Simmons Brothers Series: Boxed Set Read online

  Finally, she set down the comb and yawned.

  A good night’s sleep would do her well.

  At ten, Lana woke up a little later than she would have wanted, but she took her time getting ready. It wouldn’t do her any good to rush and forget something important. She wanted to at least have the semblance of a professional and decided that the dress would be too informal. So, she went with jeans and a conservative top. Her hair, she pulled back into a ponytail and touched the end regretfully. She did miss her long hair but she wasn’t unhappy with the short style. She moved her head experimentally giggling as the end brushed against her neck.

  Concentrate! She told herself.

  She left the room and went downstairs to ask around about where she could get a bite to eat. She was ready to face the steely eyed high-schooler except there was a different person there, a middle-aged woman who smiled at her.

  “Hi,” Lana said temporarily side tracked. “Could you tell me where I can get a bite to eat?”

  “Of course,” the lady said kindly. “There’s a diner just two blocks down on the right.”

  “Thanks,” Lana said about to turn around when the lady spoke.

  “I haven’t seen you around.”

  “Oh, I um, arrived last night,” Lana said smiling nervously.

  “I asked Anna to take over last night for me,” the lady said. “I’m Donna, the owner of the inn.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Lana said. “Is Anna your daughter?”

  “Yes, I hope she didn’t give you too much trouble,” Donna said worried. Lana could see the resemblance now, around the eyes and she was about to reassure her that Anna hadn’t except she couldn’t quite lie properly.

  “She has to work on her people skills a bit more,” Lana said weakly.

  Donna sighed and said, “I’ll make sure to get her to apologize the next time you see her.”

  Lana was about to say there was no need but then thought better of it. She bid her goodbye and went to get that bite to eat.

  The diner was busy with customers at nearly every table, including the bar. She managed to find a table to herself and ordered pancakes. A hearty breakfast would help steady her nerves. Now that she was here, she could feel the tension going through her. She hadn’t really called ahead and told them that she was arriving. Instead, she was going to turn up out of nowhere and hope to god that they were going to pick her.

  She sighed heavily. This was going to be one hell of a day.

  As she waited for her food to arrive, she gazed outside the window. The town wasn’t so bad, it was pretty and she liked the look of it. The people seemed friendly and no one really stared at her, unlike in her hometown.

  A truck stopped outside the diner and she watched as a handsome man got out. He had dark hair and handsome features which, when paired with the casual clothes he wore, made him look ruggedly attractive. She watched as he walked in, heading straight for the counter to place his order. She was slightly distracted by her order arriving and by the time she had turned to look back at him, he was gone.

  Lana shrugged and ate quickly. It was nearing eleven by then and she didn’t want to be at the diner during the lunch rush.

  She paid the bill, calculating her decreasing funds and reached for her purse. The address was written on it and she now tried to follow it, praying that she didn’t end up getting lost along the way.

  She soon discovered that it was further away than she had imagined it would be and she wasn’t very happy about the extra walking.

  Think about lodging, she thought. And money. This is little to pay for security.

  It worked and finally she was staring at the biggest ranch that she had ever seen. It was spectacular and scary at the same time. There was a fence around the property but she pushed open to small gate, walking along the path towards what she hoped was the farm house. She was halfway through it when she heard the thundering hoof beats of a galloping horse. Turning just as a horse and rider rounded the corner.

  She didn’t flinch as it stopped in front of her but she almost did a double take when she saw the man from the diner descend from its back.

  Dark messy hair sprayed across his forehead, high cheekbones and deep green eyes stared at her curiously, making her almost tongue-tied.

  “Can I help you?” he said in a deep voice.

  “I… “she swallowed and said, “I’m here for the housekeeping position.”

  His eyes brightened at that and an easy smile appeared on his face.

  “Why don’t you come inside and I’ll call my brothers over to talk about it?”

  Brothers?

  Lana thought faintly as she let the man escort her inside.

  Chapter Three

  Pete couldn’t help but take in the girl with a slightly puzzled thought.

  She looked far too young to apply for a housekeeping position. He looked at the dark red hair and youthful frame, putting her at twenty-three or twenty-four, two years younger than himself. He wasn’t going to judge her on her appearance but there was a naivety in the way she handled herself. Still he was interested to see what she would say during the interview.

  He sat her down before going towards the telephone to call everyone. The bad thing about having a ranch away from town was that the cell reception was terrible. All of them had cell phones, but it was useless unless you could ferret out the tiny spots around the ranch where there was any sort of signal strength. So, they had landline telephones attached to the different areas of the ranch, the main house, the stables, the pen and the small office. The brothers were bound to be at those places or if not, one of the hands would find them.

  He struck out with the pen, thinking that Mark would be there but he found Drew and Jaimie at the stables which left Mark, whom the two promised to bring. As soon as he was done, he turned back to the girl, who was staring at the cup of tea he had given her, without making an effort to drink it.

  “It’s not poisoned,” he said, faintly amused.

  “I know,” she said. And to prove the point she took a sip, her facial features slightly changing as she did.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Could I have some sugar please?”

  He cursed himself. He hadn’t put any sugar in the tea or provided it for her. Wordlessly he did so and watched as she carefully put in one spoon and then drank it with a relaxed expression.

  “I didn’t catch your name,” he said.

  “I didn’t give it,” she said calmly. “I’m Lana Jones.”

  “I’m Pete Simmons; it’s nice to meet you.” He said. “You don’t look like you’re from around here.”

  “I’m not. I arrived last night.”

  “Where did you come from?”

  She named a town which he knew was a good three towns away.

  “That’s far,” he commented. “A long way to come for a housekeeping job.”

  She didn’t say anything and he guessed that he had struck a raw nerve. He moved on,

  “Tell me Lana, why do you want this job?”

  “I… “

  But before he could get her answer, the bustle outside alerted him that his brothers were back. The three walked in and Lana’s eyes widened as they did. He couldn’t guess why she looked so shocked.

  “I didn’t think… “she thought she heard him mutter but before she could ask about it, Mark had come forward and said,

  “Hi, nice to meet you,”

  Lana shook his hand shyly and there was an exchange of greetings between all of them.

  “Do you feel you are qualified to take on this job?” Jaimie said, cutting straight to it. “The job involves cooking, cleaning and washing, as well as, shopping regularly for groceries.”

  “I know, it was in the ad,” Lana said. “I am sure I can do everything.”

  “Do you have any experience with cooking for and cleaning up after four grown men, all of whom have differing schedules?” Mark asked.

  Lana nodded and reached into her bag
to take out a folder.

  “This has all my information in it, you can check up on my references.”

  Jaimie took the folder but didn’t look through it as Pete himself would have done. That seemed to fluster Lana who looked away. Jaimie instead said,

  “Tell us a bit more about yourself.”

  “What do you want to know?” she asked.

  “What about your hometown?” Drew suggested. “Or maybe about your work experience?”

  “Well the town I come from is smaller than this, there weren’t a lot of job opportunities, but I was able to find work, just not the sort that satisfied me. I started in retail and then I went on to work in several different houses,” she said. “It was fun and challenging.”

  Pete was watching her and noticed that her fingers were nervously drumming against her thigh. Maybe she’s nervous, he thought but looking at the way she was talking, it didn’t seem like it. But he didn’t think too much about it, instead he focused on taking in everything she was saying. She was talking about the work she did and all her experience which made her perfect for them or so it seemed. He didn’t want to think badly of her, as he very much liked her unassuming manner. Still, he knew job seekers often lied to secure a job they usually weren’t cut out for. He’d seen it all too often, interviewing potential ranch hands. Hiring men who didn’t know their ass from a fence post. He was of course going to defer to Jaimie so that he could decide whether or not to hire Lana.

  After a while, Jaimie stopped her and told her that they would be in touch soon. Lana nodded, looking disappointed but smiled as she left. Pete got up and went after her.

  “Did you walk here?”

  “Yes,” Lana replied, obviously not thrilled with having to walk back.

  “Would you like a ride back into town?”

  “Not if it means on horseback,” she said. “I’m not fond of them, really.”

  “Not much experience with farm animals?”

  “Just horses,” she lied. “My experience lends itself more towards chickens and sheep.”

  “Alright,” Pete said. “I’ll borrow my brother’s sedan.” Stepping back inside, Pete told his brothers he was giving Lana a ride back into town and all of them agreed they’d wait on a decision until he got back.

  After they left, Mark said,

  “What do you think of her?”

  “She’s young, that’s for certain. But, I’ll start calling her references and if that works out, then we can hire her.” Jaimie said.

  “What did you think of her?”

  Drew shrugged at the question and said,

  “As long as she can cook and clean, I don’t really care either way.”

  With that Jaimie stood and headed out as the others slowly trailed out after him.

  When Pete returned, he got himself caught up in work soon enough, as there is always something to do on a ranch.

  There was rarely a moment where he wasn’t caught up with work and today was one of those crazy, hectic days. They had recently had good sales and he was the one who had to handle the accounts for the revenue they made. Usually it turned out that sometimes the people who went to the markets with their produce tried to pocket a dollar or two that wasn’t there and it was incredibly frustrating for him if that happened.

  Other than the dishonesty that it bred, it had more to do with the fact that he couldn’t really fire them if that happened. The town was small and there were only so many people eager to come out from neighboring areas to work as hands on the ranch so all he could do was give them a warning and let them off.

  But what Pete didn’t get was that he was a force to be reckoned with and after catching the explosive ends of his admonishments, no one dared to repeat the same offense and he was glad to note that it seemed to deter them.

  He worked steadily but during the rare moments in which his mind cleared, he thought about the girl who had landed in their laps, so to speak. She did seem to be a hard worker but then again, looks could be deceiving.

  Finally, as he was done with his last ledger. Putting it in the safe, he got up and stretched, looking around his tiny office.

  He used to work in the house but there was something about the atmosphere that didn’t suit him so he and his brothers had built a small office where he could sit and spend some time alone, as well as, store all the important documents for the farm. His brothers all had a key to the place as did George because he was a trusted member of their crew. Other than that, he rarely allowed anyone to linger inside. The office had his desk, four office cabinets to hold all the records and the customary client chairs. He did have a kettle in the corner as well as several packets of instant coffee and powdered milk. There were times when he stayed back in the office until the late hours and the coffee helped keep him awake.

  He walked to the door and saw that it was getting dark. The time of day also reminded him how hungry he was and so he decided to relieve Mark of his duty and go get a bite to eat. He did remember to tell one of the nearby workers to pass that message to Mark, lest they both end up going to buy something.

  Pete had a quiet walk towards where they kept their truck. They had two cars; one was Jaimie’s, a normal sedan, while the truck was usually their go to vehicle of choice. Unfortunately, it would scare the townspeople if he used Prissy, his mare, to go to town. He had been riding Prissy when he had met Lana but had delivered the horse back to its stall afterwards.

  As someone brought up on a ranch he, like his brothers, were adept at taking care of the animals but their father had never been in favor of expanding, which had led to a specific way of living. After their father had passed away, the four had decided to start expanding and they did well for themselves. They weren’t rich by any means and they didn’t want to be rich, but they made a nice living for the four of them. The four had grown up on humble means and they didn’t want to deviate from that.

  As for starting a family, that wasn’t a concern at the moment. They were focused on their ranch at the moment and Pete always figured that it would be Jaimie who would be the first to take a wife. He was almost thirty and Pete was sure that once Jaimie went the family way, he and his brothers would all follow sooner or later.

  He shook those tiresome thoughts out of his mind as he started the truck, heading towards town thinking of what to buy. He reached the diner, taking in the white building with royal blue shutters, before walking in. It had been a while since he had been to town, he didn’t usually venture there unless he absolutely had to purchase something.

  “Look who the cat dragged in,” Loretta said as she grinned at him.

  Loretta was the owner of the diner and had been for as long as he could remember. She had been friends with his mother and had continued to look out for them after his mother had passed away. Now she was standing behind the cash register with her wispy gray hair tied in a bun. She wore the customary white and blue waitress outfit that hugged her ample hips. Pete liked

  “Long time no see,” Pete said smiling as Loretta held his hand.

  “I usually see Mark here,” Loretta said. “What’s with the sudden visit?”

  He shrugged and said, “Thought I would do him a favor today.”

  “And aren’t I the lucky one to witness that,” she said. “You want the usual?”

  He looked over the menu, hanging above the register, and rattled off what he wanted as Loretta winked and went back toward the kitchen with a cheery invitation for him to take a seat.

  He looked around and found what he thought was an empty booth until he sat down and saw it was occupied.

  “Oh, hello,” Lana said, surprised. Her dark eyes widening just

  She had been hunched over a menu, which was how he had missed her. Her hair was untied, hanging over her shoulders and she had a cup of coffee clutched in her hands. There seemed to be something bothering her and he hesitated to say anything.

  “I didn’t realize someone was sitting here,” he said. “I’ll give you back your peace and
quiet.”

  But she stopped him by saying, “Its fine, if you want to stay. I won’t be here long anyway.”

  From the way, she said it, it made him think that she was going to be leaving town the next day but he didn’t comment on it. Instead he said,

  “Something wrong?”

  “Nothing really,” she said. “I’m just an impatient person and adjusting to town is taking some time.”

  “It can be hard,” he said.

  “Yes well,” she trailed off and said, “Why are you here?”

  “Getting some food,” He said. “The four of us are likely to burn down the kitchen if we have to cook for ourselves.”

  She paled at that and he had to reaffirm that it was a joke.

  “Of course,” she said but the color didn’t flood back into her face. It made him curious about her and he found her very intriguing.

  “Haven’t you eaten?” he asked.

  “I’m not very hungry,” she said. “More preoccupied. Have you always lived here?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “From the way the lady greeted you,” she said. “It was very enthusiastic and familiar, like family.”

  He laughed. “Always.”

  “Haven’t you wanted to leave or explore beyond this town?” she asked with a strange light in her eyes.

  “I haven’t had the need to,” he said. “Of course, we have traveled a time or two, each of us going when time allowed, but home is where the heart is and for the four of us, our hearts are here with this town and the ranch.”