Three

Kara was relieved that the drive was over.  She had slept the sleep of the just when her head touched the pillow last night which was almost as soon as she walked into the house and just after a shower.  She was sore in places she had not known she had and she took a deep steadying breath before she opened her front door to face the day and the few men who would work for a woman.

She knew well that it had been some time since she had ridden.  And if she’d ever doubted that her muscles were not used to the exercise, all her doubts had been laid to rest.  But it was necessary that she did as much as she could.  They were severely shorthanded and she was praying desperately that she could keep going at the rate she was and that she could keep this ranch going as it was supposed to be. 

Despite being exhausted and overworked, she did not miss her previous life in the corporate world.  Her heart had always been drawn here where she felt most at home and this was where she wanted to stay if she could just make this work.

She would not get the needed respect otherwise.  And she refused to lose any part of her grandfather’s legacy; even if she worked her fingers to the bone.  This was all she had left of her beloved grandfather, the man who’d taken her in whenever her parents had had other plans during her summer holidays; which had been most summers.

Of course she would never show them how sore she was.  She had to prove that she was capable of riding with them and working as hard as they could.  She had to show that she was worthy to run this ranch.  She had no choice; she had to earn their respect. Things here were different from the city life and in a way it felt as if she was more comfortable here than she had ever been in her former life.

Today was sorting, checking health and branding.  Her granddad had sure left her a lot to keep her busy.  She knew in a way that he had meant for her to feel the land in her veins like he had, and she was, as always.  It was just hard to keep things going when most of the men had left on finding out a woman now had the reins.

She was proud of what they had accomplished so far.  It had only been a week since she had set foot on this ranch as the new owner.  And she had spent nearly all of it on the drive to get the cattle home and sorted.  Now was the hard work. 

The six remaining men waited for her orders by the corral.  And so as the sun greeted them they were already busy with sorting, castrating, branding and checking the cattle.  The healthy cows and calves were released to return to the fields and the steers and bulls that would be sold were herded into the corral while any sick or hurt animals were treated and kept in a nearby field.  This work would take them a couple of days at least.  Her granddad had left her more than she had bargained on.

Somewhere through her morning she had thought with amusement of her time she had spent in the gyms when she’d still been doing her office job.  She’d paid someone to keep fit and had seemed fit enough; now she realized just how unfit she was.  There was indeed nothing that could replace hard work.  And she realized that those days were over and that she was back where she felt more at home than she had anywhere else.

She was near exhaustion when they stopped for lunch, but she knew she would push through.  She was surprised to see a car coming into the yard just as she closed the gate behind her since she was the last to leave; she was not expecting anyone, in fact she knew no one in the area.  Her visits here and always were her taking a horse and getting lost for most of the day, unless Grandad asked her to help with something.

The silver Mercedes stopped in front of the house and Kara had a moment of embarrassment.  She was not used to looking and smelling like a cowboy when people in such expensive cars showed up, but she angrily shoved the feeling aside as she lifted her chin and went to meet the visitor; this was who she was now, perhaps who she had always been without realizing it and it was something to be proud of.

The tall lithe man in the suit got out of the car and came to meet her with an outstretched hand and a big smile.  Kara removed the leather gloves she wore and took the proffered hand with a guarded smile.  She did not know anyone in the area.  She had always been lost on the ranch when she had come to visit grandpa; meeting people had never been high on her list of things to do when she had been here.

The man standing before her had gentle gray eyes that sparkled with laughter and blond hair that was neatly gelled and styled.  The suit he wore was clearly of good value and he looked rather handsome in it.  Kara reminded herself that she was here to run her ranch and not to date or socialize, so a handsome man was of little consequence to her in her current situation.

“Good day, ma’am.  I’m glad to finally meet you.  I came last week, but Thelma told me you were on the drive with your men.” 

Briefly Kara thought about the help that Thelma was in the house.  It was wonderful to come home bone-tired and have a clean house and food waiting for her as she stepped inside.  If not for her help she would probably have lived on junk food she could scrounge out of the cupboards and everything would be covered in dust.  Thelma even did the grocery shopping for her, which took a lot off her mind.

Then she turned her full attention back to the man standing in front of her.  “Good day, mister….er….”  She cocked her head to one side.

“O, Brad Thompson, ma’am.”  He gave an appreciative smile as he glanced over her. “May I say that you look nothing like I imagined you? And your hands are so soft! You shouldn’t do the men’s work, ma’am.  Get a foreman to keep these men in line.”  He smiled broadly.

Kara was instantly drawn to this open and humorous man.  “Thank you, Mr. Thompson.  But if I don’t do it, I won’t get the respect I want from these men.  Plus I love what I’m doing.”  Which was true, but it was more out of necessity than pleasure at this point, but she would not tell him that.  He had no need to know that she was shorthanded and currently had no clue what her finances allowed her to do about the situation.  She let go of his hand and invited him inside.

“O, I can’t stay; I have an appointment in a half hour.  I just came to invite you to a party at Connor’s place.  He’s your neighbor on the north.  We all decided to invite you there so we could get to know this illusive granddaughter of Philip Daniels.”

“Thank you. When is this party?”  She asked with an amused smile.  Apparently people in this area were curious enough to have a party to meet her; that or they loved socializing and her being here was as good an excuse as any.

“It’s tonight at seven.  We’ll all be there, since we’re so curious to know why Philip had gone and left the ranch to such a beautiful lady and not his only son.  I know its short notice, but that’s why I came around last week, I do hope you will be able to make it.”

Easy, she thought, my father had never been able to work the ranch; his heart had always been in the city; and mine had always been here.  Kara laughed at his questioning gaze.  “Ah, well, Mr. Thompson, if I answer that now I will be forced to repeat myself tonight.”

“Please, call me Brad, but only if I can call you by your name….er….what is your name?”  He smiled with embarrassment now when he seemed to realize that he hadn’t asked her name.

Kara smiled again.  This charismatic man seemed like the perfect person to invite to a party full of strangers, he was charming; nothing like a charming person to make everyone feel at ease.  “Kara.  And I’ll be sure to be at the party.”

He grinned with pleasure.  “Then I’ll see you there, Kara.”  He grinned with pleasure as he took her hand in a farewell gesture and trotted to his car.  It seemed for the entire world that he was suddenly in a hurry where before it had appeared as if he had all the time in the world.