'Is it possible to get some help around here?' Being ignored did little to mellow his mood. Her slender, neatly manicured fingers flew over the keyboard with speedy efficiency. When he reached a counter cluttered with parts and catalogs, he shoved aside an air filter, rested his arms on the grease-stained Formica, and settled a blistering gaze on a slender young woman who sat at a computer station near the register.Ī long, luxurious mane of sable hair partly concealed her face. Ryan headed for an overhead sign at the rear of the feed section that read, 'parts and repairs,' his dusty riding boots beating out an angry tattoo on the concrete floor. Due to late snows, every farmer and rancher in the basin was already behind schedule, and each day of downtime could mean thousands of dollars in lost crop revenue. Delays like this, smack-dab in the middle of spring planting time, were intolerable. If Harv didn't get his employees whipped into shape, he'd start losing accounts. Now the huge store was a going concern, well stocked with everything from heavy equipment to fancy western wear, the only problem being that as sales increased, the quality of service seemed to go downhill. Harv Coulter, a rancher who'd gone bust, had started the business on a shoestring several years back, and the Kendrick brothers, along with many other ranchers in the area, had been patronizing the establishment ever since. With one shoulder, he butted open the door of The Works, the largest ranch supply house in Crystal Falls. As of this morning, they still hadn't arrived, and Ryan's follow-up calls had gotten him nowhere.

He had a broken-down tractor, and the parts needed to fix it should have been delivered to the Rocking K day before yesterday. Ryan Kendrick was so mad he could have chewed lug nuts.

Phantom Waltz by Catherine Anderson