“Nah. I was good. More worried than anythin’. You know how Caleb gets sometimes when he wants somethin’,” Andrew said.
“Wants somethin’?” I asked.
“Nothin’. Forget about it. Longhorn been brushed lately? And when’d you last clean his hooves?”
“Cleaned ‘em when I got in, but he hasn’t been brushed,” I said.
“I’ll take care of that before I saddle ’im up.”
There was this odd sort of tension between us now. It wasn’t angry, but it was palpable. I didn’t really know how to explain it, but it was uncomfortable, and I was glad for the people that started arriving to ride. The kids were running down the hill, and the parents looked like they were nursing the worst hangovers alive. But I knew once people got to us, they’d know something was up.
So, I decided to clear the air before the families got all the way to us.
“Andrew?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“The hell’s wrong with you?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been actin’ strange these past couple of days. Tense. Ornery. More so than usual. What gives?”
“Just tired,” Andrew said. “Y’all dropped the ball on a lot of the shit for last night. Spent my entire afternoon cleanin’ up the slack y’all dropped.”
“It’s more than that,” I said. “I know you.”
“I could be askin’ you the same question,” he said as he turned to me. “What gives with you? And Katie? I see the looks you’re givin’ her. The looks you gave her last night.”
“The looks I’m givin’ her? You got a problem with how I look at people now?” I asked.
“When it comes to Katie, sure. She’s been through enough the past few days. I don’t think she needs some asshole undressin’ her with his eyes,” he said.
“Asshole? You have no idea what that woman’s done the past few days. What goes on between Katie and me ain’t none of your damn business.”
The kids’ laughter was drawing closer as Andrew and I glared at one another. Was he fucking serious? Did he think he could talk to me like that about Katie? Insinuate something about how Katie’d been feeling these past few days? Fucker had no damn clue what had gone on the past couple of days with us. He had no right to fucking tell me Katie wasn’t ready.
I knew Katie was ready.
She was ready when it came to me.
“Come on,” Andrew said. “The kids are almost here, and you still gotta saddle Midnight.”
“Get to brushin’ Longhorn and keep ya damn eyes to yourself,” I said.
CHAPTER 13
DYLAN
When Caleb brought Katie in this morning for work, I was a bit surprised. I figured he would’ve at least run the position by me, given I handle the desk as well as the finances, but that was his position. He handled not only logistics of building and what animals went where, but who to hire and where to place them. He handed me the paperwork Katie signed at the family reunion last night and told me to process it, then get to training her on how we ran things at the resort.
So, I did.
So far, Katie was being a big help. I hovered over her shoulder while she checked in the members of our family that would be staying the weekend, and she caught on quickly. By the time the tenth family checked in, she was doing it on her own without any prompting or questions asked.
I was impressed by her.
Having Katie around was really going to help, especially with this new Charleston installation. We were creeping close to the start date of construction, and there was still much to do. And with Katie at the helm dealing with customers and their attitudes, it freed me up to run finances like I needed to. I could stay on top of Caleb to make sure he got me the information I needed to send to the construction company, and that meant we’d be able to make our deadline.