The Cherry Blossoms (17 page)

“No, I need to be up early, so I’m turning in for the evening.”

He begged her, “Daniella, one small drink won’t hurt you.”

She hadn’t realized that Garrett was standing in a shadow to one side of the kitchen.  “I believe the lady turned down your offer.”

Chapter Six

Franktown, Colorado

Garret walked Danny to her bedroom door.  “It’s not likely that he’ll have the guts to try to get into your bedroom, but just to be on the safe side, I’d lock the door.”

“Thank you for walking me up to my room.  I can’t tell you how sorry I am that he took it upon himself to show up unannounced.”

“He said the two of you were engaged.  Is that true?”

Danny stared at the floor, as much as she tried, she couldn’t make eye contact with him.  Ashamed, of the situation she created, she answered him with a whisper, “We were, but I don’t believe we are any longer.”

He gave her a quizzical look, but said nothing more about the engagement.  “We’ll start your training tomorrow.”  When he turned and walked away, Danny closed and locked her door.  She leaned against the door for quite some time before she could walk.  When she could stumble without falling, Danny made her way to the bed.  It was 6:00 in the morning in Paris.  She pulled out her cell phone to call Grant.  She thanked God when he answered on the first ring.

“Daniella, Michal
est arrivé ?”

“
Yes, he’s here.  He promised to leave in the morning.”

“Je suis tellement désolé que je lui adresse de votre grand-père.”

“I wish I could tell you that’s the worst news of the day, but I have more.”

“Daniella, a fait grand-père vous passez loin ?”

“No, he’s still with us, but I promised I would take over the ranch, which means that I will have to close the shop.”

“Pourquoi avez-vous à fermer la boutique ?  Vous pouvez exécuter pas le ranch de Paris ?”

“I wish I could run the ranch from Paris, but I can’t.  Please don’t tell anyone.  I want to tell them myself, but if I’m not imposing on you, can you keep your ears open and hear who might be hiring?”

“Yes Mademoiselle, I can do that.”

“Before I hang up the phone, tell everyone that I miss them.”

“Do not worry about us, we will be fine.  You must focus on the business that needs tending to.”

Danny cried herself to sleep that night worrying about the commitment she’d made to her grandfather.   Garrett could be right that if her heart remained in Paris, she’d never be a decent ranch owner. 

She woke at 4:00 in the morning and quickly dressed to help Nana with breakfast.  She nearly tripped and fell to the floor, when she saw Michal making breakfast with Nana.  While Danny knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, she needed to know what bullshit, he was feeding her Nana, and so she stood just outside the doorway and listened.

“Michal, don’t you worry, I’m sure that Danny will understand that there just aren’t any flights available for a week.  You are welcome to stay as long you need to.”

Just as Danny was thinking,
oh fuck no, he is not welcome to stay,
Garrett was standing beside her.  Danny pointed towards the office.

After the two were in the office and Danny locked the door, she asked, “Did you just hear what he said?”

“I did, but what do you care?  If you are no longer engaged to him, may I ask just what has you all worked up?”

“Do you want to know something?  I don’t why I get worked up, but I do.  What should I do?”

“Humph, are you asking for my advice about a man I know nothing about other than he told me that he was your fiancée, and lived in Paris?”

Danny’s head was bobbing up and down.  She looked like one of the dolls you see on car dashboards.  “Garrett, believe me, I wouldn’t ask if I thought I could manage him myself, but I’m so wrapped up in this mess emotionally, I just don’t know what to do.  Please don’t make me grovel for your help.”

“Before I sign on for this little gig, I need to know exactly how you feel about him.”

Wow, she had to think about that.  “Well, I thought I loved him, but when I discovered that he was involved in several intimate relationships with other women, I felt stupid.  After that I became angry and now?  I hate him.”

“The opposite of love is not hate; it’s apathy.  If he were to leave this morning, how would that make you feel?”

“While I appreciate the depth of your wisdom, I’m not looking for a psychologist; I just need a little advice on handling him while I’m here and he’s here too.”

“Kill him with kindness.”

Danny looked up at him.  “Is that the best advice you can come up with?”

“Yes, ma’am, it is.”

“Can you elaborate a little?  I don’t think that I understand you correctly.”

He chuckled, “You really don’t know much about men, do you?”

She put her hands on her hips as she angrily answered him, “Apparently, you don’t think I do.”

Garrett put his hands up defensively, “Whoa little doggy.  Just remember you are the one who started this conversation, so don’t you dare go off getting up in my grill.  What I was trying to tell you is to stop being angry with him.  Show him around the ranch.  Tell him about our handicap children operation.  Put him on a horse and ride the ranch boundaries.”

She thought about his idea for a minute.  “He knows I’m angry, so if I throw a curve ball at him, he’ll think I’m over my anger.  Garrett, where are the handicapped children you told me about?”

“We haven’t opened for the season just yet, so the ranch hands are in the process of mending fences, rounding up the herd, so we can brand them, and generally doing ranch maintenance.”

Danny stood still tapping her index finger on her chin.  “We could offer him the opportunity to work on the ranch, like those dude ranches people run.”

“We could do just that.  I think he’ll then find a flight out in just a few days.”

“Garrett, thank you.  That’s what I was looking for.  I’ll casually mention it over breakfast.”

When Danny and Garrett strolled into the kitchen, the ranch hands were coming in the door.  Nana gave them a stern look.  She knew they had been up to something.  Instead of admonishing them, she told Danny, “Michal is a wonderful cook.  He helped me with this morning’s breakfast.”

“Michal, that was very nice of you to help Nana with breakfast.  Garrett and I needed to talk about the ranch this morning.”

“It was nothing.  I enjoyed helping Betty prepare breakfast very much.”

“Well, even if you enjoyed it, I’m sure Nana was grateful for a second set of hands.”

“Danny, don’t be listening to him say it was nothing.  He used his grandmother’s recipe for the sticky buns, and let me tell you child, those are the best buns I’ve ever ate.”

“Michal, Garrett and I wondered if you wanted to go out with the ranch hands after breakfast and see the ranch.  I’ll join the two of you later, after I’ve met with Grandpa.  That is of course if you weren’t able to get a flight reservation.”

“Danny, that’s a great idea.  Michal was just telling me that the flights are booked for the entire week.  Isn’t that so, Michal?”

Looking like a trapped rat, he graciously responded, “Yes, Betty that is correct.  Alas, I did not bring the proper ranch closing, so I regretfully must decline your gracious offer.”

Danny was forming the words in her mind when one of the hands offered, “You and I look about the same size.  I’ll give you something to wear.  We always have boots available.”

“Thank you, then it looks as though we are all set.  Daniella, you will be joining us?”

She smiled sweetly at him, “Yes I will.  It’s been a while since I’ve joined in to check the fences after the spring rain, so I’m looking forward to it.”

When the ranch hands finished their breakfast and headed for the barn, Danny picked up Michal’s plate and handed it to him.  “I’m sure you won’t mind rinsing this off in the sink and then placing it in the dishwasher.”

“Of course, I do not mind.”

When Garrett walked to the sink, he leaned over and whispered to her, “Wanna lay a wager on how long he’ll last today?”

Danny slyly looked at him, “Sure, what do I get if I win the bet?”

“Not sure yet, but I’ll come up with something worthwhile.  How long do you think he’ll last?”

“Till lunch time, what about you, how long do you think he’ll make it until he cries uncle?”

“He’s got a huge ego, so that boy’s gonna go until dinner.  We’re working in the back forty today.  See you there.” 

Danny was chuckling when he left.  Garrett just might be right, Michal certainly does have a big ego, but he’s never been in horse country.

“What are you chuckling about, child?”

While she watched Michal walk to the barn, she told her Nana, “Nothing Nana, nothing at all.”

“Then let’s get Matt’s breakfast up to him before it gets cold.”

Danny took the breakfast tray to his room.  He was sitting at the small table waiting for her.  He chided her, “Most men could starve to death waiting on you women to feed us.”  Then he chuckled.  “Looking at your face, I got you on that one.  Come sit with me and tell me about your first day.”

She kissed him on the cheek and went to sit across from him.  “Oh, Grandpa I’m sure that Nana or Garrett has already told you about my first day, so there’s no need for me to tell you.”

Matt McPherson started to laugh, which led to his coughing.  Danny jumped from her chair, to grab the fork from his hand. “Now you’ve gone and got yourself coughing so hard that the fork is now a lethal weapon.”

When he regained his composure, he told her, “I am so grateful for the time that we’ve spent together.  I’ve missed you more than I can say.  You always were an Irish spitfire.  I think you take after your grandmother, God bless her soul.  I’m alright, so back to your chair and tell me about your first day.”

“Gramps, it was awful.  I had to drive that green monster of a truck to the store with Nana.  I couldn’t get in and once I was in, I couldn’t get out.”

He chuckled, “So, I’ve heard.  Betty doubled over with laughter when she told me that one of the employees from the store taught you how to get in and out of the truck.  Don’t be hard on yourself this early.  You’re on a long learning curve.  You’ll do just fine.  Now tell me about this young man who followed you to our ranch.”

Danny’s shock showed on her face.  Nana had never before shared with Grandpa what Danny told her.  “What did she tell you?”

“Ah, be careful what you assume in life, you may not always draw the correct answer.  You know that your Nana would never betray your confidence.  It was Garrett.  It seems that my foreman has taken a dislike to him already.”

Danny laughed, “What did Garrett say about him?”

He was laughing so hard that he spewed his scrambled eggs onto the table.  When he caught his breath, he told her, “Garrett said he was some pansy assed feller from Paris.”

She laughed as well.  Compared to the ranch hands, which were virile and tanned, he must have looked like that to Garrett.

“Danny, Garrett also told me that this gentleman said the two of you were engaged.  Is that true?”

She was gonna hog tie and beat the crap out of Garrett.  He had no right to tell her grandfather this bullshit.  “Yes sir, I was, but I’m not anymore.”

“When were you planning to tell me about this?”

Danny hung her head down staring at the table top, when she whispered, “I wasn’t going to tell you.”

“Tell me why you were not going to tell me?  Did he abuse you?”

Her grandfather was earnestly looking into her eyes as if he were in search of her soul.  “Gramps, it’s a bit complicated.”

“I’m old and I’m dying, but I am still quite capable of understanding complicated issues.”

Danny spent the next half-hour talking about her relationship with Michal.  When she was done, he took her hand in his.  “Danny, you are a bright, beautiful woman, I don’t ever want to see that shameful look on your face again.”

In a soft voice she responded to him, “Yes sir.”

“Now you go on.  Tell Betty I’m ready for my exercises and that I plan to be at dinner this evening.  I want the opportunity to assess this man who broke your heart.”

“Grandpa, I love you so much.  I guess I was ashamed that I’d been snookered by some smooth talking Parisian.”

“You have nothing to be ashamed of.  Many a woman has been in your spot, so don’t go thinking that you’re the first.”

Danny picked up his empty plate, pleased to see that he’d eaten all his breakfast.

Garrett was waiting for her in the kitchen.  “Are you up to learning how we account for the money we earn?”

“I sure am.”

While they walked to the barn where Garrett built himself a small office, Danny asked him, “What did you tell my grandfather?”

“About what?”

“About Michal; what did you tell him?”