Taming Clay Read online

  “Isobell, do we have enough coffee to last until the supply run on Friday?”

  Isobell turned from the computer she was working at and nodded. “We do. I’m good until then. I’m just entering some things now but nothing that I need before then.”

  “Okay. Be back later,” she said and finally headed for the door. She skipped down the steps and walked briskly across the yard. She saw more than one hand stop working and watch her. She knew most of them hadn’t seen her and probably had no idea who she was. She smiled and waved at each one and got tipped hats in return. She stepped inside the stable doors and then stopped and closed her eyes taking in a deep breath.

  “Oh, home sweet home,” she murmured then grinned when she heard Laine laughing inside the door on her right.

  “I believe that’s the first time I’ve heard anybody say that about the inside of a stables.”

  “You don’t know how much I’ve missed it. I haven’t been on a horse in two months,” she said as she walked through the office door with a wide smile.

  “Well you definitely weren’t lying. You’re a ranch baby. Are you ready to go?”

  She nodded and waited as he pulled a set of keys off of a pegboard behind him. “I’ll show you where it is. Do you know where you’re going?”

  “I’ll find them. It’s just three places, plus the post office and the electronics place.”

  “Electronics?”

  “Backup hard drives for the server. If anything happens to it…” She trailed off when Laine’s steps slowed and then stopped and he turned to look at her.

  “Holy hell. How could we have not thought about that? Everything’s on that computer.”

  “I know. I’m getting two drives. We’ll swap them out every couple of days and put the one not being used in the safe. God forbid anything should happen, but if it did the most we’d lose would be a couple of days. I wanna talk to him later about using an off-site backup service, but this will do for now.”

  Laine nodded and started walking again then grinned at her and said, “You had him going in there. What’d you do?”

  Hailey chuckled and said, “Oh, he’s just pissed because I told him he should get out of the house and go ride a horse.”

  He burst out laughing just as they reached the truck and opened the door for her then handed her the keys. “Oh, God this is gonna be fun. You’re right, you know. He hates being cooped up in that house. He needs to be outside, out on the range. It would do him good if he did just that. And he really does need to go when we move the cattle. We’ll have to spend two nights in camp to get them there and then get back here. That’s just exactly what he needs.”

  “Truthfully, it’s exactly what I need. Maybe I can be at a point to go. I hope so.”

  “So do I. Have a safe trip,” he said then waved a hand and started away as she started the truck.

  Laine chuckled as he walked back to the stables. He was almost positive that this girl was going to be really, really good for Clay. If there was a woman on earth who could put that man’s feet firmly on the ground, she just might be the one. He walked through the front door and looked up to see Clay saddling his horse down the main aisle. He didn’t even try to hide the grin as he sauntered down to him.

  “Goin’ somewhere?”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Clay growled.

  Laine laughed and went to his office then came back with two bottles of water and held them out to him. Clay finished tightening the cinch on the saddle and dropped the stirrup down in place before he glanced at him. He took the bottles and stowed them in the saddlebags.

  “Thanks. I’ll be back later.”

  “Which way are you headed?”

  “Away from here,” Clay said as he led the horse towards the front.

  Laine reached out and grabbed his arm firmly and didn’t let go when Clay tried to jerk it away. “You know you ain’t leaving these stables until you give me at least a general direction,” he said quietly.

  Clay clenched his jaw then sighed. “North. I thought I’d ride up to Cedar Creek.”

  Laine nodded and released his arm. “Have a good ride.”

  He waited until Clay went through the door before he let the smile show again. “Yes, sir. This just might be fun to watch.”

  Clay breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was in the saddle. He kicked the horse into a canter and rode straight out of the yard. The horse wanted to run. The muscles between his legs were quivering with anticipation. He’d let him, just not yet. First he just wanted to feel the freedom seep through him like warm water. No matter what else was wrong in the world, none of it seemed to be as important from the back of a horse. The longer he rode, the more he could feel the horse’s muscles bunched and ready. He finally smiled when they reached an area that was flat and wide open.

  “Alright, buddy. Let’s go,” he said as he settled his hat lower and loosened his hold on the reins. It didn’t take much urging before the horse practically leapt off the ground in an effort to start a race across the flat surface. Clay bent low over the saddle and let him run, as much for himself as for the horse. When the terrain turned into rolling hills and he could tell the horse was tiring, he reined him back down to a canter then reached down and patted his neck.

  “How was that? Did we get that out of our system for a day? You haven’t lost a step have you?” He left him at a canter for some distance before he slowed him to a walk. They were nearing the area where they would take the steep ascent up through the foothills they were just entering. As he urged the horse to start up he started talking to him.

  “I don’t guess you’ve seen her yet. Her name’s Hailey. And man she’s pretty. I know. Pepper was pretty, too. But Hailey’s different. And she’s smart. Confident. I’ve never met a woman anything like her before. You’ll see. She likes to ride so I know she’s gonna be out there in the stables sometime. You’ll meet her. Then you’ll see what I mean. And she’s got my world kind of…out of balance, I guess. I can’t tell you why exactly, but it’s not spinning around just right. That’s bound to be trouble. Who would have thought that a woman, any woman, could do that in under one day?”

  He snorted softly and shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking. That was different. I fucked up and I did the right thing. That’s not the same thing. No, this one…she’s gonna be trouble. I can feel it coming. But I think she’s gonna be damn good at the job and I need that. So I’m kind of between a rock and a hard place. I need to get her away from here. But I need her here for the ranch. I should have fired Pepper as soon as I decided I couldn’t work with her without needing to try to keep her at arm’s length. I should probably fire this one because I might not be able to work with her without needing to try to keep her closer.”

  He waited until they had cleared a particularly steep area before he leaned forward and looked down at the horse again. “Are you listening to me? Wait until you see her eyes. They’re the most beautiful amethyst color I’ve ever seen. Oh…and you should hear her laugh.”

  * * *

  Hailey took a deep breath as she stepped out of the truck. This was her first stop. The man had given her the most trouble of all the ones she had spoken to. And she wanted to make sure she got the check in his hand first.

  “Can I help you ma’am?”

  “Yes, I need to see Mr. Yates. My name is Hailey Lambert from the Double-C Bar,” she said confidently.

  “Yes, he said you’d be in. My name is Isaac. Follow me,” the young man said and led her to the back of the building then knocked on the door.

  “Yeah.”

  “Ms. Lambert,” Isaac said as he opened the door and motioned for Hailey to go in.

  Hailey walked in and extended her hand. “Hello, Mr. Yates. It’s nice to put a face with a name. I’m Hailey Lambert.”

  “You’ve got that check?”

  “Yes, sir. Right here. I can’t tell you how sorry we are that this happened.” Hailey calmly drew back the empty hand that he had not even
bothered to acknowledge, much less shake and held out the check instead.

  “When Clayton died, I knew Clay wasn’t going to be able to make a go of that ranch without his daddy there to guide him. This is just the first step on a downhill slide, I’m sure,” he said as he took the check from Hailey’s hand and then dropped it in his desk drawer.

  “I assure you that it won’t happen again, Mr. Yates. The last business manager he had was…lax in her duties. As soon as Mr. Cardell discovered that he rectified the situation immediately.”

  Yates blew out a disgusted laugh and said, “Already got you toeing the Cardell line, huh? That was fast. He just fired Pepper three days ago.”

  Hailey tilted her head slightly and frowned. “Do you know Pepper? That surprises me since she never made a payment to you.”

  “She’s local. Yeah, I know her. He was a damn fool for hiring her in the first place. His daddy never would have let that happen.”

  She needed to get out. Her temper was rising and a loose mouth was sure to follow. “You’ll find that our payments will always be prompt in the future. I look forward to working with you.”

  “You’d be better off to cut your losses and get the hell out of there. Clay Cardell isn’t half the man his daddy was, with a sour attitude and manners to match.”

  “As opposed to yours?” Hailey snapped.

  “Oh, I don’t compare to his surly personality. He grew up with a chip on his shoulder and it got bigger every year.”

  “I believe that’s probably debatable, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to do that. You have your check. If our line of credit is still open, then you’ll have the next order on Friday. Is it open or not?” Hailey asked evenly.

  “Yeah, it’s open. But it won’t be if he’s ever late again. And you tell him I said so.”

  “Thank you. Good day,” she said coolly and started through the door.

  “You’ve got spunk. You ever get tired of beatin’ a dead horse, you give me a call. I can find a job that would be just perfect for you,” Yates called after her as she let the door slam behind her.

  She stalked silently through the aisle until she passed Isaac. “Found him to be pleasant, right?”

  Hailey wheeled on him then bit her tongue when she found a sympathetic smile on the man’s face.

  “I found him to be a perfect ass,” she snapped then closed her eyes when she realized for the first time that the young man standing in front of her was the spitting image of the one she’d just left.

  “Oh, damn. And he’s your father. I am so sorry.”

  Isaac chuckled slightly and said, “Trust me. So am I. You have a good day. I’ll see you on Friday.”

  Hailey opened her eyes slowly and found a pair of friendly eyes watching her. “Oh, this is turning out to be just the best day. Yeah. I’ll see you on Friday,” she finally said quietly then quickly turned and walked down the aisle then through the front door.

  Chapter Four

  “You idiot,” she hissed as soon as she was outside then had to bite her lip when the man who had just walked past her turned around and looked back at her in amusement.

  “Honest, ma’am. Whatever it was I did, I didn’t mean it,” he said then flashed a wide smile and started back on his way down the sidewalk.

  Hailey burst out laughing and started for the truck. She waited until she was inside the truck before she started berating herself again for letting the snide bastard get under her skin. Her mouth could have easily lost the account and Clay would have been justifiably furious. At least that was over. The other two had been much nicer about what had happened. Anxious to get their checks, but nice about it. Surely the day would only get better from there.

  And it had. Briefly. The next two stops had gone easy enough. The other five checks were in the mail. But then she had hit one of those nerdy sixteen-year-old salesmen at the electronics store. When she had argued with him over the price he had finally had to call the manager.

  “Ma’am. That is the Internet price. That is not the price in the store.”

  “So you’re telling me that I can buy two drives at a price of fifty dollars cheaper apiece on the Internet than I can right here with cash money.”

  “Yes, ma’am. There’s shipping, and…”

  “Sir. Do I look like a fool to you? I looked at ordering it online. Even with the shipping cost it’s still forty dollars cheaper per drive than the price you’re giving me. I’ll pay the same thing that I would have paid if I had ordered it from your website and not one penny more.”

  The condescending smile had sent her temper into overdrive. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t do that.”

  “Okay. The supercenter across town will,” she snapped and spun around then walked away.

  “Ma’am. Ma’am. Wait. The drives that they have aren’t…”

  “Don’t you even try. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I know exactly what I’m buying and I know exactly how to use it. I swear to God. Why do men think that women have absolutely no idea how to do anything past flipping on a light switch? You either sell me those drives at the price stated on the Internet plus shipping or you’ll lose the sale on not just that but the upgrades that I plan to suggest in the near future. It’s that simple. You’ve got ten seconds to make up your mind,” she hissed.

  She was still seething when she left the store with the two drives under her arm and the change in her pocket. She slammed the door when she got in and made herself take a deep breath before she stuck the key in the ignition then turned it. She let the breath back out slowly as she turned the key off then back on again. Not one sound.

  “I’ll be goddamned,” she muttered then shoved the door open, stepped out and slammed it then kicked the side of the truck. She jerked the phone off her belt and called the only number she could. The one she called for the interview.

  “Isobell, I need to speak with either Clay or Laine. How do I do that?” she said evenly.

  “Hailey, are you okay? You sound…”

  “Isobell, please. I have had the worst…please, tell me how to talk to one of them.”

  “Okay. Hold on. Clay’s out riding but I can ring Laine from here. Just stay on the line.”

  She paced back and forth beside the truck as she waited.

  “Hailey? What’s wrong?”

  “Laine, tell me how to start this fucking truck,” she said lowly.

  Laine burst out laughing and then said, “Damn, I’m sorry. I should have remembered to tell you. Open the hood.”

  Hailey jerked the door open and released the hood of the old truck then stalked around to the front and opened it. “Okay.”

  “Okay. Under the seat, there’s a black stick. Go get it.”

  She walked back to the side and rummaged around under the seat until she found it then walked back to the front.

  “Uh…Hailey? Just exactly how mad are you?”

  “You don’t want to know. Tell me what to do,” she snapped.

  “Oh, man. Okay. On the left side, there’s a black box. You need to tap that a couple of times with that stick. And, Hailey…don’t break it. Just tap it.”

  She ground her teeth together and rapped the stick against the box then walked back to the truck and reached inside then turned the key. When it cranked right up she let out the breath of relief.

  “Thank you. I’m headed back,” she said then snapped the phone closed without saying anything else.

  Laine laughed and looked at the phone in his hand. “Perfect. What a temper. That’s perfect.”

  * * *

  Clay stopped and stood silently outside the office door. Laine was laughing and Hailey was relating what had happened in the store.

  “And then I walked out and that stupid truck wouldn’t start. Kind of took the air out of that argument about a woman knowing how to do more than flip a light switch,” she said angrily.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know it’s not funny, but…it’s funny. I gotta tell you, I was
holding my breath waiting on you to tap that box. As mad as you were I could see you beatin’ that thing into little pieces,” Laine said then started laughing again.

  “Don’t you have something to do? Go away and leave me alone,” Hailey snapped but then had to laugh herself when that made Laine laugh even harder.