Page 12 of Rancher's Heart

GRIFF

There wasn’t enough hours in the day, and no matter how much I wanted to sleep in, there were animals counting on me. Rolling out of bed, I looked out the window and smiled as I saw Lady and her foal out in the corral.

While it wasn’t an easy birth, Lady, the ever-reliable mother, took her foal instantly. She might not love being ridden, but she was the best broodmare we had, so she got to stay around and continue to provide the future ranch horses we need to get our jobs done. Grabbing my shirt, I headed for the kitchen and the pot of coffee I had waiting for me.

My quiet house hadn’t ever felt lonely before, but as I sat at the table, staring at the empty chairs, I wondered what it would be like to actually share the house with someone. Elle’s smiling face pops into my mind and I know the only woman I want across from me would be her.

Grabbing my tablet, I searched for a place to learn ASL and chose the first one that popped up. Paying for the intensive course, I propped it up against my coffee mug and started. My hands felt too big to make the letters, but it wasn’t an option, if I wanted Elle in my life that meant Parker too, so I ignored my hands and followed the instructor.

“Hey, that foal looks good.” Ryder walked through the door and straight for the coffee. Flicking the tablet off, I looked up at my friend.

“Yeah, Lady did really well again,” I said, waiting for the third degree about where I’d been. But he just sat down and drank his coffee.

“Nick told me he needed more beef when I saw him last night. I told him we’d be in touch with him next week.” The words rolled off my tongue before I had a chance to change the story

“Last night? You went to Bozeman?”

“Well, yeah, I kind of had a date,” I said, without looking up from my cup of coffee.

“Please tell me it was the same woman you needed the bra for?” He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

“She was.” I confirmed.

“Wow, so who is she?” I knew he wouldn’t let this drop. Ryder was like a dog with a bone. If I gave him her name, he’d be out the door finding every piece of information, public and private, he could. We appreciated his sleuthing, and ability to hack basically anything we needed but I didn’t want to know more about Elle than she was willing to share with me. If I had my way she’d be telling me everything soon.

“When I’m ready, I’ll tell you.”

“You tell me everything. Why don’t I get to know about this?”

“Would you like to talk about Lexie?”

“You win, I’ll wait.” Any mention of his ex-wife made him head for the hills, so I wasn’t surprised when he stood and set his now empty mug in the sink. “Talk to you later. I’m heading south to check a few fences and trail cameras.”

“See you later.” I watched him leave my house, and I got up to refill my cup.

My day hadn’t gone as planned. Ryder had called about some cattle out east of my place; the fence cut again, so we went to round up the animals that were wandering through pastures that had very little grass for them this late in the year.

Riding back into my yard, anger coursing through my veins as I see all my horses out of the corral wandering on my front lawn and chomping at the neglected flowers in the pots along the walkway to my porch. “Fuck.” I shouted as I spun the horse I was on to ride after the one that was bolting for the highway. Getting her turned wasn’t as difficult as I thought. Pushing her into the corner of the yard, I wished I had one more person to grab the gate.

Gravel crunching made me turn to look at who was driving onto my ranch. The black truck pulled to a stop and blocked the road, which inadvertently helped me keep the horses away from getting to the highway.

When she got out of the truck, she folded her arms and looked up at me. “I thought your horses never got out?’ Her blonde hair cascading over her shoulders.

“Yeah, well, when I’ve got someone going around this ranch cutting fences, it tends to happen.” My words were grouchy, and I wished I could change the tone.

“What do you need me to do?” She asked as she walked up to me.

“Can you grab the gate?” I asked as I smiled at her. Elle walked calmly through the herd of horses running her hand along the side of one, her easy tone reassuring them that she was there to help before effortlessly opening the gate. I pushed the horses through the opening, but not before one bolted past me. Grabbing the rope off my saddle, I turned my horse and swung the loop around my head. Everything ground together in my shoulder and I compensated by leaning to that side.

The mustang had too much of a lead and I was worried it would barrel through the small space between the fence post and Elle’s truck. Throwing the rope, it sailed over the mustang’s head and I pulled it so it tightened around its neck. Winding it around my saddle horn, I stopped my horse forcing the escaping mustang to stop.

Heading back to the open gate, the mustang followed along behind me. Elle stood on one of the rungs of the fence, reached for the rope, and slid it over the horse’s head. As if saying thank you, the horse chuffed and nodded its head.

Elle closed the gate as I swung off my horse, grabbed the saddle with my bad arm, and groaned. “You should have let me go after it and you could have ran the gate.” She frowned as she looked at my arm dangling by my side.

“It will be a cold day in hell before I quit going after a runaway animal.” The moment the words were out of my mouth, I saw her eyes darken and she furrowed her brows before taking a step toward me.

“Why because I’m a girl?” She asked, crossing her arms.

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