So that’s how they wake you up, I think ruefully as I jump out of bed, my entire body shocked by the intense sound that echoes down the hall.
I scurry to my chest of drawers. We were told to dress for a day of outside work this morning. Ugh. I knew when my parents and I picked this program that it would entail a great deal of time spent in nature, but I’m still miserable at the prospect. I’ve never been much of an outdoorsy type of gal.
Then again, if we’re going to be laboring under what promises to be a hot midday sun, I might get to see Stanton and Shane all sweaty and glistening, their muscles bulging from exertion. That would be nice.
Excited, I get dressed quickly, thinking that this whole ranch life might not be so bad after all, but everything changes after breakfast because this place is a real labor camp. After finishing our meal of eggs, bacon and fruit, Shane and Stanton line us up like troops before a battle. They escort us to an apple orchard, which is beautiful with its rows of leafy green trees and pleasant-smelling sod. Soft, juicy looking fruit dangles from branches, just like in the Garden of Eden.
But we’re not in Eden, we’re at the Lazy R. With all the other girls, I stare at the lines and lines of ripe fruit, wondering what we’re doing here, but it’s not long before our mission becomes clear.
“Hard labor is good for the body,” Stanton smirks a bit. “And it’s also good for the mind. What many of you need to learn is discipline and patience.”
“As well as focus,” Shane adds mildly. “This morning, and for as long as it takes today, you will be harvesting apples. It’s delicate work, because you don’t want to bruise the fruit, yet you want to move fast. But I know you’ll do a great job.”
“All of these apples?” one of the girls, Lydia, gasps, her eyes wide. “But there are so many! It’ll take a year at least!”
Stanton merely shakes his head.
“It seems impossible,” he says in a smooth tone. “But teamwork, determination, and believing in yourself are all you need to get this job done.”
As the brothers continue to speak, a few ranch hands approach the group and begin distributing buckets and strange-looking nets.
“We’ll come around to the different areas and make sure you actually know how to pick apples,” Shane remarks. “But this is it, ladies. Sally forth and ask if you have questions.”
Sighing, I take a bucket and a set of hand clippers from a nearby ranch hand, not looking forward to this chore one bit. A few moments later, us girls are scattered among the trees, getting to work on the daunting task ahead of us. A giggle distracts me from my work for a moment and my shoulders go rigid.
Karina, I acknowledge grumpily.
I finally learned the name of the blonde girl from dinner and she is indeed as awful as she appeared to be at first glance. Throughout that first dinner as a group, Karina dominated the conversation, complaining about the meal, and ranting incessantly about how we should all be careful about our weight. It was so inappropriate! We’re at a labor camp. Everyone should eat as much as they want just to meet their caloric needs, otherwise they might pass out.
But this woman is a piece of work. She talked incessantly about rice water diets and the benefits of using snail-oil as part of your daily facial cleansing regimen. Again, I wanted to roll my eyes. We’re at a ranch in a remote area of Wyoming. There’s no way fancy lotions are appropriate right now.
Currently, Karina is talking to Shane and Stanton, who appear to be showing her the difference between ripe and unripe apples. I watch the interaction from beneath my lashes, annoyed that the blonde girl is flirting but realizing with equal dismay that I don’t really have any claim on the two brothers either.
Unfortunately, Karina is attractive, even if I hate to acknowledge that fact. The stick-thin blonde is wearing a short mini skirt and a tight scoop sweater that reveals the top of her tiny boobs. She keeps flicking her hair over her shoulder and wiggling her whole body when she laughs. At one point, Karina perches one of her legs on the bottom rung of a ladder, and even from my angle, I can tell that’s she flashing her panties at Stanton and Shane, batting her lashes as she does so.
As I watch, she holds their gazes and then casually runs a finger between her thighs, stroking over that soft mound. It’s so fast that when I blink, it’s over. But I know it wasn’t a mirage. Karina is coming onto the brothers in the middle of an apple orchard, and I feel my mouth drop open, completely enraged by her antics. I start to stomp down my ladder to give her a good dressing down when I catch Stanton’s gaze with my own. He shakes his head subtly and throws me a look that says, Stay where you are. I can handle this.