Another Day, Another Dollar (BlackHeart) (R)

[Guardian Angel]

Emmaline stared at the notice in her hand. The green flyer was tapped to her door early that morning by the town's bank. Her house would be foreclosed on if she didn't get the bill paid before Labor Day. Her home had been passed down from generation to generation starting with her Great (x4) Grandfather Richard McCormick. He built the ranch himself with the help of his sons and made into the grandest place in the Rockies. Then, it got passe down and finally landed in the hands of Emma. Now, it used to be a full functioning ranch with steer and horses, but now its just home to a few animals and herself. She had kept the place up and well the past five years she has owned it, but when she was forced to close to her shop in town, she was out the money. Rumor had it that if she didn't get it paid off, the city was gonna take it and make it into resort. The thought of annoying tourists romping around her family's home made her sick to her stomach.
"Ruby!" she cried as she saw her husky attempting to climb onto the counter over the edge of the paper. "Get down!"
The red husky cowered and then bolted from the kitchen and out the back door into the back yard. Emma shook her head and placed the green paper on a tack board next to the home phone. She went to the sink and started to wash her dinner dishes. Out the window she watched the scenery before her with a heavy heart. How could she ever pay for all this?

Ruby raced around her fenced in yard, barking and crying in hopes of disturbing the mare behind the fence. It her attempting, Emma came back out and swatted at her with a lead rope.
"Hush, you pesky thing." she said as she opened the gate to the paddock. Ruby yipped and slipped through, taking off for the pasture where a few sheep were scattered. "You not a herd dog! Melody? Baby come on out."
Thunderous hooves blasted the muddy earth as the big Marwari mare made her towards Emma. Her bulky figure swayed with excitement as neared the young woman. Sliding to a stop, Melody narrowly missed Emma as she threw up mud and grass. She smiled up at her huge black mare and attached the lead to her halter. She led the mare into the long barn and brushed her down for the night. Ruby darted in and out of empty stalls chasing mice and chickens.
"Im gonna find you a stallion, Melody. Just you wait." Emma promised as she latched the three bolts on the mare's door to her roomy stall.

Back inside, Emma let down her auburn shoulder length hair and got into her evening wear: a pair of cloth shorts and a tank top. She pulled out her laptop and sat down on the couch in front of her tv. She flipped it to the news and logged on. A couple weeks ago she had placed an add online on a breeders site listing her mare. She hoped to find a similar stud to breed her to. Checking that, she sighed. No hits. Moving on to her own "dating site" she checked her profile. More luck there. A couple local men had liked her profile. She checked them out and grunted. "Nothing!" she wailed. With another sigh, she set her status to online and waited.