Page 8 of The Boss

Her eyelashes flutter as she looks up at me. "It really does." Then she frowns. "Even though I have to leave so soon."

I hand her the coffee, then indicate that she should join me at the table and we sit. "You said that your uncle is your boss. Do you love your job?"

Her head shakes emphatically. "No.” Then she smiles. It feels like a beam of early morning light piercing my heart. "I really do like the paperwork. Billing and invoicing. Tracking everything. It's kinda meditative." Her smile drops. "But dealing with my uncle, my father, and the pushy, greedy clients turns my stomach."

I don't ever want my girl to do something that makes her squint in frustration like that.

"I'm just spitballing here. Those two are up to no good, and you want no part of it, but because they’re family, you feel you can't say anything?" She nods. Leaning back, my fingers idly drum on the table. "Now, normally if a situation like this came up, I'd set my private investigator on them, so I knew who was digging into my town and you could make an informed decision about continuing to be associated with them or not."

“I already know that if I had a choice, I'd get a job far away from them."

Music to my ears.

"Angel, I would never put you in any situation that wasn't your choice." Reaching out, I take her hand, loving how eagerly she grips my fingers. "Also, I would never send a female employee to go speak to strange ranchers on her own. I wouldn't even send a man alone. You always send people in pairs, for safety.”

"That makes sense. But everyone else was busy. And I think Uncle David thought that I could just wander in looking innocent, and people would tell me anything."

"And what did you learn from this whole situation?"

Etta grins, straightening up. "If this is how they treat me, my family are assholes and I don't want anything to do with them."

"Good. And?"

"I don't believe working for family is necessarily a comfortable way to live. They were just trying to manipulate me. So I need to find a job somewhere far away from them."

“Fantastic. Anything else?"

She looks at me carefully. "It would make it easier to avoid them if I were to move to a different town." Her head drops. "I don't want to be presumptuous or anything, but, um, would you like it if I found an apartment in, say, Rusty Hill?"

Absolutely fucking not. You’re moving in with me immediately.

Hmm. Maybe not. I don't want to scare her off. "Yes, I’d want you to stay close,” I say carefully. “I’ll help you every way I can."

Her smile falters. "I don't know if I’ll get any job references from my family. They're going to freak out when I quit. My phone was already blowing up this morning.”

"They were worried about you because of the storm?"

She laughs. "No way. They’re just obsessed with scooping up the Jensen farm."

"Well, they can't do that. But for now…" I drain my coffee, then stand. "What if I put on a shirt, and then the two of us went to the main building to get you some documentable job experience?"

She jumps to her feet, her big blue eyes widening. "Really?"

“Really. You wouldn't believe all the supplies we have to order, with invoices and deliveries to coordinate, and all other kinds of junk."

Leaning in, I pull her against me with an arm. "Another little secret here at Bone River Ranch – we order from various suppliers, partly to share the wealth, and also so that nobody knows exactly how many animals we have here."

"Why would that have to be a secret?"

“You'll find out, angel."

5

ETTA

I’ve always loved feeling productive, but out here on the ranch it feels more important. Like I'm working for something real, not just abstract numbers on a computer screen.

I’m so glad Boss gave me some real work. Not just so I can feel that I’m earning my keep, but also for the reference. He gave me a list of tasks and said to do whatever I wanted on the list. And he’s paying me in cash!