Page 29 of Rancher's Strength

“Wait, what do you mean you already did it?” Spinning on my heel, I frowned as I looked at him.

“While you were on the phone, I was too. I’ll have my attorney look over the contract before I sign it, but other than that, this place is yours.” He winked.

“And just who is this attorney?” I asked, crossing my arms, ready to argue with him about why he needed a better lawyer.

“She’s five foot seven. She has dark brown hair and eyes that are usually black because she’s mad at someone. Quite often, it’s me, and I get to sleep with her. If she’d just let mesleepwith her, life would be perfect.” His boyish smirk was almost enough to do me in. So many things were my undoing with him, but this air of knowing he outdid himself was kryptonite.

“What about school for the kids?” I asked, purposely changing the subject. I should have said thank you, but this was overwhelming and a lot of change for me in a short time. The last time I made decisions this fast, I’d left him, and look how that turned out.

“I don’t think that’s all that complicated.” He shrugged. “Probably just forms to fill out. You could call Elle; she’ll be the one to know since she enrolled Parker when they came here.”

“That’s a good idea. And a therapist.” Just then, the kids came thundering down the stairs and made laps around the table and us before heading to the other office. It might have been a bad idea to have the treats from Fred’s before we looked at the office.

“Jake’s the one to talk to for that. They’ll need a family doctor, so it won’t hurt to talk to him.”

“Do you have an answer for everything?” I crossed my arms and turned as I took the first step to the second floor of the building. This rise was enough to look him in the eyes. His dark eyes, which had drawn me in from the first time I’d seen him, put me under a spell and bewitched me. Call it what you will, but I think he knew he had magical powers over me, and he’d always used them to his advantage.

“Well, I don’t know if I have an answer for everything, just most things.” He smirked. I watched his tongue glide across his lower lip. “See something you want to taste?” His voice is husky. He’d taken a step closer to me, so there was only a breath between us.

“Asshole,” I whispered before I turned and walked up the stairs. Was there something I wanted to taste? Hell yes. Kissing Ryder had always been earth-shattering. The quick kiss on our wedding day had ignited something I’d pushed to the back of my mind. But there was nobody here to impress or fool, so it was a line I couldn’t and wouldn’t cross. No matter how much my body was begging me to.

We quickly surveyed the apartment. It was in decent shape but needed a deep clean and some furniture. There wasn’t enough time to move my things from Bozeman, so I’d have to start fresh for now and deal with the rest later. Either way, I had a lot of work to do if I wanted this place to be livable in two days.

“I’ll call in the troops, and we can get this cleaned up tomorrow.”

“And just who are the troops?” I called as I walked into the apartment's kitchen.

“Julie, Gwen, and the girls. I bet if I called your mom, she’d come too.”

“Leave my mother out of this.”

“Lexie, she deserves to know you’re back for good. You can’t hide from her and Lydia forever.”

“I’m not hiding,” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“No? You only saw your mom because she was at the wedding. If Lydia hadn’t barged through the front door of the house, I’m not sure you’d have seen her at all. What’s the deal?”

“There’s no deal, and I just don’t feel the need to include them in every moment of my life.”

“That’s not it at all. You can lie to some people, but not to me. But keep your secrets, I won’t pry them out of you.” He held up his hands and moved down to the main floor.

Of course, he wouldn’t pry. He never did. Chasing after him, I ran face-first into his chest as I turned the corner, going back into the office area. “I can’t stand the way they look at me, okay. It’s like, there goes poor Lexie; she can’t have kids. Look, there’s my faulty daughter Lexie, and there are no grandchildren from her. Then there’s Lydia, who can have kids but doesn’t want them, ever.” I couldn’t fight the emotions bubbling through me, and tears ran down my cheeks before I could stop them.

“Most days, I don’t even feel like a whole woman.” I sobbed as Ryder pulled me into his arms. He didn’t say anything. He just stood strong like he always had. Ryder held onto me tightly with one arm and brushed his big hand over the back of my head until my crying stopped.

I looked up at him, my eyes still flooded with tears, but his soft face told me everything I needed to know. It was all I ever needed to know and the reason I’d left. He didn’t care that I couldn’t have kids. On more than one occasion, and probablymore like a hundred occasions, he told me it didn’t matter in the slightest to him. He’d always been supportive, and I’d loved him for it, and I’d let him go for the same reason.

“I think you need to talk to someone who can help you with this. You don’t need to get over it. I get it. It’s unfair, but it cripples you, and I don’t think it has to. You’re the most amazing woman I know, and that has nothing to do with being able to carry children or not.” A slight smile crossed his face as he gazed down at me. “There is nothing wrong with you… you’re perfect in every way that matters to me.”

“Kids, let’s go,” he called, and they ran out of the other meeting room. Ryder locked it up again and handed me the key. Staring down at the silver, jagged piece of metal, I had to smile. This was mine.

Sawyer grabbed my hand while gripping Ruby’s, who was holding Ryder’s hand, as he walked us down the street. Ryder stayed close to the curb, and I glanced over the kids to him. He turned and winked at me.

Chapter Fifteen

RYDER

She stood at the table with her hands on her hips, staring as if she had a world of things to figure out.

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