“Try her once a week, and make it clear you’ll boot her if she overdoes anything or gets on a horse.”
“That’s a good compromise.” One she’d have come up with if her brain hadn’t been on overload all day. “Callen took Abe’s lessons again today. I walked in at the tail end of one yesterday, and was surprised at how good he was at it. I never thought of him as a teacher.”
“Hidden depths?” Maureen smiled. “He was never as wild as some wanted to think. And Cal was one of the some.”
“Maybe. I was more impressed with his horse, a young buckskin gelding. He does tricks.”
“I heard about that, but I’d like to see for myself.”
“I asked him to think about doing some performances at the BAC paddock. Adults would love it, and kids would go crazy for it.”
“You’re always thinking, Bo.”
“It’s why I’m the boss.”
*
The next morning, Bodine met with the housekeeper applicant at nine sharp. She liked what she saw, what she heard, so she called one of the housekeeping staff in to give the applicant a tour of an empty cabin.
“Beth will bring you back when you’re done. Come see me after, Yvonne, tell me what you think.”
Bodine shifted from her office to the Dining Hall, where her manager was interviewing a hopeful waiter. The applicant looked younger than his twenty-one years. He wore a white dress shirt with a string tie tight around his nervously bobbing Adam’s apple.
Their longest-running waitress sat across from him, arms folded, gaze narrowed. “We do things a certain way around here, and that way is work. Don’t have a table to serve, you bus another. Things are slow, you do setup, fill condiments. What you don’t do is lollygag.”
“I’m a hard worker, ma’am.”
“Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t. I show lollygaggers the door right quick. Why do you want to work here?”
“I need a good job, ma’am, to save up to go back to school, get my college degree.”
“Why do you have to go back? Why aren’t you still there?”
He flushed a little, face turning pink under his straw-colored hair. “My folks helped out as much as they could, and I worked at the Bigsby Café, like it says in my résumé. But it’s costly, and I need to work, save up, to go back and finish. The Bodine Resort’s a fine place to work, and it’s closer to home than Missoula.”
Bodine saw Carrie Ann soften, but doubted the poor boy did. “Did you keep your grades up?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am.”
“What’re you studying?”
“I’m majoring in education. I want to teach. Elementary level. I…” He flushed deeper. “I want to help form and inform young minds.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Carrie Ann let out one of her harrumphs, cut her gaze toward Bodine. “I’m going to take you over to the Feed Bag, show you some ropes. You don’t prove to be an idiot, you’ll come back here and talk to Sylvia in HR about your paperwork.”
“Uh—I— Are you hiring me on?”
“Unless you prove to be an idiot. Get your coat on. It’s cold out.”
She rose, walked over to Bodine. “He’ll do.”
“I’ll tell Sylvia to be ready for him.”
When she started off to do just that, she ran into Jessica coming out. “Bo, perfect. I want you to meet Chelsea.”
“We’ve met,” Chelsea said.
Bodine studied the pretty, doe-eyed brunette. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember. I know your aunt and uncle.”
“I had my thirteenth birthday party here. You took us on our trail ride. I got my first real kiss from a boy I thought I’d marry and have six kids with after that ride, so it sticks in my memory.”
“What happened to the boy?”
“It turned out he just liked kissing girls, something my thirteen-year-old self didn’t understand or appreciate.”
“It’s nice to see you again.”
“Bodine.” Jessica put an arm around Chelsea’s shoulder. “I love her. I want her for my own.”
“I don’t think you mean you just like kissing girls, so I’m assuming you’re hired, Chelsea.”
“Thank you, both of you. I want you to take note I’m not jumping up and down and squealing, which demonstrates my maturity and decorum. Because inside, I’m doing just that. Oh! And there went a cartwheel!”
That got a laugh out of Bodine.
“I really want to work here. I really think I can do good, creative work here.”
Chelsea paused when Rory strolled toward them with another man at his side.
“Looks like the Beautiful Women Club’s in session,” Rory said.
“My brother Rory—sales and marketing. This is Chelsea Wasserman.”
“You’re Jane Lee’s niece.” Rory shot out a hand. “She always says how pretty you are, but I figured she was being a doting aunt.”
“Chelsea’s coming on as an assistant in events,” Jessica told him. “So you’ll be seeing more of her.”
“Glad to hear it. Oh, Bo, this is Esau LaFoy. Sal said you’ve got him down for your ten o’clock.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I’m just a little early. I’d be happy waiting out in the lobby until you’re finished and ready for me.”
He wasn’t much older than the new waiter, Bodine mused, but she didn’t think he’d blush. His eyes, a hazel that edged toward green, stayed steady and respectful.
“No need for that. Come on into my office.” She gestured, led the way.
Though they had some wear on them, he’d shined up his boots. He also wore clean Levi’s with a Western-style checkered shirt, a fleece-lined denim jacket, and a black ridge top hat, which he took off, politely, and set in his lap when he took the chair she offered.
“So, Esau, you’re from the Garnet area.”
“I am, like my daddy, and his daddy before him. Most call me Easy, Miss Longbow.”
“Easy. You’ve done some traveling.”
“Here and there. I followed the rodeo awhile, picked up ranch work when I needed. The names I gave you in that file you got there will tell you I know how to work, and I know horses.”
“Why did you give up the rodeo circuit?”
“The fact is, I couldn’t much afford to keep with it. It’s costly if you don’t hit in the money regular, and I took a couple of hard spills. On that, my pa’s getting older, and I come to realize if I got laid up, he wouldn’t have anybody to help him out when he needed. We got a few acres some south of Garnet. He’s a tough bird, and takes pride in it, but in some years, maybe he won’t be able to do all he does.”
“The work here can be sporadic during the winter season. You might not get forty hours a week.”
“I’ll take what I can get.”
“Do you have your own mount?”
“Not right now, as I had to sell him off. I could maybe get one if you want.”
He smiled when he said it, showing a chip in his left incisor and a kind of dopey, affable charm.