Page 27 of Taming the Wild Cowboy

Do you have equine experience? Do your skills align with this job posting …

She answered the questions carefully, truthfully, while not quite able to chase a question of her own out of her head.

Will the Benningtons blacklist you?

A chance she had to take. Both the jobs were with guest ranches, one close to the Canadian border and one near the southern end of Flathead Lake. After finishing those applications, she did a quick search for something in the Marietta area to tide her over after she finished her stint at the Tree Fork.

Nothing jumped out at her. She wasn’t qualified to be a teacher’s aide, and she had no retail experience. Nor did she know how to wait tables or cut meat.

She knew how to handle horses.

That said, lack of experience be damned, she also applied for the job with the Main Street Diner and did the same with the retail jobs at the bridal boutique and Big Z’s. The retail jobs were part-time only, but she’d take what she could get. She had mouths to feed. She didn’t think she could fake being a butcher.

She glanced at the time then made a face. She had to get situated at her camp spot before it got dark. Packing up her half-charged computer, she slid into her coat and headed to the door, only to stop when a familiar voice called her name. She turned to see Shay Crawford. The woman smiled and waved her over. In her early thirties with a sleek blond bob and dark-framed glasses, she looked every inch the efficient household manager that kept the Sweet Water Ranch guest program running smoothly.

“How are you doing?” she asked when Maclyn approached the table where she had a laptop and a few reference books.

“I found a job.” Mac answered the question she assumed Shay was really asking. “Not at the feed store, but because of my stop there.” She quickly explained how she’d come to be hired on the Tree Fork Ranch. “So … thanks for the lead.”

“Excellent. I think they miss you there. The Benningtons.”

“They’ll have to keep doing that, because I’d never go back.”

“I’m looking, too,” Shay confided. “I enjoy the guests, but during the off-season, when I’m the only household employee, I get tired of, well …” She looked around to see if anyone was in earshot. “I get tired of their attitude. Like they’re better because they’re on a higher social rung.”

“They run a dude ranch. It isn’t like they’re royalty or anything.”

Shay laughed. “I’ll remember that next time Robyn Bennington looks down her nose at me.”

Maclyn laughed, then glanced to the door. “My dog is in the truck, and I need to scoot, but please, keep in contact. Let me know if you break free.”

Shay promised to do just that.

Truthfully, Maclyn would have probably stayed on at the guest ranch for years. Full-time wrangler jobs were hard to come by, but she’d lucked out and for the most part, the Benningtons hadn’t messed with her. Until that horse broke its leg.

It was growing twilight when Maclyn pulled into the campground and parked next to the fire ring. She let Raisin out of the truck and then opened her backpack to pull out the sweatsuit she slept in. She’d just started unbuttoning her shirt when she heard a vehicle and froze. A few seconds later, headlights swept over her.

She did not want to share this camping space, which meant she might be in search of another if this person planned on staying. Raisin popped out of the brush, and she scooped up her dog as the truck came to a stop. A whisper of relief went through when she realized that the flatbed truck belonged to the Tree Fork Ranch. Trev shut off the headlights and stepped out of the truck before she had a chance to do up her buttons properly.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, holding her shirt closed with one hand.

“Had a tip that someone was trespassing.”

Her cheeks flushed. “I don’t understand.”

“This area is part of the Tree Fork Ranch.”

“This is your property? I thought it was Forest Service.” She pointed to the fire ring with the blackened diamond iron grill over it and the picnic table and metal trash receptacle. “It’s set up for camping.”

“Yeah. Hayes and I made the fire ring when we were still in grade school, and we don’t know who dropped off the table, but we used it a lot as kids.”

Maclyn’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t know.”

“I thought you were getting a room.”

She hadn’t exactly been caught in a lie, because she hadn’t told him that she was still staying in a motel. She might have let him make assumptions, but guessing his thoughts was above her pay grade.

“Rooms are expensive, Trev. Especially with pets.”