Efrem Read Free

the foal that was now doing a little stagger-step in the space behind her. The stall, like the others in the maternity barn, was over-large. There were overhead fans, padded walls, and thermometers in each one. Each stall had a door to the center aisle of the barn, and an outside door leading to the small paddock that ranged the length of the building. Each door inside the barn had a place for a temporary nameplate. The six stalls were all on the east side of the building with tack and equipment rooms at both ends. Lisa was very proud of this barn, and not just because she designed it. It was perfect for its function, and that pleased her almost as much as the comfort of her mares.
    With an operation the size of this ranch, function and form had to go hand in hand. Efficiency had saved the ranch after her beloved grandfather’s nineteenth-century methods almost bankrupted it. Lisa had hated to have to change everything her grandfather loved, but he’d finally come around to her way of thinking as the red ink in the ledgers was slowly replaced by a bold black ink that meant survival of the ranch, if not the original methods. She sighed heavily, wishing he were still here.
    “Something wrong, honey?”
    Lisa stiffened. “No. I was just thinking about Grandpa.”
    “He was a great old guy. Almost killed him when you started changing things around here.”
    She turned to face him. The honey she would ignore, but the criticism was uncalled for.
    “He saw what the changes did for the ranch. He was glad to see it prosperous again.” She didn’t mean to sound so defensive, but Dan hit too close to home.
    “He didn’t take to change too good.” Dan leaned against the stall door.
    Lisa stared at him. Dan had been with the ranch a long time. He was only a few years older than her and had become foreman after many years as a ranch hand. Dan and her grandfather thought a lot alike, but while her grandfather had come to accept the necessity of the changes that Lisa’s animal husbandry degree brought to the ranch, Dan never had.
    “And you do?” said Lisa sarcastically.
    Dan looked over his shoulder at her. He smiled. “I like change. When it’s for the best.”
    “You mean, what’s best for you.”
    He crossed his arms across his chest, his smug smile securely in place. “And what’s best for you, honey.”
    Lisa grimaced. “I’ve asked you not to call me that.”
    “It’s just a little endearment.”
    “I know what it is.”
    “Then you shouldn’t mind when I call you honey, honey .”
    Lisa changed the subject.
    “I have a computer guy coming on Sunday to show me how to use the computer. I won’t be able to do many chores.”
    “Where’d the computer guy come from?”
    “I met him online while I was trying to get the e-mail program to work.”
    Dan lost his smile. “You invited a stranger you met on the computer to come to the ranch?”
    Lisa’s stomach clenched a little. She’d read about men who met women in chat rooms then lured them into all sorts of nasty situations. But she would strangle herself with her own tongue before admitting to Dan the same thought had crossed her own mind.
    “The man is a professional. He works for the company I bought the computer from and agreed to help me out for a few hours. Nothing wrong with that.” She turned and started out of the barn.
    “A professional? You mean a computer nerd.”
    Dan laughed his I’m-a-lot-smarter-than-you laugh as she walked off without replying. She hoped the computer geek didn’t run into Dan on Sunday.
    “Hey!” Dan shouted. She stopped but didn’t turn around.
    “Don’t forget the new ranch hand gets here on Sunday, too.”
    Lisa muttered a curse under her breath. She’d forgotten about that.
    “I’ll meet him. Bring him to the house after you show him around.” She walked off toward the house.
     
    * * * *
     
    Dawn light filtered through the curtains. Lisa lay with her eyes closed. She stretched and rolled from