Page 52 of The Wrong Ride Home

I ignored her question. “I’d work for Maverick, only ifyou’re okay with the parade of women through his bedroom, pool, sauna….”

We both laughed.

“Kaz Chase is looking for a new housekeeper. Melissa left a month ago and?—”

“Because she was sick and tired of all his high-falutin’ guests,” Itzel cut in. “Cade Mercer…now that is a possibility.”

Cade had a well-run cattle breeding program and was thinking of running for mayor of Wildflower Canyon.

“Housekeeping plus taking care of his three-year-old when needed.” I pointed to the note below his name. “Which is why he’s prepared to pay more.”

Itzel nodded. “I’ll call them over the next week. Thank you, Elena.”

I took a sip of my coffee. “You okay here at the house with…?”

She shrugged. “Claro. They’re better than Nash.”

“That’s a low bar, Itzel,” I joked.

She drank some coffee. “That man was sour as hell, wasn’t he?”

I felt the pang of his absence, but not the grief. I’d said my goodbyes at the cabin. I would always miss Nash—our relationship had been complicated, but he’d been a part of me. Still, my heart wouldn’t keep breaking.

I knew that there were no shortcuts to mourning someone you loved. Grief took the time it took, and in the end, all you could do was learn to live with the space they left behind.

“Will you be there for the reading of the will tomorrow?” Itzel asked.

I shook my head. I knew Nash hadn’t left me anything. He’d told me as much. But he had left things for several of the ranch hands, cowboys, and, of course, Hunt. The bulk of everything we all knew went to Duke.

“So…things here are okay?” I tested the waters again.

Itzel made a sound, somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “They’re fine, but I wish someone would tell Duke to keep that woman of his on a shorter leash.”

I arched a brow. “What did she do?”

“Her attitude is so…master to servant. I keep wanting to tell her that she ain’t the lady of the house. Hell, she ain’t a lady at all.” Itzel set her cup down with some force.

“She giving anyone else but you a hard time?” I knew Itzel could handle Fiona; hell, she could handle a dozen of them, so her annoyance was coming from another place.

Itzel pressed back in her chair, arms crossed. “I hear she’s shittin’ all over you, and you’re lettin’ her.”

“Hunt telling tales outside of school?” I mocked.

Itzel let out a shaky breath. “She was yelling at Ally, and… she’s just a kid. Apparently, she forgot to change some towels in the bathroom or something. I mean, this is a ranch, not a hotel. If she wants that kind of service—and a chocolate on her pillow—she needs to check into the W in Aspen.”

Allison was seventeen and lost. I hired her a few months ago after her boyfriend beat the crap out of her. She worked for Itzel and did whatever was needed. Shewas passable, which Itzel and I decided was just fine. Ally would learn, and hopefully, she’d find her feet and figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She’d just gotten rid of the limp that was a result of the beating, so we’d told her to take her time. She stayed in my old room in the house.

She had smart grades in high school, and I had talked to her about community college, promising to help her.

“I’ll talk to Duke.” I finished my coffee and rose. “Anything else?”

Itzel shook her head. “He should be the one talking about what I need since he’s the new bossman. I can’t believe he kicked you out of the office and…nearly out of the ranch when you’re the one who?—”

“You’ve got to let it go, as do Hunt and Amos,” I cut her off smoothly. “I have.”

Itzel glowered at me. “I doubt it very much,mija.”

She was right. But that didn’t mean I was going to admit the truth. I took my coffee cup to the sink, rinsed it, and stuck it into the dishwasher.

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