Wild Ride: BBW Western Romance (Under Open Skies Saga Book 2) (22 page)

It made sense to her, she just wished she knew it, knew him. Really knew him. The man that all these guys talked about, he was
n’
t the same man she knew. The tight lipped, quiet man who showed up here and there, who loved her, but was gone way too often.

She patted her horse.

“
What about you, I know your family had its problems, but were you close to your dad
?”
he asked, clicking his tongue to make his horse move a little faster. Pokey was a very apt name for such a pretty unassuming mare.

“
Not really. Not really close to my mom either. Both wer
e…
emotionally unavailable
.”
It killed her to admit it.

“
Well, I know he loved you. He was always talking about his kids
.
”

“
Kids
?
”

“
Sorry, kid. Slip of the tongue. Said that you were a natural on a horse, but did
n’
t want it to be your career. He had seen too much of that
.
”

“
Yeah, I went into business. Nothing special, just secretarial work, bu
t
…
”
She was going to finish but he already knew.

“
Steady, stable. Able to work your way up? That was what your dad said
.
”

“
Exactly. Sounds like you know me better than I know myself
.”
Sounds like everyone knew her better than she knew herself, him, Hunter, hell, even Cody seemed to have a good grip on her personality.

She did
n’
t like that, she wanted to be the only one who knew herself.

“
I would
n’
t say that, but I do know that you have his determination. And his anger
.
”

“
Anger
?
”

“
I can see it in you, you want things to go smoothly, and you have that slow burn when it does. Way more scary than the explosive kind, if you ask me
.
”

No one had ever called her scary before, she kinda liked it, even if she was
n’
t willing to own up to it.

“
We are almost there, just a little further, around that small ridge
.
”

She fell silent, rounding the path he took and coming out on the other side. What was there was beautiful, but it was
n’
t anything state-of-the-art. The old, dilapidated fences would have made for a pretty picture, but they in no way were appropriate for the housing of very large, very powerful bulls.

Her mouth fell open.

“
We have been dealing with this for a while, patching it as best we can, bu
t…
honestly, we need new fencing. And it is
n’
t in the budget
.
”

“
Shit, I had no idea. This is really terrible
.”
It was abhorrent. The conditions of the facility were worse than she thought, even after the dinner with the men
.“
You all really were not kidding
.
”

“
It is
n’
t that bad, but there are areas like this, were work was supposed to have been finished, and i
t…
was
n’
t
.
”

She got out her phone from her pocket and turned it on, taking snapshots of the fencing, the areas that were clearly repaired, and with old material
.“
Do you have a map of this area, something I can take in with me
?
”

“
Take in where
?
”

“
To R&J Construction. I am going to confront them
.
”

“
I do. But do me one favor
.
”

“
What is that
?
”

“
Do
n’
t go alone. Take someone with you. Me, or Hunter, hell, even Hank. Someone you trust
.”
He was concerned, and he had a right to be. She could be walking into anything.

“
Thank you for not telling me to let the men handle it, I do
n’
t know if I could bear that right now
.
”

She took a few more snapshots.

“
Joh
n’
s daughter? I would never say any such thing and walk away with all my teeth still in my mouth. I know that
.”
He chucked and pulled on his reins, turning the horse
.“
Come on, sounds like yo
u’
ve got a lot of work to do, and I need to get the arena cleaned up for the kids coming fo
r‘
Five Buck Buck
s”
tonight. The damn back pens need to be shoveled out. Unless you wanna do it
?
”

“
Shove bullshit? I do that all day long in this job, do
n’
t want any extra, thank you
.
”

Besides.

She had some investigating to do.

“
Hi, R&J, I was hoping to make an appointment for my clien
t…
. Fields and Brooks. They want to discuss some work with yo
u…
yes, prospective job
s…
.No, there is a new executive, and she is really looking at meeting you before authorizing any more wor
k…
I understand. How is tomorrow morning for you
?…
. No,
I’
m sorry, she has a rodeo in the afternoon. Needs to travel for it, so that would not be possibl
e…
uh huh, the earlier the better
.
”

Jenny was a pro at stealth, handling it just like it was a legitimate conversation. Kat was not, in fact, planning on hiring them for any work whatsoever, but she did want an appointment with them.

“
Yes, nine will do nicely. Thank you very much
.
”

Click.

Kat tried not to be obvious about the fact that she was listening on the other side of the door, so she waited a little bit before making a move.

“
I
t’
s okay, Kat. You can come out
.”
Jenny giggld through the door.

“
Was I that obvious
?
”

“
Uh, yeah. I could practically feel you breathing down my neck. Do I need to tell you the details
?”
Jenny cocked an eyebrow, and Kat blushed, a little ashamed.

“
Nine a.m. Tomorrow
?
”

“
Yeah, but they seemed super hesitant. I guess new business ran out over old, but still. I would urge caution
.”
Jenny was characteristically somber, which made Kat nervous
.“
They do
n’
t seem like any construction company I have ever talked to. You sure the
y’
ve done work with us before
?
”

Kat showed her the work order.

“
That is your signature, alright, but I did
n’
t stamp it
.
”

“
You stamp documents
?
”

“
Yup, when I receive them they get stamped with a date, so that I know how they came across your desk. That way there is some trail, because dates are really important. At least that was what your dad used to always say
.
”

“
It is smart. What does the stamp have on it? Does it distinguish itself from anyone else
?
”

“
Yup, it has your da
d’
s initials. JLB. That way we know it comes right through
.
”

“
What about this document
?”
She pulled out the other one, the one that her father should have signed, and it looked exactly like his hand. But again, no stamp.

“
Damn, so these never actually came through our desks
?”
She knew it was the case, but part of her doubted it. She signed a lot of documents in a day, and after a while they all ran together. Any doubt she had was quickly washed away.

She really was
n’
t responsible for anything negative done to the company.

“
Can you get ahold of those pay documents, the ones instituting furloughs and lacks of raises? See if any of them are stamped
?
”

“
Sure, it will take a few days, but I can do that
.
”

“
I just want to make sure I did
n’
t do anything I should
n’
t have
.
”

“
I believe you, I know you have
n’
t been shortchanging the men
.
”

“
No, I have
n’
t, but I want some proof. Especially if I am going to take it to the board
.
”

She remembered what Hank told her, and he was right. She could
n’
t just go in there on blind faith that someone was going to trust her. They did
n’
t know her, hell, she did
n’
t know herself, how would anyone actually trust her? Hank was right, but she was
n’
t going to let it get in her way, if proof was what she needed, it was what she was going to get.