Courage Under Fire (Silver Creek #2) - Lindsay McKenna Page 0,120
dizzied by what had just happened, and gently closed her hand around Mary’s. “You’ve got a deal, Mary. Thank you for this opportunity. I won’t let you down. I promise.” She released the woman’s hand. Mary beamed, her eyes sparkling, as she sat back down.
“Take my business card there,” she said, pointing toward it. “My personal cell phone number is on there. The people who work to make my grocery store what it is, can call me any time they want. Welcome to our family.”
* * *
Colin Gallagher felt a huge, dark load lift off his shoulders as he double-checked his flatbed load. The antique John Deere tractor was on board, and the disc and other plows, plus a metal box filled with farm tools that this woman, Dana Scott, would need.
Chase had come and got him out of one of the barns and told him his wish had been granted: He was assigning him to a small valley farm that had just been bought by a woman, which would be low stress compared to being around Three Bars. Mary had hired her to become her produce resource for the grocery store, and she asked that he assign a wrangler to help her. Colin jumped at the chance. He hated waking up at night, screaming, and then startling the other wranglers awake, as well. His PTSD was severe, and he was desperate to stop what was happening, but he couldn’t. Fortunately, Chase had been in the military and understood. They were working on ten houses that would start to be built for the single wranglers and the families. Until then, the single male wranglers all slept in the bunkhouse. The women wranglers had a separate bunkhouse. He had been ready to quit because he was causing major sleep deprivation for the rest of the hands. And then Chase had come by with this new assignment.
It felt as if life were being breathed back into him as he slowly walked around the flatbed, checking the chains one more time that held the tractor in place, as well as the wide, thick nylon straps across the other items.
“Colin,” Chase said, coming out of his office to see him. “My mother says there is no livable place on that ranch.”
Frowning, Colin said, “You mean to tell me I have to come back here every night and sleep in the bunkhouse?” It was the last thing he wanted to do. He saw Bishop grin a little. Their military background had fused them closely, like brothers, to one another.
“No, I have a fix for it. Mary is buying a double-wide mobile home to be put on the place. I guess Dana, the owner, knows nothing about this yet, so you can break the news to her. You’ll both have a bedroom, one at each end of it, so you’ll have full privacy. It has two bathrooms, as well.”
Relief poured through Colin. “That’s mighty nice of Mary to do that for this woman, Dana.”
“Dana Scott is her name. Mary likes her a lot. She’s a farm girl from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and that’s all I know about her. She’s agreed to raise produce that Mary needs for the store, but don’t be shocked by how run-down the Wildflower Ranch is. There’s a small log cabin there that should probably be torn down and a new house built, instead. Mary counseled one step at a time, here. You okay sharing a trailer with her? It’s large enough to give you both privacy and you can meet in the middle where the kitchen and dining room are located.”
“I’ll make it work.”
Chase clapped him on the back as they walked toward the front of the truck. “I know you’ve been worried about waking everyone at night.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, pulling his black Stetson down a little to shade his eyes from the rising sun.
“Well, these modern-day mobile homes are pretty air-tight and soundproof, so as long as you close your bedroom door at night, I’m sure Dana won’t hear you.”
“That’s a big relief.”
“This mobile home has four bedrooms. Mary’s converting them into an office for each of you with two computer terminals, something you’re going to need. And she’s arranging for a wide-screen TV for the living room.”
“I don’t watch much TV,” Colin admitted, halting and opening the door to the truck.
“You also have my permission to come back here for any tools or other machinery you need. Mary wants to make this as easy as possible on