Work in Progress Wednesday- Rescue

Another week, another storm. We had an ice storm Friday- although we were lucky enough to mostly get ice pellets, not much freezing rain. And then yesterday, we had a shit ton of rain that melted the ice away. Sort of. Thankfully, it's supposed to be warm all week and I hope that means all this crap in my driveway will melt. Otherwise it's going to be a skating rink when it gets cold again. Is it spring yet?

One place it IS spring is in the novel I'm working on. So I guess I'll just keep living vicariously through my characters. Their lives are a lot more interesting anyway lol.

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Paige headed for the Quarter Horse barn to find Billy. It wasn't hard- he was sitting on a hay bale, scrubbing away at a saddle that was just as tan and weathered as his face. As leathery, too.

"Excuse me," she said.

The old man jumped and nearly fell off the bale. He glared at Paige.

"Whaddaya want?" he demanded.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she said. "Uh, I heard you needed a hand?"

"You got a resume?" he asked.

Paige did a mental face-palm. It had been a long time since she'd applied for a job, but REALLY? How could she have forgotten a friggin' RESUME?

"Uh, no," she said, feeling her face heat up. "To be honest, it was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. But I could e-mail it to you if that works?"

He glared at her. "Do I look like I know how to do a goddam e-mail or any of that bullshit?"

Paige wished she could drop through the barn floor. This was more of a mistake than she thought.

But then a "DING" sounded from his shirt pocket, and he pulled out a smartphone. He tapped away at it for a moment, then grinned up at Paige.

"Gotcha!" he crowed.

Paige couldn't help but grin back. He looked a lot less intimidating with a smile.

"You sure did," she said.

He tucked the phone away. "Just had to reply to that comment on my 'gram. Would you believe this old cowboy has over fifty thousand followers on his Instagram?"

Paige blinked at him. "Well, someone took a video of my car being attacked by geese this morning, and within an hour, it had five thousand views. So yeah, I can believe it."

"Shit, that was you?" he said. He pulled his phone back out and typed and scrolled. It dinged several times, and then he held it up triumphantly. "Twenty-five thousand now. What'd you say your name was- oh, never mind, you're tagged in this. Paige. Paige Brandt, is that right?" He chuckled a little. "You're that girl who talks to horses. Guess that skill don't transfer to geese?"

"No, sir, it does not," Paige said, looking down at the floor. He probably thought she was wacko.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I remember you. You used to beat that spoiled brat Natalie all the time at horse shows. It was nice to see her get bumped down a peg or two- of course, she always blamed it on us, or the horses. But she ain't got time for horse stuff anymore, now she's gotten married. You're hired."

"Wh-what?" Paige said.

"I'll see you here at five tomorrow morning. I can't wait to tell everyone I met Goose Girl."

Goose Girl. Shit, Paige hoped that was one nickname that wouldn't stick.