Page 103 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

“You’re such a country girl.”

“Yup.” I used all of my Texan accent to emphasize the word.

Jessica laughed. She’d picked me up from the airport the night before, and we’d gone back to her apartment in New Jersey. The place felt a little empty without Ashley and her stuff. Ashley had gotten married a few months before and was now living with her husband nearby. We all had plans to open a storage unit in a few days.

My phone chimed, and I pulled it out hoping it was William.

No such luck. I hadn’t heard from him since he’d sent the kissing emoji and the word “soon.” That had thrown my heartbeat into overdrive, and Jessica had made fun of me for a good twenty minutes about it.

“William?” Jessica asked.

I shook my head and opened my email. When I saw the name of the bank back in Whitehill, I grimaced.

“What is it?” Jessica asked.

“My bank.”

“Did someone steal your identity?”

“I don’t think so.” This was from Randy, the man I’d talked to about the loan for improving the ranch. The message asked if I’d finished the paperwork.

That was the most loaded question I’d faced today.

Had I finished it? You bet I had. It had been sitting in a large envelope in my bedroom ready to go back to Randy since the day William had first dropped by for dinner. I’d completed it that night, but I’d been counting on a candid conversation with my dad about him letting me take over before I turned it in.

That had never happened. I’d tried half a dozen times, but my dad always pushed the subject into a different area, and that had left me without the surety that I’d even need the loan.

Then William had sufficiently distracted me, and while I hadn’t forgotten about it, I had put it on hold.

“What’s up?” Jessica asked after she washed down another bite of her cheese pizza with a swig of soda.

“My banker is asking about my loan for the ranch.”

Jessica met my gaze and smiled. “Did you ever turn it in?”

“Nope.”

“Are you going to?”

“I have no idea.” I took a bite of my meat-lovers pizza and started to chew.

What if things went well with William? Could I stay on the ranch? Could I run it for him? Did I want that?

What if things went badly for us? Would I fight for the place? Or would I walk away and never look back?

I wanted to stay. I also wanted William in my life.

Could I have both?

My phone chimed again, this time with an incoming text. I swallowed, wiped my hands, and swiped the screen back to life.

Patrick:We’re headed for the horse barn. Be there in 30.

I shouldn’t have eaten almost an entire slice of the “Best Pizza in New York,” because now the grease in my stomach started churning, and I wondered if I would throw up.

William had no idea I was here early. Patrick had assured me that he would be thrilled to see me, but now that I had the option to go to where William was and face him, part of me wanted to skedaddle back to Texas.

“Is that him?” Jessica asked.

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