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Chance agrees with her, or maybe it’s the setting sun that has him aching for the barn and dinner. He trots forward five steps, but I rein him in and pull him to a stop.
“What do you need? You let me know, and maybe I can help.”
She draws in a deep breath and holds it in her cheeks like she’s a puffer fish. The air pops out with a wheeze. If she weren’t so serious, I’d probably laugh. “What? Like my wish list?”
“Yeah.” Chance snorts at me, but I ignore him. “If you could list it all off, what would you need?”
“You asked for it.” She holds up her open hand and ticks off her requests on her fingers. “I need a job. I need a place to stay where I can lay low for a bit. I need some sleep. I need food terribly, but I’d settle for some clean water to drink. Don’t even get me started on a shower.” She shifts on the hood, glaring at her crashed car. At least the smoke slowed down. “And I need this gone, never to be found again.”
I’ve been known to come up with some hair-brained schemes in my day. Usually stick my foot in things without thinking, especially if I get to be a hero. Dad won’t like it, but if I have a shot to fix things for her, shouldn’t I?
“What’s your name?”
Blue eyes stare back at me, unblinking. “I don’t have one.”
“Everyone has a name.” I pat my horse’s neck. “This is Chance. And you are?”
“Nameless.” She chews on the inside of her cheek. “It’s unfortunate, really.”
I believe that as much as I believe her smoking car is marine ready.
“Let’s try this again.” I press my hand over my chest. “My name is Everett. Everyone calls me Rhett.”
She puts a finger against her lips like she’s thinking. “Nameless. Sorry.”
Girl thinks she’s met her match, but she doesn’t know me from Adam. I’ve seen this behavior before, walls up and not willing to let anyone in, and I’m not giving into her games. She wants to hide, that’s fine, but we need to get down to brass tacks about it all.
“We’ll circle back to that one.” Sand catches my dismount from my horse. “I know I can get you some sleep. We’ve got a bunkhouse not far from here. I’m sure Cookie made too much food, that’ll solve that. Any chance you’re good at cleaning? Washing dishes? Gardening even?”
She shakes her head, timid for the first time. “Sorry, not really my forte.”
“Horses? You any good with horses?” It’s a long shot. People don’t grow up on ranches like I did. I’m more comfortable in a saddle than I would ever be at a computer.
Her jaw shifts side to side. “I can hold my own.”
“What have you done?”
“Tell me what the job is, and I’ll tell you if I can do it.”
It’s like trying to catch a moody mare in pasture. Every time I think she’s in my grasp, she slips on out again.
“Why won’t you tell me what you’ve done? Why does that matter?”
Her gaze drifts to the water. The sun has maybe four minutes left before it’s gone for the day. Any second, I’ll hear my mom ringing the bell looking for me to get back.
Reason wins the war, and she speaks. “I don’t want to tell you because if you know, you might figure out my name. I’m not ready for that yet.”
I give a slow nod because I get it. Only so many ranches. Only so many specialties. Wouldn’t be hard to track her origins if I knew those specialties. For whatever reason, she’s not ready to be found out.
“We’re looking for a groom. Can you handle that?” I wait but she gives no inclination. “We’re needing someone to clean the horses up, get them ready, muck stalls, clean waters, all the hard labor. You’ve got experience?”
“Yes.” She slides off the hood, feet firm on the ground for the first time. “I can manage all that.”
“And more, I wager.” But she doesn’t confirm my guess. I lead Chance to a cypress and tie up his lead. “That only leaves the Bugmarine.”
At least I get a little peek at that smile. “Too bad I didn’t pay extra for the self-destruct button.”
“Let’s see if we can at least get it back in the trees. Then no one will see it from the road.”
