Saddle up

Chapter One

"I was actually looking to hire a male for the job, it's hard work..."

"I understand that, sir, it's just..., I'm in a really bad place right now, and I just need the job. I'll do the work, please...", choking back a sob, I begged the man on the line to give me a chance to prove that I wasn't some fragile girl that was afraid to get her hands dirty doing a little bit(or a lot) of hard labor. Living in a small rural town made jobs hard to come by if a person didn't have skills or experience, and unfortunately I was in that category.

It had been three months since my long term boyfriend of four years suddenly broke it off with me and I had spent every day of those three months searching for relief from the pain I still felt after losing the love of my life.

I shuddered as I recalled the last conversation with Cole...

"Look babe, things just haven't been the same lately for us, we're both so busy, I hardly ever have time away from school to come see you, and when I do, you're busy studying for your next nursing exam. I just..." He took a slow deep breath into the phone, desperately trying to find the words to make this easier for me...for him.

"Please don't...,I pleaded before Cole could speak those final words that would end our relationship forever. I knew that he had been right about our struggle to spend time with one another, I had felt the distance between us growing wider as the days had passed, but there was nothing we could do to change any of it. We were both working hard in school to pursue our dreams and earn our independence. Neither could be blamed for our drifting apart. "I love you, Cole..., I sobbed into the phone, unable to hold back the tears any longer... "Please..."

"I slept with someone." Cole blurted out the truth before I could say another word. I dropped the phone onto the chilled tile of the kitchen floor, shattering the screen of my fragile iPhone completely.

The husky voice on the opposite line brought me back to the present.

"Well, no one else has called about the flyer besides you, and you sound pretty desperate, so I suppose I can give you a chance to prove yourself..."

"Yes!", I screeched into the phone, loud enough to turn heads of the random people outside the gas station where I had first seen the flyer advertising the ranch job. "Thank you so so much...um Mr...

"My name's Brant." He responded, not trying to hide his lack of enthusiasm in my celebration. "You'll start tomorrow. I need you to be here and ready to work at 8AM. Don't be late." With that Brant hung up the phone.

I checked the address of the ranch on the piece of flyer I had removed and held it to my chest, silently thanking him again for the job.

I arrived at Saddle Rock Ranch 15 minutes early thanks to the extra time I gave myself to find the place and avoid being late on my first day. The ranch sat on dozens of acres of beautiful land. Pulling into the gravel drive way with my old beat up Honda, I noticed one large building straight ahead which appeared to be the indoor arena. Off to the right there was a large pasture where over a dozen horses peacefully grazed in the already blistering heat. Adjacent to that was several more fenced in areas each containing a few horses as well.

'Jeez, how many horses does this guy have' I thought to myself before finally parking in front of a small A-frame home that overlooked the entire Ranch.

My mind buzzed from both the excitement and nervousness of starting a new job. To pass some time I checked my appearance in the rear view mirror. I pulled my shoulder length ebony colored hair into a high ponytail, pulling out a few strands to join my side bangs in framing my face. I was beginning to see my mothers German features growing more prominent in myself as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hazel oval shaped eyes framed by long dark lashes revealed my constant lack of sleep.