A Little Bit of Charm (7 page)

“Why are there no cats in the barn?” Rachel couldn't resist one last question.

“I have two cats in the house, Luke and Leia. But some owners don't like cats around skittish horses. You use a Standardbred with your buggy, right?”

“Yes. I have my cousin's gelding today.”

“That breed, as well as draft horses, don't spook nearly as easily as Thoroughbreds.”

Rachel and Jessie rejoined the crowd exiting the gift shop. Everyone carried dripping ice-cream cones or bags of souvenirs. A few grandchildren marched out with stuffed pink ponies. While Jessie passed out flyers, Rachel entered the shop and wandered the aisles, in no hurry to leave the farm. She purchased a scoop of butter pecan in a cup to eat on her way home. Intent on not making a mess from the ice cream, Rachel didn't notice Jessie leaning against an elm along the walkway.

“Let me ask
you
a question.” The English woman pushed off the tree trunk. “Would you like to stay for supper with me and my family? I think Mom is making chili and corn bread tonight.”

Rachel blinked while ice cream dripped from her spoon onto her dress. “No, thank you. I'm expected for supper at my cousin's farm. Besides, I need to return her rig in case she needs it.” She dabbed at the stain with a paper napkin.

“Of course. Nobody would sit down for dinner with a pack of strangers, no matter how much they like horses.” Jessie laughed easily while she kept pace at Rachel's side.

“It's not that.” Rachel felt her face grow warm. “I'm sure your family is nice, but I'm already a guest in someone's home. I don't want to…press my luck. I believe that's how you
Englischers
say it.”

“I understand, so I'll stop beating about the bush and ask the real question on my mind.” Jessie forged ahead without drawing breath. “You aren't looking for a part-time job, are you? Because I sure could use someone to take my place when I return to college this Sunday.”

A second glob of butter pecan hit Rachel's skirt. This one would remain ignored until laundry day. “A job? Here at Twelve Elms?”

“Yep, giving tours three days a week. I think you know almost
as much about horses as I do. I can teach you the stable history stuff and what kind of services we offer. What do you say?”

“I say yes! When can I start?”

“Hold on. Before you get too excited, we only pay minimum wage.” Jessie shrugged. “That's all I make.”

“Minimum wage will be enough.”

“We give fall tours on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Would that schedule work for you?”

“It's perfect. The other days I can help my cousin on her chicken farm. I need to earn my keep.”

“Oh, wait a minute. Maybe you'll only want to do the Wednesday and Friday tours.” Her blue-eyed gaze scanned down Rachel's dress and full-length apron. “Our Saturday tour takes place on horseback instead of using the farm wagon. I doubt you'll want to climb on a trail horse wearing your long pretty dress.”

In a fraction of a second, two ideas shot through Rachel's brain
: I would be able to ride the lush hills and valleys of Twelve Elms mounted on one of their fine horses
. And
I can spend workdays doing what I love best—talking about horses
. She answered without hesitation. “That won't be a problem because I'm still on
rumschpringe
. That means I haven't officially joined the Amish church yet. I have a pair of blue jeans and a couple T-shirts. I also have tennis shoes but no leather riding boots with a heel.” She lifted one foot for display.

“You're allowed to do that? Wear jeans and shirts that advertise Twelve Elms Stables?”

“For now I can, until I am baptized.” Rachel lowered her foot to the ground while her palms began to sweat.

Jessie stared at her feet. “Say, what size do you wear?”

“Seven and a half.”

She grinned. “Then riding boots won't be a problem either. I have tons. I buy every pair I find at the Goodwill Store. Folks
purchase them on a lark and then end up donating them to charity without ever wearing them out.”

“Maybe you could sell me one of your spare pairs? I'll pay you from my first check.”

“Done deal. Wait here and then I'll walk you to your buggy. I put together a notebook for Keeley to use. You can take it home to study. Could you be here by nine o'clock tomorrow to start training?”

“You bet.” Rachel swallowed hard. “Thanks, Jessie. I'll work hard and do the best job I can.”

“I know you will.” Jessie stuck out her hand.

Shyly, Rachel shook for the second time that day. Shaking hands wasn't common among Amish women.

She was sure it was the first of many new experiences to come.

Jake leaned back in his father's chair and rubbed his neck. He'd been at the computer so long, his back was stiff and his neck had developed a painful crick.

“How's it going, son?” Ken spoke from the office doorway, sipping his fourth cup of decaf.

Jake almost fell over backward in surprise. “Good, real good.” He waited until his feet hit the carpet before replying. “Come take a look at what I've set up.”

Ken pulled up a chair and made himself comfortable.

“I updated our website with the services we provide along with our price schedule. I posted recent photos of events we've held. Most of the information on our site was pathetically out of date.” He tapped on each photo to enlarge it.

“Great job. That looks very professional. Your night classes at the community college were well worth the money.”

“I know I need to get out of the barn every now and then and
help build a client base.” Jake leaned back judiciously this time. “I started a blog that I'll update once a week with new photos and scheduled events. That way we won't have to wait for a website redo. Twelve Elms will have a calendar page for upcoming barrel races, dressage shows, children's rodeos, and charity events like that polo club competition we held here. Horse lovers who subscribe to our blog can leave comments and ask questions. Groups can even make reservations to take a tour. There's a link to the blog from the website.” Jake clicked on the link and then turned the monitor toward his father.

“Very impressive.” His dad nodded with approval. “A couple of old-fashioned horsemen have joined the twenty-first century.”

“I'm just getting started. I set up a Facebook page for the business and a Twitter account too. The blog will feed updates to both to save time.”

“I'll take your word that that's a good thing.” Ken's eyes crinkled into a web of deep lines.

“It's the way companies advertise these days, Dad. Folks use Google instead of paging through the phone book. I'll have a tech buddy of mine optimize our search engine placement.” Jake tapped the link to their Facebook page.

“You've lost me, but I'll bet Jessie and Virgil will be impressed.”

“Customers surfing the web for services we happen to offer will find us on the map, so to speak. People with horses to board or those wishing to take lessons might even choose Charm if they're planning to move.”

Rising to his feet, Ken slapped him on the back. “Good work, son. I'll report to your mother that Twelve Elms is about to enjoy a renaissance.”

Jake closed down the web pages with a rare feeling of pride and accomplishment. “I'd better hit my barn chores, but I'll check out more professional trainer ads later.” As he shut the laptop, a curious sight out the window captured his attention. Jessie was talking to a
woman in the side yard. The two were huddled over some type of binder. Jake tapped on the windowpane and waved. Both women looked up. His sister waved, but the other merely shielded her eyes from the sun. Jake squinted to better focus on the stranger. In jeans and a peach-colored top, she was the loveliest woman he'd seen in a long time.

“Who…is…that?” he asked, drawing out the three words for emphasis.

His father crossed the floor and pulled back the curtain. “Pretty, isn't she? That's our new tour guide, hired yesterday by your sister. Jessie said that if you could hire a replacement, so could she. Her name is Rachel something or other. She'll take over tours while Jessie's in school so we don't lose the bus group income. I guess you're not the only one implementing changes around here. Your mom will be pleased we're keeping the evil bank repossessor at bay.” Ken chuckled as he left the room.

“You're not kidding she's pretty,” murmured Jake to no one in particular. He continued to stare like a besotted teenager instead of a grown man until the two women moved out of view. Sprinting down the hallway into the kitchen, he peeked at their newest employee from the back window. For a brief moment he considered dashing out to join them once they disappeared inside the barn, but then he thought better of the idea. His past performance with women his own age was nothing to brag about.

“Who are you spying on?” A voice spoke from behind him. Virgil pulled open the refrigerator door.

“Nobody.” Jake let the curtain drop in place and leaned against the windowsill.

True to the curious nature of a fourteen-year-old, Virgil opened his can of soda at the other window and scanned the empty backyard. “I'll bet it was the new girl, Rachel. She's really nice.”

“You've already met her?” Jake's face screwed up into a scowl.

“Of course. You need to get away from horses more often, big
brother. I ate lunch with her and Jessie.” Virgil headed out the door with his cold drink.

Jake popped open a soda and spent the next ten minutes formulating a plan of introduction that wouldn't involve stuttering, stammering, or asking stupid questions such as: “So, you're new around here, aren't you?” His track record for dating girls was abysmal. He never went to bars and seldom attended church socials or anyplace else people his age might meet. From his experience, horse auctions and used tack sales weren't great places to meet women.

By the time he drank the entire can, no particular intuition had arrived on how best to handle meeting her. He strode outside in time to see Jessie and the new hire enter the Brady family barn, so Jake headed to the indoor arena to exercise Eager to Please. He'd accustomed the yearling to the bridle and was working him in half-hour increments on a twenty-foot lunge line. The colt stepped lively and put up no fuss, proof of his assertion they owned a future champion. After checking his watch, Jake took the colt back to his stall for a good rubdown. Training at his tender age took place in baby steps, not in leaps and bounds. Just as he released Eager to Please from the cross ties, Jessie wandered up the main aisle.

“He's growing bigger day by day.” She chewed on a long green weed.

Jake added a few cups of feed to the colt's bucket and closed the gate behind him. “You're exactly the person I want to talk to.” He bobbed his head left and right to see if anyone was with her.

“Bet I know what you want to talk about.” Jessie lifted one of her boot heels to a tack trunk.

“Who's the new girl?” They both spoke simultaneously.

Jake busied himself scrubbing the water trough to hide his embarrassment. “I know her name is Rachel and that she'll give tours while you're in college. Virgil told me that much.”

“Yeah, he ate lunch with us at the picnic table. I believe that
boy is smitten with Rachel. He kept watching her from the corner of his eye, subtle-like, at least in his own mind.”

“Is that so?” Jake refilled the newly cleaned trough with the hose.

“Well, she sure is attractive. Don't you think so?”

Jake shook his head and faced her. Never in his life could he keep a single secret from his sister. Jessie had been born with the intuition allotment meant for a dozen people. “I suppose she is, but what I want to know is where did she go?” He turned one of the plastic chairs backward to straddle.

“She's taking Buster and Bess around the tour circuit a few times to get used to handling them and so they can get familiar with her. If she keeps giving them apples, they'll be putty in her hands.” She plopped down on the trunk lid.