“Good, well done. Lincoln, what’s the status on the repairs to the cabins that were damaged in those hail storms?” Amber shifted her gaze to the opposite side of the table and zeroed in on Lincoln.
“They’re coming along at a nice clip. However, I think, given that we’re already working to make repairs, we should implement our plans to move the cabins off grid and install the solar panels to power them,” Lincoln explained with a nonchalant shrug.
“You think that could be completed before high season begins next month?” she asked.
Lincoln rubbed at the back of his neck before he responded. “Adding that work order to each cabin’s manifest of repairs will extend the repair time. There’s no way around that. I’ve outlined the extra time in my report. As long as the weather holds, I project we should be able to get all but five cabins fully repaired by month’s end. The rest I can finish up during the first part of June, while my team is on hand for maintenance with the flood of visitors. But, keep in mind, while my crew and I work hard, I can’t guarantee Mother Nature isn’t going to get pissed, drop two feet of snow on us that takes a week to melt, and toss a wrench in my timetable.”
“We’re all governed by that finicky bitch. Before I give you the go ahead, I want to check our bookings for June, and see if we can manage without those five cabins before I give you the green light,” Amber said. “Give me twenty-four hours to look over those numbers and I will get back to you on that. Duncan, what do you have for me?”
Duncan said, “Well, like I thought, the desire for survival training has picked up in recent months. I know we talked about having day camps for kids this summer. I think it will be manageable, but I will need help because I can’t be everywhere at once. So the week or two in which we schedule the camp, I wouldn’t be able to do overnight survival training.”
“What if we have it for one week in June, and then again in July for one week? That way, we could just mark on the website that the overnight training we offer isn’t available during those weeks. And we do have it in the budget to hire some help seasonally if you wanted it,” Amber offered.
“Two of my buddies I served with are looking for work. They both just retired from the Navy. I’d like to bring them on, possibly for longer than just seasonal work,” Duncan explained.
“Get me their resumes and I’ll take a look. If they have other skillsets that we can rotate them to handle, a more permanent position might be feasible. Would they be able to do overnight survival training in the weeks you’d be unavailable due to the camps?” Amber asked, looking like she was calculating expenses in her head.
“Absolutely. If we can get them here in the next week or so, I could have them go on a few overnights with me so that they would know the drill. I’ll call them and have them email you right away.” Duncan nodded.
“Good, I like the sound of that.” Amber’s gaze, so like her brother’s, landed on Maverick. “Mav, how’s the wrangling looking for this summer?”
“Most of our seasonal guides have signed on again. If Duncan’s friends are any good with horses and cattle, I could use the added help. He and I could work out their schedules to make it work.”
Amber nodded. “I will take that into consideration. Can your friends ride, Duncan?”
“They’re good enough, and will get better with experience,” Duncan said.
“That would work for me. Anything else?” Amber asked, glancing around the room.
“Actually, there is something Noah and I have been discussing, going back and forth over—especially once you started talking about survival training day camps for kids. We’ve debated the possibility of hosting horse riding day camps. We’d likely want to keep the age brackets to middle school and high school to start with, see if there’s an interest. Construct the camp so they don’t just learn to ride, but how to care for a horse, muck out the stall, those types of things. With the last day culminating with a three-hour trail ride with lunch,” Maverick explained, and shot Noah a glance. It had come about through a discussion about Noah’s boys and teaching them about horses. His twins were four, little hellions who kept making nannies quit, but when it came time for them to be with the horses, they settled down and followed directions.
“That sounds interesting. We’ve not announced the day camp for the survival training, but maybe we could have two different sessions in between those two. Have you worked up the numbers on that?” Amber asked.
“We have. It’s here in the report.” He handed it over.
“All right. I will examine what you’ve put together, see if it’s something we can budget for this summer. If not, it’s certainly an idea I really like that, looking ahead, we may be able to add next year,” Amber said, checking her watch. “If that’s all you have for me, I can let you guys get back to work.”
They all looked at each other, waiting for someone to speak.
“Great. Then we can reconvene in two weeks. I’ll email you guys the time. Great work everyone,” she said, and gave them a big smile.
They rose from their seats. Lincoln was out the door in a flash. Mav really needed to ask him what the hell was up between him and the boss. Noah and Duncan trailed behind Lincoln, until it was just Mav and Amber left in the conference room.
Before he could depart, Amber said, “Mav, hold up a minute.”
“What’s up?” Mav knew there were some on the ranch who didn’t love the fact that Amber was in charge now. But he couldn’t fault her. She worked hard, had ventured down some paths that her brother had resisted, and had achieved great results.
“Our guest from London, Bianca Peabody?” she said with a frank stare.
He bit back a curse. The confounded British woman needed a good spanking. Had she complained about him?
She was the type to do it. And if she had complained, had she also mentioned this morning, when they had come close to locking lips?
He clenched his fists as he saw red. It didn’t matter that before her riding lessons, she snuck Sunshine apples and had the mare eating out of her hand. Or that she looked sexy as hell on horseback with a skill that few could muster.
“What about her?” he asked, unable to keep the derisive tone out of his voice.
“I’d just like you to be nice to her.”
“I am nice, but she can be rather difficult. I realize she’s a guest, and I will do what I can to lay off a bit.” The damn woman made him want to swear off the species and become a monk.
“I think she’s lonely, is what she is, and a little lost,” Amber said with a shrug.
Mav ignored the hole that punched through his chest. He didn’t want to feel bad for the woman. Hell, he didn’t want to feel anything for her, and that included the ever-present lust that powered through him any time she was near. “Then you be nice to her. I’m not here to cater to that princess’s every whim.”
Amber frowned and crossed her arms. “No. But you are paid to cater to mine. And I’m telling you now, stop being a jerk. I know you can charm the ladies, Mav. Give her some of the charm and have her eating out of your hand. She’s spending a lot of money with us for the foreseeable future, and I would rather not have her decide to cut her stay short because someone’s nose was out of joint. Understood?”