Part 3 (2/2)
Buck lifted a heavy gray brow. ”But you do?”
He ignored the question and Buck's curiosity. ”Let me handle this. If she's behind taking that distributor cap-”
”Just don't be too tough on her, okay?”
J.T. shot the foreman a warning look and stomped to the cabin.
Reggie had rolled her suitcase as far as the door.
”The truck doesn't run,” he said.
She looked alarmed. ”How do we get out of here?”
”I could have Buck saddle up a horse for you.”
Her eyes widened in even more alarm. ”You would send me off this mountain in the dark on a horse? horse?”
”In a heartbeat. All you have to do is follow the trail fifteen miles down to the county road. From there just go east. You shouldn't have any trouble finding the ranch. One of my brothers will give you a ride into town to your car from there.”
She looked at him as if she couldn't believe he was serious.
He wasn't. He was angry and upset but there was no way this woman could find her way back to the ranch even in broad daylight with street signs to follow. She'd sooner fall off a cliff or stumble into the river and drown herself and one of his horses. For the horse's sake, he couldn't do it.
But it was tempting. Especially if she was responsible for the disabled truck. And if she wasn't? Well, then he wanted to get her out of here and as quickly as possible because he didn't have a clue what was going on.
”You can't send me off this mountain on a horse,” she said again.
He thought he saw tears in her eyes. Had she finally realized that she'd gotten herself into something she couldn't handle?
Her voice dropped to a whisper. ”I don't know how to ride a horse.”
J.T. looked at her. Of course she didn't ride. Any fool could have guessed that. ”You do know how to walk though, don't you? It's probably only twenty miles to the ranch as the crow flies.”
She practically gasped.
Fighting the urge to throttle the woman and and Buck, he said, ”You can stay here tonight.” As if he had a choice. He was tempted to throw her to the wolves. Not literally, but at least make her sleep in one of the wall tents tonight on a cot instead of the warm cabin where Buck, he said, ”You can stay here tonight.” As if he had a choice. He was tempted to throw her to the wolves. Not literally, but at least make her sleep in one of the wall tents tonight on a cot instead of the warm cabin where he he should have been sleeping, he thought with a curse. should have been sleeping, he thought with a curse.
”Buck is riding down in the morning,” he said. ”He'll bring back a truck and take you to town. In the meantime, you're the camp cook. Buck?” he called.
Buck was waiting outside the door listening, of course. ”Yes, Boss?”
The words were almost impossible to get out, knowing that Buck and Reggie cooking together could be lethal. But he wasn't going to stay in here with her. No way.
”Help Ms. Holland with dinner,” he ordered.
Buck grinned. ”You got it, boss.”
”She can stay in the cabin. You and I will take one of the wall tents.”
”I'm sorry to put you out of your cabin,” Reggie said sweetly enough to give a man a toothache. ”I can sleep in the tent.”
Like she had ever slept in a tent on a cot in her life, J.T. thought.
”I don't mind staying in the tent,” Buck said quickly.
All J.T. could do was shake his head in wonder. There was nothing worse than a sentimental old fool.
Except for a young one, he thought with disgust as he left the cabin. Buck must be getting old. There'd been a time when even a woman like Reggie Holland couldn't have conned a man like Buck Brannigan. What was the world coming to?
J.T. marched over to the fire, apologized that supper was running late and explained the new sleeping arrangements. He'd expected the men to complain and loudly.
”No problem, boss,” Cotton said grinning as he glanced toward the cabin. ”Let me know if there is anything I can do to help Ms. Holland.”
This was why women didn't belong in a cow camp.
Slim and Luke quickly offered their a.s.sistance as well.
J.T. groaned under his breath and reminded himself that she would be gone by tomorrow. But he couldn't help but worry that she hadn't given up. What would she try next? He hated to think. Especially if she had an accomplice in one of his men.
Well, before the night was over, J.T. figured he could talk Reggie into handing over the distributor cap and the name of her accomplice. Both would be out of here at first light.
AS BUCK EXPLAINED cooking over a woodstove, Reggie tried to tell herself that she'd won round one.
So she had to cook supper. A slight drawback. Maybe she would wow J.T. McCall. True, she had never cooked anything in her life other than taking something out of a container and popping it into the microwave. She'd never had time to learn. But she was was fearless. And determined not to leave this camp until she had McCall signed to the commercial. Her future depended on it. fearless. And determined not to leave this camp until she had McCall signed to the commercial. Her future depended on it.
Not just her future, she reminded herself. A lot of people were depending on her to pull this off. This entire advertising campaign was her idea, a desperate last-ditch effort to save the company-and her job.
If the campaign succeeded, Way Out West Jeans would go public and no longer just be a tiny obscure family-owned company. Regina's future would be secure.
If it failed, the employees would be without jobs and Way Out West Jeans would have to close its doors, the hundred-year-old company bankrupt.
She was determined that wasn't going to happen. No matter what she had to do.
She needed authenticity and J. T. McCall and his Sundown Ranch were it. She'd been flabbergasted when Buck had shown her the ranch before they'd come up the mountain. Thank goodness for Buck.
She'd overheard just enough of the conversation outside the cabin between McCall and Buck to know that without Buck she'd be on her way down the mountain in the dark either on the back of one of those horses in the corral or on foot.
How lucky that the truck hadn't started. And how lucky that Buck Brannigan had been sympathetic to her story about needing this job. He'd probably heard the real desperation in her voice. She did did need this. Just not the job she'd been hired on to do. need this. Just not the job she'd been hired on to do.
She felt a little guilty for putting Buck in what was obviously an awkward situation with his boss. But she got the feeling that Buck was one of the few people who wasn't afraid of J. T. McCall.
She found Buck's bashfulness cute, along with his ”Aw shucks ma'am,” hat-in-hand protective politeness. For a moment, she wondered what her life would have been like if she'd had a father like Buck.
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