizing AJ didn’t know what they were up to. He always insisted that AJ just ask, and speak up; it was fine, and he was glad for AJ to know what the plan was.

Still, AJ didn’t broach the subject. He held his tongue, because he knew his place.

He wasn’t about to jeopardize that.

As for learning the cabins were part of a new concept, the Rydell River Resort, to say that AJ was shocked was putting it mildly. That Jack would let any fool, stranger, thief or con-artist—like AJ’s dad, for example—have access to his land, his horses, and his river was beyond reckless. Jack explained that the family was expanding and the decision was not just Jack’s. He described how they intended to respond to the entire family’s needs, not just Jack’s. AJ reacted by finding even more reasons to respect the man he worked for.

After the cabins were all finished up, they opened up their private land to strangers. Vacationers from around the state and beyond came there. Most were coasties from the west side of the state, looking for sun, heat, and horses, i.e., the country experience. As if it were a freak phenomenon or tourist attraction. The Rydell River Ranch was a working horse farm, which made it monumental for some people to experience. AJ didn’t fully understand the urge; it was merely work to him. And home. And his life. It was never a photo op for AJ.

Jack specifically asked AJ, along with Pedro, Caleb, and Jordan, the other ranch/resort staff, to please leave the guests alone. No sleeping with the women; no making friends or enemies with the men. It wasn’t out of snobbery because they were considered the ranch hands or hired help. It was because Jack did not want the possibility of any lawsuits arising, and aimed to keep things running as smoothly as possible. He hoped to limit the ranch and resort’s contacts and crossover as much as possible.

Since AJ had no desire to hobnob with
vacationers,
never having done such a thing in his damn life, he was more than comfortable with that. The resort was on the high side of the main house, with its own access, cabins, check-in office, and grounds. A white fence separated it from the fields, pastures, his own living quarters and river access, barns and working roads. All AJ’s domain, essentially. He saw it as his boundary line of freedom. The resort was his idea of hell.

So seeing that woman today wasn’t something he often encountered. No one ever missed the turnoff before. It was the first driveway the vacationers saw from the main road. And the resort had a huge sign that was pretty hard to miss. AJ shook his head. He knew little of the amenities. He thought it best to mention the encounter to Jack, and hope she didn’t leave. He feared he might have scared her away with his bumbling knowledge.

AJ quickly loped towards the orchard. He went to the barn seeking a new sprinkler head to fix the one that was busted by Pedro when he accidentally hit it with the mower. With the sprinkler head in hand, he found the crew moving down the orchard rows with pleasing efficiency. He turned off the water line and started fixing the sprinkler head for the next few minutes. When it was repaired, he turned the water back on. It pumped up from the river into the orchard before spraying out of the heads in lazy circles, catching the sunlight in colorful prisms of refreshing, little rainbows. Nodding with satisfaction, he caught up to the crew and started helping them thin the orchard. They already did the pruning early this spring, before anything bloomed, but Shane decided this particular section needed more thinning.

They ended their chores for the day, and stored the tractor, the mower, and the old farm truck in the barns before placing all the other implements into the proper tool sheds. Always a neat and tidy ship, that was what the Rydells ran. AJ was sure to keep everything in tip-top shape and exactly where it belonged so the Rydells could use it at any time.

Jack was in his office in the main horse barn. AJ knocked on the half-open door. “Hey, Jack, do you have a moment?”

Jack pushed away from the small desk he was sitting at. “What’s up?”

“Just letting you know the orchard’s done. There are only a few more limbs to prune on a small number of trees, but Pedro said he could handle those the rest of the week.”

“That was quick. You must have pushed them hard.”

“Just a few days’ work. Nothing special about doing a job.”

Jack smiled. “I wish everyone agreed with what a full day’s work is as you and I do.”