Page 16 of Forever His Brat

Watching them chase each other reminded him of an idea he’d settled on the back burner some time ago. The ranch hadn’t had any dogs for a while. When he’d been a kid there’d always been a few working dogs around.

He wasn’t sure why that had stopped, but he missed it. There was nothing like a dog to keep morale high and a well-trained hound could be damn useful on a ranch besides. Problem was he hadn’t had the time to go on a hunt for a likely puppy, but it had been in the back of his mind that he would eventually.

And once it had settled in there he’d started thinking about Charlie. His girl loved animals, all animals, and dogs were right up there at the top of the list for her.

He knew that she’d gone through a painful time when her last dog had died. Sassy had been in her teens, but still followed Charlie around everywhere. Her little heart had given out in her sleep, not long before Charlie had left to go back to school.

Thinking about it now, he was sure that had added to the emotional turmoil she’d been going through. Of course, after that there had been no time for a new animal in her life. She was away at school, barely coming home and furious at her father.

Then when she’d finally come back, well…

They’d talked about getting a puppy, not for the ranch, but for her. She was excited by the idea. Eager—but she’d brought up the same problem he’d already considered. Time.

He was busy with the ranch. She was busy with schooling and trying to fit in the ranch in every free moment. Puppies were a lot of work and they needed attention.

But his workloadwouldbe lightening soon. Now, as he watched the calves nudge each other and play in their awkward stumbling way he made a decision. He was going to get Charlie a puppy and then eventually he’d see about a couple of working dogs for the ranch.

Not today or tomorrow, but soon.

Maybe for a wedding present, only he wouldn’t give it to her when they got married, because they were planning a long honeymoon. Instead, he’d present her with theideaof the gift and then when they came back, they could go to the shelter and pick one out.

It felt like a fine way to start their life together. A symbol of commitment for the future. And Charlie would be over the moon to finally have a dog in the house again after so many years.

Thinking about it had him in a good mood as he started his day. It was busier than usual with fewer hands to help, but since he also didn’t have to keep his eye out for slacking, things stayed peaceful.

When Charlie showed up, he was surprised to realize it was lunchtime. “What, already?” He looked at the clock and frowned. “Day’s really flying by.”

She laughed as she leaned into him and kissed his cheek. “Guess I don’t have to ask if you missed me. Sheesh.” The words were light and teasing.

Before he could reply she was already moving off towards the office. He set aside the pitchfork he’d been using to break up a bale of hay and followed. Charlie had taken off her coat and was pulling sandwiches out of a bag and piling them on the desk when he entered.

There were four sandwiches instead of the two he’d expected. “You may have overestimated my hunger after that big breakfast.” He came up behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back into him. “And I always miss you.”

Charlie snuggled back with a low laugh. “Well, I figured we could have lunch together. No sense eating alone at the house and then having you eat alone here.”

She smelled like flowers and sunshine despite the acres of snow around them. Charlie always smelled good, but this wasn’t her natural aroma. She was wearing perfume.

He inhaled and let the scent of her distract him for a few seconds as he considered her suggestion. They’d had breakfast together and she didn’t usually have lunch with him on workdays. He had to wonder what she was up to.

“Suppose that makes sense, though we don’t have time for a long lunch today. Not with being short,” he warned her.

She snorted. “I’m not trying to seduce you into slacking, Sam. Just thought we could have lunch together before we head out to check on the herds. We’re going to need fortifying, it’s freezing outside.”

That seemed harmless enough. He reluctantly let her go and pulled a sandwich off the top of the stack as he sat down. “Fair enough. Did you have a good morning?”

She was helping herself to a cup of coffee when he asked, but as she turned around, he saw she was wearing a light touch of makeup. One eyebrow went up in surprise. Perfume? Make-up? Charlie didn’t usually wear those things to work.

“It was nice. Not productive, but nice.” She pulled a spare chair up to the other side of the desk and settled in.

“No schoolwork today?” He let just a hint of the stern Daddy creep in. Not that Charlie often needed to be reminded to get her assignments done, but she did have phases where she put other things first.

She shook her head. “I wasn’t sure what I’d be doing this morning, so I rescheduled everything. After you left, I went back to bed for an hour.”

That still left her most of the morning, but he figured she’d get around to telling him about it. “I’ll try not to be jealous. I think the first thing I’m going to do once Nick is up to speed is sleep in till noon.”

“Sureeee you will, Daddy. You never sleep in.” She smirked and shook her head.

It was true. Sam had been a morning person for so long that being in bed late just felt wrong. But on days like this, when it was below freezing, he would love to at least have the option.

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