Page 17 of Swift and Saddled

“This place is incredible.” Ada’s soft voice brought me back to Baby Blue. She was standing in the middle of what used to be the living room and staring up at the vaulted ceilings. “How long did you say it’s been empty?”

She was looking at the old Big House the way I looked at it—like it was a dream. Yeah, I wanted a guest ranch, but I also wanted this place tobesomething. Not just a building thatusedto be something. I wanted it to stand on its own.

It was a part of Rebel Blue, and Rebel Blue was a part of me.

“My parents moved into the new Big House before my brother was born, so probably around thirty-five years.”

“It’s in good shape for being empty for that long,” she responded, running her hand across the kitchen wallpaper. “But that does mean that we’re probably going to be in for some surprises.”

I smiled at that. “Honestly, I’m just hoping that I don’t see any more animals in here—dead or alive.”

Ada’s brown eyes widened. I liked her eyes. They were dark, but they had a variety of light and dark rings—like the inside of a tree. The rings—they were like those hypnosis circles.

“Yeah,” I responded. “The raccoons are almost as fond of this place as I am. I had the raccoon guy come, but those fuckers are ruthless.”

A laugh bubbled out of her—not like the one in the kitchen and not like the one last night. This one was like she didn’t want to laugh, but she couldn’t stop it.

Who didn’t want to laugh?

“The raccoon guy?” she asked on the end of her laugh.

“Yeah. Wayne.”

Ada raised one of her dark eyebrows. “What exactly does the raccoon guy do?”

“He takes care of the raccoons,” I said, a little confused. “He comes to get ’em and then safely relocates them.” What else would a raccoon guy do?

One corner of her mouth twitched. “Of course there’s a raccoon guy,” she said. More to herself than to me, I think. She walked toward the workbench that I’d set up between the kitchen and living room. “All right,” she said. “Let’s go over what this week is going to look like.”

As she pulled her newly returned iPad out of her newly returned bag, I walked up next to her, making sure I kept a professional distance. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I saw her stiffen anyway, so I took another step away, and her posture eased a little bit. She pulled up a few different files, flipping to what looked like a schedule.

“So, Evan will be here tomorrow, and he’ll be overseeing the rest of the demo. From the look of the place now”—Gus, Brooks, and I had spent the last few weekends getting a head start, neither of them ever said no to hitting shit with a hammer—“it shouldn’t take that long.

“The construction crew is set to start next Monday, right?” I asked, trying to show her that I’d done my homework. She nodded. “Thank you for accommodating my request for a local crew,” I said. “My dad—well, my whole family, really—is happy about that. It’s important for Meadowlark.”

“No problem,” she said, looking at me this time. “I never thought about it before, but it makes sense to utilize the local economy—especially for a project like this. I’m assuming you guys are a big part of it.” I nodded. That was true. “Honestly, I’ve never thought too critically about that before you mentioned it, but it’s something I want to incorporate into my future projects.”

“It is very much appreciated in this small town,” I said, locking eyes with her again. Finally. Her eyes were like magnets, and when she wasn’t looking at me, my eyes searched all of her until they could find hers again.

I felt it then, my heartbeat. I heard it too. When our eyes locked in like this, something unlocked in me, and my whole body remembered what it was like to get lost in this woman—this stranger—and it craved that feeling.

I think she felt it too, because she took a step toward me.

So I took a step toward her.

In the silence of the room, I heard her breath hitch.

Fuck, I wanted to hear that sound a million more times.

We stepped toward each other again—toeing the line.

Ada was a stranger to me, but I didn’t want her to be. Maybe what happened in the bar last night was fate.

Maybe Baby Blue wasn’t my only chance at something bigger—at something that could be mine.

I wanted to touch her—to reach out and cup her face. I almost did, but when I went to take the last step, the old floorboard under my feet creaked loud enough to shock us both back a step.

Ada’s eyes snapped away from mine, and she shook her head. “Listen,” she said. Her tone was harsher than I’d heard it. It wasn’t the cool professional one she’d been using with me all day. This one was angry. “I didn’t come here for some stupid ‘Cowboy Take Me Away’ fantasy. I came here to do a job.”

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