Josh: Men from the Double M: Weko Harbor, #1

By Kristy K. James

Sometimes, running away seems like the only choice.
Wanting to escape a disappointing career, and memories of a bad marriage, Katie Murphy moved half a state away for a new job. No, working at the Double M dude ranch wasn't the executive chef position she'd trained for, but it had its rewards. The animals were cute and her co-workers great. She just wished her boss wasn't as nice as he was sexy.

 

He had the life others dreamed of.
Josh Madigan worked hard to make the Double M a success. He wasn't quite there, but it was finally within reach. His late father's dream was about to become a reality. He just wasn't sure whether it was his dream. And if it wasn't, could he walk away with so many people depending on him for their livelihood - including his pretty new cook?

Welcome to the Double M. Located outside the Weko Harbor city limits, a stone's throw from the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline, vacationers in search of an adventure, with a taste of the old west, are coming to love this dude ranch. Of course, the fact that it's run by hard-working, handsome cowboys has nothing to do with its popularity. Especially with the local ladies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kristy K. James
• Release date: Jul 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9798215728444

Kristy K. James

Kristy K. James' first goal in life was to work in law enforcement, until the night she called the police to check out a scary noise in her yard.Realizing that she might someday have to investigate scary noises in yards just as dark as hers if she continued on that path, she turned to her other favorite love...writing.Since then her days have been filled with being a mom and reluctant zookeeper (7 pets), creating stories, and looking for trouble in her kitchen.

Book preview

Chapter 1

You might want to do something about that niece of yours. Almost too low to be heard over the ruckus in the background, there still was no mistaking the disgust in Chad Updyke’s tone as he issued the warning. She’s pulling the diva act again and if she doesn’t knock it off, you might wind up homeschooling her.

Josh Madigan squeezed the cell phone he held to his ear so hard he was surprised it wasn’t floating to the ground in a cloud of black plastic dust. He rubbed his other hand roughly across his eyes and swallowed a groan. Homeschool? Dana? Just the thought sent icy chills of terror down his back. He’d rather face down a pack of grizzly bears with a peashooter.

What now? he asked, knowing he didn’t want to hear the answer.

Someone bumped into her when they walked by her desk. It was an accident. I saw it happen, but since the teacher stepped out for a phone call a few minutes ago, she took advantage of it and decided to throw another tantrum.

Yeah, I can hear her. The words spewing from his brother’s daughter made him remember his first—and only—taste of a bar of soap. He’d need a truckload of it to wash the residue from the filth that must be left in her mouth. "I’m going to hang up and call her. You tell her it’s me and if she knows what’s good for her, she better answer."

Will do, boss. Good luck.

As hot as his temper was running, Josh was glad he was outside, though the eleven-degree windchill didn’t help to cool him off when she didn’t pick up after the tenth ring. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, he figured there was a one in ninety-nine million chance he’d tapped the wrong contact number, he tried again. Ten more rings and he disconnected the call, ready to admit defeat. Third time was either going to be the charm or—the end of his guardianship duties.

What do you want? he finally heard her snap. His teeth clenched at the too familiar sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Just letting you know that if I have to go down to the school one more time, I will personally pack your bags and put you on the first train home. Is that clear? I’ve got too much to do today to have to deal with any more of your crap! So, I suggest you settle your butt down and focus on whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing in Saturday school. I’m not kidding, Dana."

Yeah. Right. Just like all the other times you said you were going to send me back. Ooh. I’m so scared.

Do you really want to take the chance that this is the time I’m serious? He didn’t want to do it, but she wasn’t getting any better here and he was close to the end of his rope. This time, he was afraid he just might follow through on the threat.

Fine. Whatever.

She disconnected the call and Josh wasn’t sure whether she’d agreed to the straightening up or to the going home, and frankly at this point, he didn’t really care.

Half expecting another call from the principal, he slid the phone in the back pocket of his jeans and continued to the pole barn where they kept the equipment for the grounds of the Double M.

Though it was unusual for mid-November, almost half a foot of snow had fallen since the night before. A couple of inches had been there to greet him when he'd stepped out on his porch just before sunrise. Now, with a few more having piled up over the past two hours, he needed to plow the nearly quarter mile long drive again. His ranch hands had already taken care of the nearly full parking area, clearing between cars with snow blowers and shovels.

It wouldn’t be long before his guests crowded into the dining room for their final breakfast at the lodge, and then they’d be out the door and heading home. At most, he had an hour before he needed to join them.

Over the past couple of years, it had become something of a tradition for him to give a final, albeit short speech, thanking everyone for coming, hoping they’d all remember their vacation fondly—and that they’d return again one day to tiptoe through the cow pies. The last part always got a good laugh, but that was the goal—to have them leave with full bellies and a smile.

Climbing behind the wheel of his ‘98 Dodge Ram, he put the key in the ignition, nodding his head in approval when her engine roared to life on the first try. He took good care of her though and she still ran like she'd just rolled off the assembly line—and plowed even better.

Waiting for the engine to warm up, he slid a Toby Keith Greatest Hits CD into the slot and turned it up. Not enough to make the windows rattle, but enough so he could try to relax. To forget, if only for a moment, the weight of another family obligation that felt like it was crushing him, changing the course of a life that felt like it would never be his to live.

Tipping his head back and letting his Stetson fall forward over his eyes, he wondered again what he’d been thinking when he agreed to this deal.

Barely sixteen, Dana played the troubled child like a pro. She’d only been here three months, but it felt like forever. And the school year wasn’t close to half over. Nope. Six and a half more months of listening to that mouth, of looking at that pout, of trying to convince her if she didn’t start living up to her end of the bargain, he really would send her home.

Sighing when he felt a little heat begin to blast out of the vents, he sat up, shifted into reverse, and backed out of the barn. This was one of the perks of owning his own dude ranch. He got to play with big trucks, tractors, and ATV’s. He loved it all, but plowing snow gave him a satisfaction like nothing else could. At least when he was in a temper, and he was definitely there right now. A perfectly good morning spoiled by more of Dana’s antics.

He didn’t blame her for resenting having to attend classes on Saturdays, but she had no one to blame but herself. She needed to count her blessings that she was given the option of attending the once-a-month class for problem students—and those who were having trouble with a subject, like Chad. Six extra hours to keep her in the private school her folks spent a small fortune on was a small price to pay. If she got tossed out of this one, there were no more options for her in Michigan. She’d already been kicked out of the public school in town and none of the others in the area were willing to take her on. And there wasn’t a chance on the planet he’d teach her himself.

More than ten minutes since they’d spoken, Josh assumed she’d decided to straighten up. His phone hadn’t vibrated, meaning no one had tried to call. That being the case, he made a determined effort to put his niece out of his mind.

When he’d told her he had too much to do today, he wasn’t exaggerating. He had to deal with the guests, his speech to now include a few safe driving tips for those unused to driving on snow covered roads. After that, the new cook would be arriving, by eleven o’clock if the freeway was in better shape than the secondary roads.

He’d only met Katie Murphy once, and that had been at the interview two weeks ago. As he recalled, she was the only applicant who had been even a little enthused over the position, and the only one who hadn’t blanched when he ticked off the other duties she would be expected to carry out.

Personally, he’d expected her to offer up an excuse as to why she couldn’t take the job as soon as he’d finished going over the list, but she hadn’t and it surprised him. She wasn’t very big, and chauvinistic as it might have sounded, she was what the teenaged Josh would have labeled a girly girl who wouldn’t get her hands dirty no matter how much she was paid. Technically, he would still call her a girly girl, but he liked her attitude—and he needed to hire someone, so why not the pretty woman with the golden blond hair and hazel eyes?

The job wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t strictly limited to the kitchen. Three weeks a month, from May through October, they were open to guests. Each new group arrived on Sundays in time for supper, then left each Saturday after breakfast.

During the off times, they would spend two days catching up on chores they hadn’t had time for, getting ahead on others in time for the next group, and finally, doing whatever they wanted for the few days that remained.

Not ideal, but the colder months made up for it with the Double M only open one week, usually near a holiday, and then everyone enjoyed a much lighter workload, puttering around the lodge and property for just a few hours each day, and then their time was their own.

Some were full-time, salaried employees whose earnings were divided evenly year-round no matter how much or little they worked. Some were hourly's who enjoyed the part-time income and not having to be tied down.

Most had homes or apartments in and around town. His foreman and best friend, Luke Monroe, lived in a small house several hundred yards behind the lodge, a stand of trees separating the buildings so he had a little privacy and escape from the job. A couple of the other hands stayed at the bunkhouse, and Ms. Murphy would have a room upstairs in the lodge as a benefit, one of many he was prepared to offer if she would stay on longer than most of the others had.

April had been trying to manage alone since the last one quit in the middle of a week back in early October. Not too many women were interested in a job like this, which made him grateful he’d found someone this late in the season, little more than a week before Thanksgiving.

At least she was coming at a good time. She and April would spend some time stocking up on the supplies they would need to make their jobs easier when the next group came in December, and then they would pitch in wherever needed as they prepared for Josh’s favorite time of the year.

Tonight, the staff would enjoy a bonfire to kick off the start of the holiday season, if the snow and wind tapered off as promised. Given the unexpected storm, they would likely spend some time on the snowmobiles, followed by a pig out on hot dogs and s’mores down by the river.

And then tomorrow, the real work would start. They’d already made a few hundred colored blocks of ice using the chest freezers in the pole barn. Now, it looked like the rainbow maze, one of their most popular winter attractions, would be bigger than ever. At least it would if near zero temperatures stayed around. By the time the next group of guests arrived, it should be a sight to behold.

Just thinking about it, he could feel the muscles in his shoulders begin to relax and he hit the first drift hard, smiling as a glance in the rear view mirror showed a clear path growing behind him.

~~~~~

Kathleen Murphy loaded the last small box into her nine-year-old Camry. Standing in the parking lot in the middle of the swirling snow that covered the road out front, she shook her head, a melancholy spreading through her like a fog bank rolling in off the lake. If she didn’t do something to stop it, it would consume her, but it wasn’t that easy when she looked at what little she had to represent the eleven years since she’d graduated from high school.

Having given away most of her belongings when she’d moved here last November, and ninety percent of what had been left over the past couple of weeks, it still shocked her to see that all of her worldly possessions didn’t fill the entire backseat. In fact, there were so few boxes and suitcases that if she’d been standing ten feet away, she wouldn’t have known there was anything in the car at all.

Shrugging, she turned around and headed back to the old Victorian, a monstrosity of a house that had been divided up into small one and two room apartments long before she’d been born. She’d rented an efficiency in the southwest corner, one flight of stairs up from the ground level, after her husband announced he wanted a divorce last year—just before Thanksgiving.

Days like today, when the prediction for an inch or two of snow had wound up being well over five so far, with no end in sight, she was glad those stairs were inside. Not that it mattered this morning. Five trips to the car and back left her like a Frosty wannabe and each time she left a path of melted puddles all the way to her front door.

Her former front door.

Katie took a last look around the room she’d never quite been able to think of as home, peeking in the two cupboards above the sink, the minuscule closet, medicine chest, and under the few pieces of furniture that had come with the place to make sure she wasn’t leaving anything of importance behind.

The only things left were her wedding and engagement rings. They were lying on the bare counter top, a stark reminder that nothing lasts forever. That hopes and dreams could be shattered in an instant when the husband who had promised to love you forever confessed that he’d met someone else.

For a moment, she was tempted to throw the cheap pieces of silver down the drain. She only knew their worth because she had to have them appraised for their rental insurance policy, back when they’d shared the condo with the riverfront view. Back when—a whole four years ago—she hadn’t cared. She hadn’t cared that he probably spent more on one of his business suits than he had on the symbols that were supposed to represent a lifetime together. She had the man, that’s all she cared about.

Now, she still didn’t care what he’d spent on them, but only because she was well over the selfish jerk who had thrown her away for the new Mrs. Atwell.

Picking them up and holding them under the fluorescent light, she studied the small diamond chip. She could have sold them for a couple hundred dollars, but it just wasn’t worth the effort. What to do with them was the question. After considering it for a moment, she pulled a pen and small notebook out of her purse and quickly wrote, Sell them, wear them, or give them to someone else. I wish you much happiness in the future.

Then she worked a hair band through the holes in the paper and rings and knelt down to hide them in the back corner of the bottom drawer next to the stove. The landlord was a sweet old man who would likely not bother to check since the rest of the place was spotless. Maybe they would find their way into the hands of a deserving person and something with bad memories for her would make better ones for whoever found them.

She stood back up and closed her eyes, willing the images from the past to stop haunting her. Letting the man go had been easy, after the initial shock anyway. Letting go of what might have been was a little harder to do.

You’re sure this is what you want?

Katie whirled around, her hand on her chest, to see her sister standing there. As her heartbeat slowed, she sagged against the short length of counter and stared at Melissa, who was standing there with a cup holder and bag from a local fast-food restaurant.

Breakfast, she said, holding them up as she crossed the small room. I figured you wouldn’t want to stop anywhere in this mess, and I’ll feel better if you get a good meal in you before you take off. When Katie raised her eyebrows, she chuckled. "Okay, so it’s not exactly good, but it is food. Sort of. And the coffee is hot."

Thanks. I appreciate it.

She did—and she didn’t. Last night she, along with Melissa, her husband Seth, and their young son, Blake had gone to one of the nicer restaurants for a farewell party of sorts. Even their mother had managed to show up for a change, and she’d been fairly sober so there had been another reason to celebrate. That was supposed to be their goodbye. The last thing she wanted to see as she was climbing into her car and heading toward I-96 was her apartment, not the only person in the world she’d ever been able to trust. The one person she’d miss so much it made her heart ache.

Granted, the new job was only four hours away so it wasn’t like it would take her days to come for visits. But it wasn’t the five miles that separated them now either.

"I know. We agreed we wouldn’t do this, but with the storm—are you sure you won’t come over