Efrem (2 page)

Lisa, is everything all right?

Efrem drummed an irregular rhythm on the desktop while he waited for her reply. The rhythm got more irregular the longer he waited.

Who are you?

Sorry. This is Efrem. You left so quickly before, I thought something was wrong.

He hit the send key.

Are you the same guy I was talking to before?

Efrem grinned. “Civilians.”

I’m the same guy you were chatting with when someone went into labor. Is everything all right?

Efrem waited another long time for an answer.

How did I manage to get you again? I thought there were a thousand of you guys, you know, like 800 operators or something.

Efrem actually laughed out loud. He didn’t notice that everyone in the room turned to stare at him.

There’s usually around 30 technicians on duty at any one time. I’m the supervisor and told everyone here to let me know if they heard back from Lisa.

Super’s prerogative, huh?

The super does get all the plum assignments.

I hope that wasn’t a typo. I’m not plump!

Efrem frowned in concentration. Amazing. Only he could annoy a woman in a room probably hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.

No typo. I meant plum, as in peachy, really fine, etc. So, is everything all right out there?

Out there? Do they have you locked up in a small, windowless room somewhere? I can see it now…a bunch of computer geeks, drooling for a glimpse out a window, wondering what real life is really like. Nothing personal, of course.

Efrem grinned at his computer screen.

Of course it’s not personal. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. But I think you’ve been peeking. The only window in this room looks into an identical workroom. Both are full of computers and, as you so creatively stated it, geeks.

That’s scary. I was kidding.

I’m not. But we don’t allow drooling. Wreaks havoc with the electronics.

I’ll bet.

Who’s Raven?

My horse. She started labor this morning, but it was slow. Dan sent me out of the barn. Said I was getting on his nerves hanging around like I was. So I decided to try and take my mind off Raven and go insane. That means, I decided to tackle this damn computer.

Who’s Dan?

Efrem held his breath a long moment after hitting the send key. He wanted to take it back immediately. But there it was, hanging out there in cyberspace for anyone to see. It hit him all of a sudden that there could be a quality assurance rep “listening” in on this transaction.

“Oh, hell,” he muttered to himself. This wasn’t just another transaction. He blew air through his cheeks, waiting for her reply.

Dan Morris. He’s my foreman. Why?

Efrem muttered another curse under his breath. She couldn’t just let that one go by, could she, he thought.

You work on a ranch?

Yeah, I work on a ranch and the foreman works for me. I own the ranch. Well, me and the bank.

Efrem sighed. She was going to be gracious and let him get away with his little gaffe. He liked Customer Lisa.

Well, me and my bank own my computers. All three of them.

You must really like computers!

I live, eat, and breathe computers. People around here say I sweat silicon.

Efrem was glad he finally saw the humor in that little dig. He’d never understood it before.

God, do I need a man like you around here.

Efrem’s heart sped up. His throat tightened and his mouth went dry. He wiggled his fingers to get some feeling back and put them on the keyboard.

I’ve lived all my life to hear a woman say that to me.

Efrem waited. And waited.

You mean, ‘see a woman chat that to you,’ right?

Efrem threw back his head and laughed. He looked around the room, still chuckling. He stopped when he realized everyone was looking at him.

“Am I the only one working here?” he asked lazily. All heads turned back to glowing computer screens. He thought he heard “That’s work?” but chose to ignore it.

Us computer geeks tend to be specific. What about horsewomen? How specific are you?

How’s this for specific. Can you come to the ranch and teach me to use this computer, please, please? I have the basic programs plus an office management program and a ranch management program. The ranch management program is the most critical. It tracks individuals in a herd, bloodlines, feed, grazing area, and a whole bunch more. And it’s driving me batty.

Efrem tried to breathe in, but failed. His couldn’t hear the clicking of the keyboards over the roar of blood in his ears. He tried to type a response but couldn’t get his fingers lined up on the right keys. He finally dragged a breath in through his nose and relaxed a little as his head started to clear. He wondered if anyone could really fall in love in a chat room. He’d heard of it happening. But not to him.

Hello? Anyone out there?

I’m here. I’m just surprised at your request. You’re probably thousands of miles away from here.

He’d originally typed “from me” but changed it before sending.

I never considered that. Where are you?

I’m in Overton, a small town just outside of Orlando, Florida. If you live on a ranch, you’re probably in Wyoming or South Dakota.

Wrong, bucko. I’m in Tillman.

Never heard of it.

My, my, you really don’t have any windows, do you? That’s a shame. I’m only about 30 minutes from you. Just east of the St. John’s River on the Old Melbourne Highway.

Efrem sat with his mouth open, stunned. She was a half hour from him? He could actually meet her face-to-face?

You can’t be. There aren’t any real ranches around here.

It sure seems like a real ranch after a 14-hour day of fixing fences, shoveling manure, training horses, etc.

I moved here a little over a year ago to set up the help chat room and haven’t had time to look around.

You haven’t had a real workout until you’ve spent a 12-hour day at Disney. Or MGM. Or any of the other ‘relaxing’ pastimes Orlando has to offer.

14-hour days on the ranch and you quit after 12 at Disney?

Oh, yeah. I can only take so much fun. So, what do you say? Will you come and help me with this computer?

Efrem gazed at the screen while he contemplated the situation. If he’d been monitored by quality assurance, he’d likely be getting a reprimand anyway. His carefully planned and executed career withered in front of him. Mr. Predictable was going for broke.

Yes. When and where?

A friend scanned in a map to the ranch. I’ll send it if I can find it.

What program did your friend use?

Program?

Lisa sat back at the computer. She was astonished at the turn of events. All she had wanted to do was make her e-mail work with her e-mail program instead of
against
her. And now she had a part-time computer geek of her own. He had to arrange some things at work before coming out to the ranch. It would be a couple of days before he could get away.

She couldn’t wait to meet him. Picturing him as pathetically skinny, maybe five six, tops, with thick lenses in black frames and a plastic pocket protector, she smiled and laughed. It was going to be very nice having her own computer geek to call on.

The situation kept a grin on her face as she went out to check up on Raven and her foal. She strolled into the barn and checked on the three pregnant mares. They all nickered to her over their stall doors, showing they were comfortable and content for now. She reached Raven’s stall.

The foal took her breath away. He was beautiful, almost as black as his mama but with a jagged white blaze that started between his eyes and ran down the left side of his face.

The foal peered at her from behind Raven’s hindquarters. Raven swished her tail and Lisa laughed to see him shake his head free of the long, black hairs cascading over his face, almost falling down in the process. Lisa laughed again.

“Are you embarrassed?” she asked the new colt.

“Cute, ain’t he?”

Lisa jumped. She hadn’t heard Dan come in and step up next to her. “You startled me!”

The foal gave a snort of fright and hid completely behind his mother.

“Well, you startled the foal.”

Lisa snorted and turned her attention to Raven. She stood calmly, occasionally checking on the foal that was now doing a little stagger-step in the space behind her. The stall, like the others in the maternity barn, was over-large. There were overhead fans, padded walls, and thermometers in each one. Each stall had a door to the center aisle of the barn, and an outside door leading to the small paddock that ranged the length of the building. Each door inside the barn had a place for a temporary nameplate. The six stalls were all on the east side of the building with tack and equipment rooms at both ends. Lisa was very proud of this barn, and not just because she designed it. It was perfect for its function, and that pleased her almost as much as the comfort of her mares.

With an operation the size of this ranch, function and form had to go hand in hand. Efficiency had saved the ranch after her beloved grandfather’s nineteenth-century methods almost bankrupted it. Lisa had hated to have to change everything her grandfather loved, but he’d finally come around to her way of thinking as the red ink in the ledgers was slowly replaced by a bold black ink that meant survival of the ranch, if not the original methods. She sighed heavily, wishing he were still here.

“Something wrong, honey?”

Lisa stiffened. “No. I was just thinking about Grandpa.”

“He was a great old guy. Almost killed him when you started changing things around here.”

She turned to face him. The
honey
she would ignore, but the criticism was uncalled for.

“He saw what the changes did for the ranch. He was glad to see it prosperous again.” She didn’t mean to sound so defensive, but Dan hit too close to home.

“He didn’t take to change too good.” Dan leaned against the stall door.

Lisa stared at him. Dan had been with the ranch a long time. He was only a few years older than her and had become foreman after many years as a ranch hand. Dan and her grandfather thought a lot alike, but while her grandfather had come to accept the necessity of the changes that Lisa’s animal husbandry degree brought to the ranch, Dan never had.

“And you do?” said Lisa sarcastically.

Dan looked over his shoulder at her. He smiled. “I like change. When it’s for the best.”

“You mean, what’s best for you.”

He crossed his arms across his chest, his smug smile securely in place. “And what’s best for you, honey.”

Lisa grimaced. “I’ve asked you not to call me that.”

“It’s just a little endearment.”

“I know what it is.”

“Then you shouldn’t mind when I call you honey,
honey
.”

Lisa changed the subject.

“I have a computer guy coming on Sunday to show me how to use the computer. I won’t be able to do many chores.”

“Where’d the computer guy come from?”

“I met him online while I was trying to get the e-mail program to work.”

Dan lost his smile. “You invited a stranger you met on the computer to come to the ranch?”

Lisa’s stomach clenched a little. She’d read about men who met women in chat rooms then lured them into all sorts of nasty situations. But she would strangle herself with her own tongue before admitting to Dan the same thought had crossed her own mind.

“The man is a professional. He works for the company I bought the computer from and agreed to help me out for a few hours. Nothing wrong with that.” She turned and started out of the barn.

“A professional? You mean a computer nerd.”

Dan laughed his I’m-a-lot-smarter-than-you laugh as she walked off without replying. She hoped the computer geek didn’t run into Dan on Sunday.

“Hey!” Dan shouted. She stopped but didn’t turn around.

“Don’t forget the new ranch hand gets here on Sunday, too.”

Lisa muttered a curse under her breath. She’d forgotten about that.

“I’ll meet him. Bring him to the house after you show him around.” She walked off toward the house.

* * * *

Dawn light filtered through the curtains. Lisa lay with her eyes closed. She stretched and rolled from side-to-side, letting her muscles pull and bones pop. The sheet caught under a hip and pulled down, dragging across her naked breasts.
Good dream
. She rolled a little and the sheet tightened around her hip area. The feeling of her pubic hair rubbing against the 400-thread-count cotton, after scraping across her sensitized nipples, gave her a very good idea.