Page 7 of Rancher's Heart

“What about the horses?” I could see the stress starting to show as he clenched his fists. Quickly, I moved to him and took his face in my hands.

“Look, if worse comes to worse, I’ll ask Doc Jake if he can board them for a bit. They’ll still be close enough to town that you can be out there whenever you want. Okay?”

“Okay. Sorry, this is the way you had to wake up.” He put his arms around me and squeezed me tightly.

“Any time I can wake up to you being home, nothing else matters, and I’m sorry if my yelling scared you.” I hugged my boy tightly and looked over his head to the door, silently hoping that was the last visit from my landlord.

Going back to sleep wasn’t an option now. I’d be running every scenario through my mind and really trying not to focus on the worst-case scenario.

There was only one way to clear my mind, and that was to go for a ride. Dressing quickly, I talked to Parker and headed out to the arena. Life was clearer on the back of a horse. My problems wouldn’t be gone but it freed my mind and I could focus solely on the horses movements.

Work and home were my entire life, and I wanted a place we could permanently call home. I let my mind imagine what that could look like. A large, sprawling ranch-style home with ample living space, a state-of-the-art kitchen I could bake in, and a huge fireplace that would keep the area warm and cozy. Perfect for snuggling up under a blanket with books and hot cocoa.

Saddling the horse I needed to work on, I led it from the barn into the arena. “Are you ready to work?” I asked quietly as I ran my hand over her neck. As if she was answering me she nodded, and I couldn’t help but smile. Sliding my foot into the stirrup, I swung my leg over the back of the animal and settled onto the saddle. Tapping the horse’s sides, we began to move.

My mind wandered back to the pipe dream of my own home. Being a nurse didn’t provide any extra money for the dreams I had. Plus, between Parker’s needs and the horses, I always seemed to come up short. Broke but happy is what I always told my mom when she asked how things were going. She’d like nothing better than for me to come home, my tail between my legs so she could say, “I told you so.”

My family never thought my ex-husband was good enough for me. He wasn’t from a well-off family, but he made his own way. We struggled for a lot of years, but he’d finally made his name in the reining horse competitions, and he’d become very successful, which his bank account showed.

The horse under me bucked slightly, and I immediately focused on putting this horse through her paces. “Sorry, girl, I was lost in my thoughts,” I muttered as I patted her neck. I had a week off work, and my to-do list was already a mile long, and it just got longer. Now, all I could focus on was doing whatever it took to find Parker a stable place he could call home.

CHAPTER 5

GRIFF

Three days had passed since I’d seen Elle. I tried to think of every excuse under the sun to see her, but now that I had a small package on the seat beside me, I had the perfect excuse. The other day, she said she lived over at the old Hays place. That didn’t fill me with joy; in fact, I worried about her over there all alone. That family had been the bane of our existence for years; they had very a poor understanding of boundaries and liked hard liquor and drugs. She wasn’t safe out there alone.

Driving onto the property it was more run down than the last time I’d been here, but that was probably three years ago now. I’d tried to buy them out, make them an offer they couldn’t refuse but they didn’t take it. They were sure it was worth more than what I was offering. In reality it wasn’t and I wouldn’t bow to their insane demands.

The single-story house had been built by old man Hays, and he didn’t really care about comfort; he was cheap, and the two-bedroom house was barely the size of a postage stamp. While paint peeled off the siding, the once blue shutters were grey and were hanging onto the house for dear life. One more big wind, I was sure they’d fly off.

A small porch ran the width of the house, and it was pulling away from the outside wall. How was she living here? Anger rose in me thinking she was living here in squalor. Why was I having such a visceral reaction to this? I didn’t know this woman and wasn’t involved with her in any way. But I had the need to make sure she was protected.

Boxes were piled high on the porch, and it looked more like someone was moving out rather than living comfortably here. An unhitched stock trailer was sitting in the middle of the yard. The back door was open, and there were more boxes in the back of it, which made things even more confusing.

I didn’t have too look around long, Elle was in the open air riding arena a hundred or so yards from the house working with a horse. She looked elegant, poised, and gorgeous on the back of the large black horse. She rode around the arena like she was floating. Getting out of my truck, I leaned against the fence and watched her.

Elle pulled back on the reins and the horse twirled around, kicking up a cloud of dust before coming to a dead stop. “You enjoying the show, cowboy?” She called before she came to the fence. She swung her long leg over the back of the horse and jumped out of the saddle. Twisting the reins around the fence once she moved to me.

“I’m enjoying watching the woman putting on the show,” I said as I opened the gate for her to walk through. Motioning her with my head to follow me, I headed to get the reason I showed up out of the blue.

“What brings you all the way out here?” She asked as she leaned against the quarter panel of my truck, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans. Just like the last time I saw her, her blonde hair was wrapped messily on her head. I’d love to see it down, cascading around her bare shoulders.What the fuck Griff,head out of the gutter.I thought to myself. Shaking my head I remembered what I was doing here.

“I owe you an article of clothing.” Reaching through the open window I grabbed the box off the seat and handed it to her.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the pink box. “This is too much. I wasn’t actually serious.” She stammered as she lifted the lid. Lighter pink tissue paper lined the box and she carefully lifted it. I was sure her eyes would pop out of her head.

“Oh my god, this is beautiful.” She set the box on the hood of my truck and lifted the lingerie out. “Blue?” She asked, arching her brow.

“If I’m buying unmentionables for a woman, they’re going to be my favorite color.” I winked and watched the red hue of her cheeks grow even brighter.

“It’s see-through Griff,” she whispered as she clutched it close to her body, before looking at it again.

“Yes, it is,” I smirked.

“It’s too much, Griff. This was too kind of you. Thank you.” She placed the bra back in the box and put the lid on it. “Way too nice to wear to work, that’s for sure.”

“How about you wear it when you go out with me?” Crossing my arms over my chest, I winced as my shoulder pulled.

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