Second Chance Ranch Chapter 9

Chapter NINE:

Kelly walked a half step behind him on the way back to her office. If she stepped right next to him, maybe their fingers would brush. Maybe he would hold on, or maybe she would.

She’d liked holding his hand, and that meant it absolutely could never happen again. If Frank hadn’t interrupted, Kelly felt certain she’d have continued spouting her feelings. Yes, she thought Squire was beyond handsome. Yes, she’d very much like to see him in his uniform, but that his everyday clothes stirred her as well. Yes, his scruffy three-day-old beard made her think about kissing him just to see what it would feel like against her cheek.

No, she would not be repeating the mistake of getting involved with her boss.

Kelly nodded hello to Clark, who watched her with narrowed eyes. She ignored him and regained her professionalism as she strode ahead of Squire down the aisle.

Ethan leapt from his chair and sauntered toward her. Kelly could barely refrain from rolling her eyes as he stepped into her path.

“Hey, sugar,” he drawled, his Texan accent too false for her liking.

“Hey, yourself,” she deadpanned, her own accent drawing out the words. She felt more than saw Squire’s clenched fists and jaw.

“So I’m free this weekend,” Ethan said, and in any other circumstance, Kelly might have thought he was attractive. Or maybe next to Squire, Ethan didn’t hold a candle.

“You wanna go to the rodeo with me?”

“There’s a rodeo this weekend?” Kelly wrinkled her nose, though she loved a good rodeo as much as the next Texas girl.

“In Amarillo.” Ethan grinned.

The thought of riding in a truck with him for over an hour made Kelly slightly queasy.

“And there’s the Fourth of July celebration coming up,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll be somethin’ special wearing patriotic colors.” He scanned her from head to toe and met her eye with a smile.

Kelly squirmed just thinking about what he might be visualizing. “Listen, Ethan, I’m sure you’re a nice guy—”

“He’s not,” Squire growled, moving so close his body heat brushed her skin.

She barely contained a shiver. “But,” Kelly said. “I’m coming off a divorce I haven’t finished paying for yet. I’m not really ready to start dating again.” She tried to sound as sympathetic as possible. Firm, but friendly. “I’m sure you understand.”

Ethan stepped back, a flush crawling up his neck. “Yeah, sure I do.” He turned and shuffled back to the table, much less swagger now.

Ultra-aware of how close Squire stood, Kelly released her breath and headed for her office. Once they’d turned the corner and Ethan stood behind them, she said, “I don’t need your help,” over her shoulder.

Squire’s uneven footsteps quickened. “We still have heaps of files.”

“With Ethan.” She stopped outside her door, turned, and folded her arms. “I can take care of myself.”

Doubt clouded his expression; his mouth flattened into an angry line. But he held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sure you can.”

He moved past her and picked up a folder, his eyes hidden by that blasted cowboy hat. Kelly sighed, because she wanted to rip it from his head and look into those eyes. See what swam there and if she could really tell him how she felt.

Of course she couldn’t. This was her job; a workplace. Not a place to meet handsome men. 

* * *

“The Red Barn Cattle Company,” she read from a yellowed piece of paper a while later. “Could that be where you sold some cattle?”

She scanned the paper, and it certainly seemed like a receipt. “Three hundred seventy-four cow-calves, second year, thirty-seven thousand, seven hundred seventy-four dollars. There’s a copy of a check attached.”

Squire bent over her shoulder, his breath cool on her neck. “It’s made out to the ranch,” he said. “It’s from two thousand eight. That was a record year for beef.”

“The market is at its highest right now, too,” Kelly said, telling herself not to turn toward him. “I did some research over the weekend.” She scooted her chair away a little so she could twist to look at him without having her face only inches from his.

A shame really, because he took her breath away, probably pocketing it simply so she had to struggle to breathe. 

“Of course you did,” he said, those eyes twinkling with a tease.

Kelly stood and went back to the filing cabinet where they’d been taking files that day. “Last year was a boom, what with the falling feed prices. Everyone is predicting the prices will stay stable, or get better, throughout this year too.” She pulled the entire folder out of the cabinet. “A ranch like Three Rivers should be pulling in major profits.”

Squire removed the thick file behind the one she’d just taken. He moved to his side of her desk, rolling his shoulders as he went. She couldn’t blame him. Her muscles ached like she’d been hit by a truck and then backed over.

A quick glance at the window showed her such tranquility. Gently waving grasses in hues of yellow and green, with that brilliantly blue Texas sky above. Not a cloud in sight. 

It felt so serene. So effortless. So unlike the tension in her back and shoulders, and the tightness that rode in the very air inside her office.

She returned to her desk and sat down, the chair squeaking as she did. Maybe someone out in the main part of the trailer had made afternoon coffee. She couldn’t smell it, but she’d love a cup with a lot of sugar.

“I don’t get it,” Squire said, leafing through the pages in his folder. “We have a computer program for this. Every receipt, every purchase, every sale. It just goes into the computer.”

Kelly glanced up, a zing of worry sliding through her. “I don’t have that program on my computer.”

Squire frowned, pulled out his phone, and typed something into it. “I’ll ask Clark about it.”

“Maybe Hector was too old-school.” Kelly didn’t want to speak ill of the dead, but if Three Rivers had invested in financial software, it should be on the accountant’s computer.

“Maybe Hector was a thief,” Squire said bitterly.

Kelly’s heart hurt for him. “We’ll find the money, Squire.” She smiled at him when he looked at her, and she reached across the desk and put her hand on his, squeezing his fingers for only a moment before pulling back.

Awkwardness settled on them as Kelly cursed herself for touching him—again. She needed to stop doing that, especially after their joint confession in the kitchen. She couldn’t encourage his crush on her. That was all he had. A soda pop, boss-like crush.

She opened a spreadsheet and began entering the receipts of purchase she’d found. The Red Barn Cattle Company bought a lot of cow-calves from Three Rivers. But nothing else. No heifers; no bulls.

“Jackpot,” she said near the end of the file. Holding up a piece of paper, she said, “Two thousand eleven. Stuffed way at the back of this file that begins with a two thousand eight receipt and goes backward to nineteen ninety-four. Then suddenly.” She waved the paper. “Two thousand eleven.”

Squire took the page, his face grim, and examined it. “I was in Afghanistan for most of two thousand eleven. I don’t know how things on the ranch were going.”

“Seems no one did,” Kelly reminded him. “We’re going to figure this out. I promise.” She created a new sheet in her computer file and entered the profits from The Red Barn Cattle Company.

Next she found the tax return for 2011. “We’re still ninety thousand dollars short, according to what Hector reported as income for this calendar year.”

Neither of them found anything over the course of the next hour. Kelly finally finished her second folder, closed it, and stacked it against the wall where they’d decided to put the looked-at files.

“Do you think he hid the records on purpose?” Squire asked, setting his own file against the wall.

Kelly stretched her back, moaning with the cascading ache in her spine. “I hate to say it, but yes. Otherwise, they’d be in the tax returns. And they’d be in the right place in the files. They’re not.”

His piercing eyes pinned her to the spot. “Thank you,” he said. “I’m sure this isn’t what you imagined your job to be when you were hired.”

She hadn’t imagined anything, because she hadn’t had a real accounting job before. “It’s a job I desperately need,” she said. “So I should be thanking you.”

Squire drew her into a soft embrace, and she went willingly though her mind was screaming at her to put distance between them. She pressed her cheek to his chest, enjoying the softness of his shirt and the scent of fresh cotton—along with his manly, spicy smell.

His strong arms held her close, and she felt his muscles relax though the hug remained tight.

Kelly’s heartbeat rippled like a flag in a stiff Texas wind, and she disentangled herself. She’d told him she could take care of herself—but against him she had little defense.

“I’m going in for feed tonight,” he said, his eyes like lasers, focused and intense on hers. “Want to meet for dinner?”

There was no mistaking the invitation this time, despite his casual shrug and feigned nonchalance.

“Like I told Ethan, I’m not ready to date, and—”

“It’s not a date,” he said quickly. “I just want to thank you. You’re doing so much for us.”

“Us?” she repeated, tilting her head to the side to study him. Why couldn’t she read him? Did they teach Majors in the Army to be complete enigmas?

He gazed steadily back, one hand tucked in his pants pocket like he hadn’t a care in the world. “Yes, us,” he said. “If you find this money, my parents will be able to retire. You’ll be our savior.”

She heard the sincerity behind his words, but something else lingered there too. She’d wanted him to say she was helping him, but he hadn’t.

“You’re paying me a salary,” she said. “It’s my job.”

“Consider it a bonus.”

Her heart stalled and her throat went dry. Taylor had often called her “his little bonus” at work.

Her stomach swooped, and she thought she might be sick. She shook her head, her resolve hardening with the memory. She would not be Squire’s bonus. “Sorry, I can’t tonight.” She stepped away, opened the drawer where she’d stowed her purse, grabbed it, and headed for the door.

It felt very much like she was fleeing, but Kelly couldn’t stop herself. 

“Kel, wait.” Squire didn’t move to block her, but the pleading tone of his voice was enough to make her pause. “It’s just dinner. It’s not prom.”

“Squire, I just can’t,” she said without turning around. She wanted to use Finn as an excuse—he would be the easiest way out—but she couldn’t. She found her inner well of strength, the place she’d dug down to when she’d discovered the truth about Taylor. It was pretty dry after her outburst in the kitchen, but she still had some guts.

Turning back to Squire, she steadied her nerves with a deep breath. “You’re my boss.” Her words, simple as they were, seemed to stutter the motion of the earth. “And I’ve made that mistake before.”

He started nodding, his jaw tight and his eyes gathering clouds. Kelly was grateful he’d understood what she meant without her having to spell it out.

“Maybe if things were different, then.” His words clipped from his teeth. He’d become a statue. A statue that didn’t move when she took a step nearer to him.

“Maybe.” She ducked her head, her pulse bouncing, bouncing, bouncing through her veins. “But as things stand right now, I simply can’t. I hope you understand.” Kelly didn’t wait for him to respond. She held her head high and walked out.

Outside, the same rolling grasses and blue sky greeted her. She took a deep breath and held it, trying to infuse the wonder and slowness of this place into her lungs, her heart, her very soul.

Once behind the wheel of her car, with her seatbelt securely fastened, she looked back to the administration trailer. Squire hadn’t tried to follow her and cajole her. Of course he wouldn’t. He wasn’t that kind of man.

“Maybe if things were different,” she said wistfully, wishing she’d known it was him who’d asked her to prom. He was two years younger than her, but perhaps they’d have dated throughout the summer. Perhaps things would’ve gone completely different in her life. 

I want to try again. His words rotated through her mind. They hadn’t really tried the first time, but on the drive back to her parents’ house, Kelly couldn’t shake the feeling that she should try for a real relationship with Squire now.

Maybe if things were different.