Open Skies (6 page)

As they came a bit closer, Julie saw one very large cabin, completely separate from the five in the circle. It had two floors, while all the others only had one, so she guessed it was the offices. Maybe the restaurant.

They were driving past a fenced area now, and she saw horses inside of it. This must be the corral (was it called a corral? Oh, who the hell cared). It was massive, and she counted eleven horses prancing around, some with riders, some just standing around and chewing on something. Just past the enclosed area was a large building, which she assumed were the stables. Her nose wrinkled as they passed the building. Oh, yes. That was definitely where the revolting creatures were kept.

Rosie drove past the tennis courts and pulled up to a large building with a sign on the front which said, ‘Reception’ and a second one, hung next to it, which read, ‘Restaurant’. So, this must be the main building, with the offices; she idly wondered what that other large cabin was, then. She stared at the reception building, pleased with what she saw. It was constructed out of a deep golden wood and had huge windows facing in every direction. It would have good light inside, she was relieved to see.

The truck stopped, and Rosie turned off the ignition. She turned to Julie. “Welcome to Open Skies Ranch, ma’am.”

“Ummm-hmmm,” Julie responded, opening her door and trying to climb out gracefully. Her high heels sank in to the ground and she scowled. Good Lord, she’d definitely have to invest in some damn flats, or else she’d be pinned in place with her spikes.

The door of the main building opened, and a group of people came out. Julie saw a woman with long, silver hair blowing in the breeze, a young man in a suit, and a second man in jeans and a t-shirt. She squared her shoulders and raised her chin.
OK. Let’s go meet your staff.

The silver-haired woman came down a few steps to meet her. “Oh, Miss Everett. What a delight to meet you!”

No, it’s not, really,
Rosie thought.

“Hello,” Julie said in a neutral tone.

The older woman didn’t even blink. “I’m Mattie Velasquez. But I suppose you’d have guessed that already, am I right? This here is Rob Cathay. He’s your Head of Sales. And this is Joe Foster, who does lots of the handy work around the place – repairs and deliveries, and the like.” She paused. “We’re all so sorry about your Daddy.”

My
Dadd
y? Seriously, lady? What am I – five years old?

Ignoring Mattie’s mention of David Jackass Reid, Julie nodded at the two men, both of who were looking her up and down, taking in her legs and breasts and hair.

Don’t bother, fellas,
Rosie thought.
The chick’s a machine. You’d be better off hitting on the coffeemaker. At least it’s warm.

“Now, you must be tired,” Mattie carried on brightly. “So Joe’ll grab your luggage and carry it on over to where you’ll be staying… you get the nicest cabin, the one with the best view.” She pointed at the large building with the two floors. “That’s the Big House, we call it.”

“Was that the former owner’s home?” Julie asked.

“It was,” Mattie answered, a bit taken aback that Julie was referring to her father in that way. “Is that OK?”

“No, not really. I’d prefer to stay elsewhere.”

Mattie looked uncertain. “Well, I haven’t really set up things for you anywhere else…”

“I’m assuming the guest cabins are all ready for residency? Sheets on the beds, water and electricity turned on, heat?”

“Yes,” Mattie said.

“Are they all booked at the moment?”

“No. We have one free for the next – what is it, Rob? – the next week?”

“Yep. Cabin four is free for the next seven days.”

Julie shrugged. “OK. So I’ll just stay in that one.”

Mattie looked at her. “Are you sure, hon?”

Rosie winced.
Argh, Mattie. Don’t call this bitch ‘hon’. I think she’ll bite your face off.

Julie blinked at Mattie.
Did she just call her boss ‘hon’?
Aloud she said, “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Well, OK, it’s your party,” Mattie said. She turned to Joe. “You want to go and get Julie’s bags, put ‘em in number four? Then move all the food out of the fridge at the Big House in to the cabin. Remember the flowers and stuff too, OK?”

Joe nodded and went over to the truck. Rosie went with him to help with the tarp.

Mattie said, “So… how’s about a nice cup of tea?”

“I prefer coffee,” Julie said.

“Well, sure, hon. Coffee we got.”

Rob opened the door for her, and the three of them went inside. As soon as the door closed behind them, Joe turned to Rosie.

“Jesus Christ. She’s worse than we thought she’d be. What’s her damn deal?”

Rosie shrugged. “No idea.”

“Chip on her shoulder as big as the moon, and a stick up her butt,” Joe said. “We sure she’s Dave’s? Can’t believe any kid of his would be like this, no matter what Margaret told us.”

“I know! I totally wondered the same thing!”

Joe sighed. “Well, I’d better get her stuff over the number four.”

“You need a hand?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Rosie hauled one of the pieces of luggage off the back of the pick-up. “Do you think she’s actually going to stay here, Joe? You think we’ll be stuck with her?”

Joe nodded at the bags. “Lots of damn stuff, Rosie. I think she’s here for the long-haul.”

She sighed. That’s exactly what she was afraid of.
**
Julie looked around the reception area with approval. It was bright and spacious, and the windows in the waiting area were floor-to-ceiling. Excellent.

A tiny young woman stood behind the reception counter, practically standing at attention. Mattie waved her over and she scurried across the floor.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” she squeaked in a little voice. Her resemblance to a mouse became more pronounced as she extended a tiny paw. “I’m Maria Torres.”

“Julie Everett.”

“I’m so happy you’re here, Miss Everett,” Maria said. “I hope your trip up was OK?”

“Yes, it was fine,” Julie said.

“Would you like to get a bit of a tour?” Mattie asked. “We could start with the offices, here in the back.”

Julie nodded and followed Mattie and Rob past the reception desk, down a short hallway. There were seven doors, all open except for the two at the end of the hall.

“This first room is the conference room,” Rob said. “And just past it, these are the staff offices –most people start at eight o’clock and finish at five. So you just missed them, unfortunately.”

“What do they all do?”

“Different things. We have a full-time accountant in-house to do the day-to-day stuff and handle HR matters and payroll. We have one other person in Sales with me, who also works on Marketing. A second person who’s focused on Marketing solely. We outsource all creative and design work, but we’re pretty hands-on with that stuff. Then we have a woman who deals with anything to do with the restaurant – orders and invoices and all the legalities. That’s a pretty full-on job.”

“What are the two closed doors?”

“One is the bedroom for the night-staff. The other is your office.”

“Night-staff?” Julie asked.

“Yes. We always have a staff member here, in case a guest needs something or there’s some kind of emergency. Our reception staff are all trained in CPR and First Aid.”

“I see.”

Rob stopped in front of the door on the right and took a key out of his pocket. He handed it to her. “Here you go.”

Julie hesitated. This would have been Reid’s office, wouldn’t it? She wasn’t prepared to see it for the first time with other people standing there next to her. She didn’t know what she might find. For all she knew, there would be photos of Reid on a golf course, on vacation, with his wife, all smiling and happy and tanned. The first time she saw that asshole’s face, she needed to be alone.

She shook her head and put the key in her purse. “Not now.”

Both Mattie and Rob looked surprised.

My God, what a cold bitch
, Rob thought.
Not even interested in seeing her Dad’s space? Where he spent all his time?

“OK,” Julie said. “Anything else?”

“The restaurant,” Mattie said.

“Fine.”

They walked back down to reception. Rob stopped in his office and grabbed his coat then met them at the front desk.

“Maria, can you handle the invoices tonight on your own?” he asked. “I need to get going now.”

“Sure, no problem.”

Julie looked at the clock above the reception desk. “Do you work until six every day?”

“No, ma’am. It varies.”

“Depending on what?”

Rob blinked. “Well, the number of guests, the office duties. And the time of year – in high season, I work a bit more.”

“I see.” Julie looked at him. “And you’re the lead person in Sales, is that right?”

He nodded.

“I’ll want you in at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. I want to sit down with you and go over all the sales figures for the past twelve months. Can you prepare a short presentation for our meeting?”

Rob did a double-take. “A presentation, for first thing tomorrow morning?’

“Is that a problem? I mean, if you’re familiar with the sales numbers, then it shouldn’t be an issue to get ready quickly. All the information should be organized and at-hand; in fact, you should have it committed to memory.”

“I should?” Rob caught himself. “I mean, yes. Of course I do. And I’ll be ready, Ms. Everett.”

“Good. I’ll see you in your office at eight.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He watched Julie and Mattie walk in to the restaurant and he turned to Maria. Her beautiful face was bewildered as she stared after her new boss.

“What just happened?” she asked.

Rob took off his jacket and loosened his tie. “I just got told, in no uncertain terms, to pull an all-nighter.”

“What?”

Rob sighed. “I’ll be in the office, going through the sales figures and pulling everything together.”

“But you won’t be here all night!”

“I will,” he said. “I get the feeling that she’s going to want more than just an Excel file of straight numbers. I’d better include the budget and the monthly targets we set, and an analysis of expenses and annual patterns.”

Maria was dismayed. “But – it’s Gracie’s birthday tomorrow, and you need to get her a present.”

“I know.” Rob thought for a second. “Maybe I’ll run out tomorrow on my lunch hour and get her something then.”

“No way. Listen, I leave here in an hour, and Frida comes on. I’ll go to the mall in Colorado Springs and buy your niece a present, if you tell me what she wants for her birthday.”

Rob looked at her, gratitude flooding through him. “Would you really?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, God. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. Anything to help.” Maria hesitated. “Why did she do this to you, though? Make you do this on no notice?”

Rob shrugged. “Because she’s the boss. Because she can.”

**
Julie sat across from Mattie, sipping coffee and looking around the restaurant. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. The interior designer in her was very pleased.

She had been so sure that the whole place would be decked out in some kind of awful cowboy theme. She’d braced herself for horseshoes and lassos hanging from the walls, and a menu heavy on the meat and grease. She was convinced that there would be cheap leather everywhere, and the bathrooms would have cutesy signs on the doors, like ‘Rodeo Gals’ and ‘The Little Cowboys Room’. She had been prepared to gag on the twee.

But this – this was stunning. It was, actually, what she’d have done if she’d been given this space to design. The restaurant was flooded with light from the massive windows, and had clean lines through the floor space. There were some smaller, more private tables mixed in with long, wooden booths scrubbed shiny. The décor was rustic but not hokey: it was warm and inviting, and felt fresh and open. It was charming and relaxed, but not to the point of feeling like you were in a canteen – you walked in and felt like the menu would have some class and elegance. It was perfect for a family with small kids, perfect for a group of friends on a girls’ getaway, perfect for a romantic weekend. It hit all the markers, with ease and style and confidence.

Mattie was watching her as she looked around. “So. What do you think, hon?”

“It’s quite lovely.”

“Isn’t it? You should be here for sunrise and sunset.” She nodded at the windows. “Those windows face east, and those west. No matter what time of day you’re in here, you get the best view.”

“Nice.”

“So, I imagine that Joe has your stuff all moved for you. What do you want to do now?”

Julie thought about it. What she really wanted to do was take a tour of the last four smaller cabins, and get some sense of their worth. But they were occupied, so that was a no-go. She’d take a look tomorrow, while the cleaning staff were in there. Maybe go to the stables? But the thought of staring at horses didn’t appeal much. And truthfully, she was pretty wiped out. The past five days had taken it out of her.

“I think I’ll unpack, clean up. Turn in early.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Mattie beamed. “I’ll show you where your cabin is.”

They walked back through the reception area where Maria busied herself with the invoices and avoided Julie’s eye. Mattie escorted her across an open area, and to the cabin farthest from the stable.

Mattie pushed open the door. “Welcome.”

Julie walked in and looked around. She almost sighed with pleasure: the mood of the restaurant had somehow been captured in this much smaller space. It was warm and welcoming and appropriately rustic, to be sure, but it wasn’t basic. You walked in and you just
knew
that there was hot water and Wi-Fi and fresh towels and clean bedsheets. It was elegant but not formal; romantic but still kid-friendly; relaxed but not sloppy.

“What do you think?” Mattie said.

“It’s fine. Thank you.”

“OK. The bedroom’s over there, and that’s the bathroom. Totally functional kitchen – you can even bake a cake in here if you want. Small office space over there.”