Nodding, Reese relaxed a little more. He had a job, he’d eat regularly, and he had a roof over his head. “Thanks for giving me a long leash to run on.”
She laughed a little, her hands opening and closing around the wheel. “Speaking of leashes, Noah was a dog trainer in the U.S. Army. I encouraged him to open up a dog training and boarding facility. He and Garret built the kennel area you’ll see. Right now, Noah handles twenty dogs that he’s training. Plus, he works on the indoor arena and he is also a wizard with training horses. He comes from a ranching family. In fact, he’s building that into a full-time business. There’s more business in training horses in Wyoming, than the need for trained dogs.”
“Sounds like he’s got his hands full.”
“Yes, but we’re always trying to balance our work, vision, and making enough money to keep the ranch solvent.” She chewed on her lower lip. “Maybe you can help me with all that? I’m a high school graduate and I’ve been learning by the seat of my pants how to construct a good budget. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I put the ranch in foreclosure once already, and nearly lost it.”
“I can support you there,” Reese promised. “Looking at your accounting books will give me an idea of what’s going on.” He saw relief in her features and she stopped worrying that full lower lip of hers.
“That would be so great,” she murmured, giving him a smile of relief.
“Do any of the other vets have a business background?”
“No. All three vets are from the enlisted ranks, like me. They all have skills, they’re smart as whips, but none of us have ever run a business in our life.” She grinned a little. “We were used to taking orders and being told what to do.”
“Yeah, that’s the way it is in the military.”
“Maybe, once you get comfy with your job, Reese, you can sit us all down and give us a picture of the ranch’s health? Or lack of it?”
“I’ll do more than that, Shay. I learned a long time ago that men and women are a lot more skilled and creative if you give them a chance to have a seat at the table. We’re stronger as a team.”
She gave him a warm look. “I’d have given anything to have worked in your company. I can tell you were a darned good Marine officer. You cared deeply about your people.”
His heart ached for a moment. “It’s an officer’s duty to care for and protect his people,” he said gruffly, wrestling with emotions. “I took my job seriously. I liked handling issues and problems with them and figuring out a way to fix things so they could operate at maximum efficiency.”
“I can tell you’re astute. You have good psychological skills in place.”
He frowned. “I’m not a shrink.”
“No, but you seem to have natural insight into the minds of others,” Shay said. “I’m sure I can learn a lot from you. We all can.”
Reese leaned back, the air scented with pine from the nearby Salt Mountain Range to the east of them. “People always cross-pollinate one another, I’ve found. The men and women in my company helped make me a better officer. It’s a two-way street.”
“I like your humbleness.”
He slanted a glance in her direction, watching the wind through the cab move her hair across her shoulders. “Earned it the hard way. I got the officer chip knocked off my shoulders when I was a young shavetail lieutenant. My CO, a captain, made sure I didn’t let pride and ego go to my head when it came to managing the people of his company. He was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Well,” Shay said, slowing down and making a right-hand turn onto a muddy dirt road, “you’ll get to use all those skills again at the Bar C.”
“Are any of the other vets problem makers?” he wondered. Because Reese knew PTSD could make some people nearly unmanageable.
“No, not really. I mean, they all have issues. They’ve been horribly traumatized. But they’re vets, Reese. They are used to working together as a team. And they do.” She flashed him a hopeful look. “I think if you just sort of lay back, watch them for a while, you’ll grasp their individual situations. And with your officer skills, I believe you’ll move gently into the dynamic we’ve created among us.”
Reese hoped so. He saw a lot of barbed wire fence along the rutted dirt road. The grass was thick and lush on his left, peeking up through the latest snow patches here and there.
“Is this the beginning of your ranch?”
“Yes, it is.” Shay pointed about half a mile ahead. “There’s the main ranch house. You can see the indoor arena being built, out by the two red barns. The horse training area is off to the left of it.”