Jenny (10 page)

"Yes, and if Cole asks about the bills, I'll tell him.
But until he does, I'm not offering any information."

"I'm sure he'll think it's a brilliant idea when he
finds out," Evelyn said encouragingly.

Jenny didn't agree with her, but said nothing. There
would be plenty of time later to argue the point.

"When do you want to get started?"

"First thing in the morning," she said with determination. "The sooner I get to work on the repairs,
the sooner the Lazy S Guest Ranch is going to be
ready to open for customers."

Tired as she was, Jenny stayed up late that night.
She was too excited to think about sleeping. She
wrote a long letter to her friend Rose, explaining
everything and inviting her to come and visit. Rose
was quite a force in her prestigious social set back in
Philadelphia, and Jenny was sure that she could be
instrumental in encouraging others to come to the
Lazy S to enjoy a real Wild West adventure. Word of mouth was a powerful thing, and she had already
learned how curious Easterners were about anything
Western.

Jenny was up with the dawn. She rummaged
through the old clothes in the back of her closet until
she'd found just what she was looking for-a pair of
boy's pants and a work shirt. Before she'd gone away
to school, she'd worn them regularly whenever she
worked with her father around the ranch.

Jenny tugged on the clothes and felt a sense of
freedom at being so clad again. There was something
very liberating about wearing pants, especially when
she was riding astride. She wondered why more
women didn't just defy convention and wear them.
She thought of her friend Rose then and knew she
would be scandalized at the thought of a female wearing men's pants. Jenny smiled, thinking of how much
fun it would be to scandalize Rose when she came to
the ranch.

After eating a quick breakfast, Jenny headed out to
the bunkhouse to assess the repairs that needed to be
done and to make a list of the supplies she'd need to
complete them. The deteriorating building definitely
needed a substantial amount of work, but she felt she
was up to it. The roof was in poor shape, and a window needed to be replaced. After serious consideration, Jenny decided she could partition the building
off, giving the women their own private quarters. The
bunkhouse was big enough to accommodate both the
men and the women with separate entrances.

Her decision made, Jenny wrote out the list of materials she needed. She sought out one of the hands
and sent him into town to pick them up and to mail
her letter off to Rose. With any luck, Jenny hoped
that by the time she heard from her friend, the improvements to the bunkhouse would be completed.

"Jenny! What in heaven's name are you wearing?"
Evelyn exclaimed as Jenny came back inside the
house. It was the first time Evelyn had seen her that
morning, and she was shocked by the sight of her
niece wearing pants.

Jenny grinned at her. "I've got a lot of hard work
to do today, so I dressed for it."

"But pants? That's scandalous!" Evelyn was still
staring at her, aghast.

"In Philadelphia, yes, but here it's actually very
practical, Aunt Evelyn. I used to wear them all the
time."

"Thank God you never wore them at school!"

"I was tempted a few times, believe me," she
laughed. "And after a few more weeks of living here
with me, I bet I can convince you to start wearing
them, too. They're really very comfortable."

Evelyn only looked stricken at the thought of being
caught wearing men's pants. "But aren't you the least
concerned that someone might see you-"

"No, Aunt Evelyn, I'm not," she said more gently
as she kissed her aunt on the cheek. "I'm home now,
and this is how I dress when I've got work to do. I don't have time to worry about what other people
might say. I've got a ranch to run."

Evelyn watched her walk off down the hall, and in
spite of herself, she found she was smiling. Jenny had
certainly grown into a woman who knew her own
mind.

Cole had no idea what was going on at the Lazy S,
but he was bound and determined to find out. He'd
thought he and Jenny had had an understanding about
the way to handle things that she would come to
him and clear any expenditures with him before she
bought anything. It had only been a week since he'd
spoken with her, but judging from the sizable bill he'd
just received, she had decided to take care of things
on her own without bothering to consult him.

Cole couldn't imagine why Jenny thought she
needed all the building supplies she'd purchased. Her
house was in good shape, and so was the stable the
last time he'd checked. He could think of no logical
reason for the expenses she'd incurred.

His mood was positively surly. He really didn't want to go to the Lazy S.He really didn't want to
see her again.

As the ranch house came into view, to Cole's surprise he spotted two people working on the roof of
one of the outbuildings. He continued on, trying to
make out who the people were and what they were
doing. He reined in abruptly when he realized one of
the workers was Jenny.

There was no mistaking her.

Even though it had been two years since he'd last
seen her so clad, there was no forgetting the way she
looked wearing pants. And that was what she had on
today a tight-fitting pair of trousers just like she
used to wear all the time before she'd gone back East
to school.

Unbidden heat surged through Cole. Watching her
brought it all back the passion he had felt for her,
the way he'd ached with wanting her-The way he'd
denied himself waiting for their wedding night. He
had loved her so...

Cole swore to himself as he pushed those memories
aside.

What the hell was Jenny doing up on that roof?
Was she trying to get herself killed?

He urged his horse to a gallop and charged forward,
determined to get her down before she fell and hurt
herself.

Jenny heard the sound of a rider coming and
looked up.

"Looks like we've got some company," she told
Tom Wilson, who was helping her. He was the youngest hand on the Lazy S, and Louis had delegated
him to work with her on the roof repairs.

"Isn't that Cole Randall?"

"Yes, and I don't know why he's in such a hurry.
I hope nothing's wrong."

They both stopped their work and moved closer to
the roof's edge to wait for him to draw near.

"What are you doing up on the roof, woman?" Cole
demanded harshly as he reined in before them. He
ignored Tom, fixing his angry gaze directly on Jenny.

His unprovoked verbal assault irritated Jenny. She
faced him defiantly, glaring down at him.

"I'm working," she answered sarcastically. "What
did you think I was doing?"

Had he been in a more conciliatory mood, Cole
would have thought she looked like an avenging angel, but he was too furious to harbor any gentler
thoughts.

"That's what you've got hired help for! Get down
from there right now!" It was an order.

Jenny bristled at his tone of command. He had no
authority over her. He might be the executor of the
will, but he wasn't her boss. She was her own boss.
She was the one running the Lazy S, and she was
doing what needed to be done to save the place. That
was all that mattered to her.

"Tom's been helping me," she answered. "He was
the only hand Louie could spare, and we both know there's no extra money to hire more help."

"Well, get down and I'll finish it for you," he dictated as he dismounted and started toward the ladder.

"There's no need for you to help. Tom and I can
do it. In fact, we're almost done. This is our second
day."

Cole stood near the foot of the ladder and looked
the building over. It was in poor condition. It was
very obvious no one had lived in it for quite a while.

"Why are you wasting your time and money fixing
this place up? You don't need it for anything."

"Oh, yes, I do," she told him. Then she looked at
her helper. "Tom, why don't you go get us another
bucket of nails? I left them just inside the barn door."

"Yes, ma'am." The youth climbed down from the
roof and hurried off, leaving her alone with Cole.

Cole decided to take a look at the work they'd been
doing. He climbed the ladder to survey their handiwork.

Jenny wasn't sure why he was coming up to the
roof, and she took an uneasy step backward to keep
the distance between them.

"Does our work meet with your approval?" she
asked when she noticed that he seemed to be inspecting what they'd done.

"Not too bad a job," was all he said, though he was
impressed that she knew how to repair a roof. "If
you're not hiring any new hands and don't need an
extra bunkhouse, what are you planning to use this
for?"

Jenny had been waiting for just that question. "It's
going to be my guest house," she announced with
pride. "I've decided to turn the Lazy S into a paying
guest ranch."

"A what?"

"A guest ranch," she repeated with dignity. "There
are any number of people back East who would willingly pay a lot of money to stay here for a few days."

"Are you crazy? This is a working cattle ranch."

`Exactly, and that's what people want to see. They
read about ranches all the time, but few ever get to
really experience what it's like in the `Wild West.'
They want to understand how a ranch really works. I
can give them a taste of that right here on the Lazy
S, and I can make money doing it."

"It won't work," he said disparagingly.

"Oh, yes, it will! You'll see. Besides"-she sobered and looked him straight in the eye-"what have
I got to lose by trying? I had to come up with a new
idea. After what the banker said about how low the
cash reserve was, I had to think of a quick way to
make some real money."

"Which brings me to the reason why I'm here today," he interrupted her. "The bill I got---"

"Was for the materials I need to transform this
bunkhouse into more accommodating quarters for my
paying guests," she said finishing his sentence for
him. "I know it's a lot of money, but think of it as
an investment. I've always heard that when you're in
business, you have to spend money to make money."

Cole was staring at Jenny thoughtfully, seeing a
side of her he'd never seen before. He'd always
known she was an intelligent woman, but he'd never
known that she had any business sense.

"And just what makes you think this wild idea of
yours is going to make any money?"

"All the talk I heard while I was back in school! If
it was any indication of the way people really feel
about coming out West, once I start renting the
rooms, we're going be full of travelers all year
round."

"You really believe there are people who would
pay money to stay here?"

"Oh, yes. In fact, I've already written to my friend
Rose and invited her to come and visit for a week or
so. She's quite the social butterfly in Philadelphia, and
once she goes back home and starts to talk about her
trip, she'll get the word out nicely for us. Then, once
the guests start arriving, the sky's the limit to what
we can do at the Lazy S Guest Ranch."

"You really believe that?"

"Yes." She met his gaze straight on. She refused to
let him know how afraid she was that he would block
her efforts. She knew Cole could stop her if he chose
to, and knowing how he really felt about her, she was
afraid he would try to ensure her failure. "This is my
home, Cole. I can't lose it. I won't lose it. I'm going
to do everything in my power to keep it going and
to make it a success."

Cole fell silent for a moment, considering the con straints of her financial situation. The bill for supplies
was a big one, but her sentiments were so real and so
heartfelt that he found he couldn't refuse her. He had
serious doubts about her idea, but he knew what he
had to do: he would pay the bill out of his own pocket
and not mention it to anyone. What Jenny didn't
know couldn't hurt her.

"Cole?" she said after a long moment. "Are you
going to go along with me on this? I really think I
can make it work."

His expression was unreadable as he answered
gruffly, "If this is what you really want to try, then
I'll do what I can to help you."

"You will?" She stared at him in disbelief, relief
and delight rushing through her.

"Yes."

"Thank you! You won't be sorry! You'll see!" she
told him, smiling widely at him. She couldn't believe
Cole was being so kind and supportive. She'd expected to have to fight him. She almost hugged him,
but controlled the impulse.

"I hope not," he muttered under his breath, feeling a
bit uncomfortable. Lord knows, he was sorry enough
about other dealings he'd had with her.

Tom had returned and was standing at the bottom
of the ladder, waiting to climb up and go back to
work.