Page 31 of Rafe

“Yeah. She’s fifty-six. I like her. She’s the first woman I’ve been interested in for a long time,” Fred admitted, a touch of warmth coloring his cheeks.

“Then, enjoy it,” Rafe said with a nod of approval.

“What about you?” Fred inquired, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

“What about me?” Rafe asked, genuinely puzzled.

“Are you enjoying it?” Fred pressed on.

Rafe furrowed his brow, staring at Fred. “Enjoying what?”

Fred laughed heartily, giving Rafe a knowing look before turning to leave the barn. “You think I don’t know what goes on around my ranch? I’m happy you and Maggie finally got together. I’ll see you later.”

Rafe’s jaw nearly dropped, but he quickly clamped it shut, a chuckle escaping instead. How had Fred known about him and Maggie? It didn’t matter; Fred seemed pleased, and that was enough for Rafe as he watched his boss disappear into the bright morning light.

He couldn’t wait to tell Maggie about it. He wasn’t sure why he thought Fred would disapprove of him seeing Maggie, but to him, he just didn’t want to let Fred down and he would if he and Maggie stopped seeing each other.

But Rafe had to be honest, he never wanted to stop seeing her. He was in love with her, and he had been for a long time.

His phone vibrated and he removed it from his pocket and grinned when he saw a text from Maggie.

Hey, cowboy. How about lunch today at the diner?She had sent.

Sure. What time?

Twelve thirty?

Alright. I’ll see you then.

Okay!

Rafe chuckled as he put his phone back into his pocket.

“Hey, boss,” a familiar voice called out and he turned to see Joey, one of the ranch hands, walking toward him.

“What’s up?”

“There’s a section of fence down. Bobby and I are heading there to fix it.”

“Are there any horses in that section?”

“No. We moved them yesterday.”

“Okay. Could you tell how it was knocked down?”

“Not yet. I’m going to look when we get back. We saw it when we took some horses to the pasture and decided to head back to get the necessary tools first.”

“Good idea. Okay, let me know.”

“Sure thing.”

Rafe watched him walk from the barn and hoped an animal had taken the fence down and not someone wanting to steal horses again.

At twelve thirty, he pulled into the parking lot of the diner, parked, then climbed out and walked to the front. He pushed the door open and looked around, waving at the people who called out or waved at him. Then he saw Maggie sitting at the counter, talking with Sam Garrett, so Rafe headed for them.

“Hey,” he said, making Maggie look at him. She smiled, then stood and kissed his lips. The people cheered, making him shake his head. “Hi, Sam,” he said as he sat on the stool on the other side of Maggie.

“Rafe. How’s it going?”

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