Page 42 of Rancher's Strength

“They don’t have any other grandmother, so I don’t know what you’re talking about. I suggest you put us, and Weston gap in your rearview mirror. It would be best for you.” I took a step closer to him, and he backed up. He finally got in the car, and I turned my attention to Violet, who was looking at Helen with such sadness it almost hurt to watch.

“What did she want?” Helen asked as she turned to look up at me.

“Offer their congratulations.” I shrugged. “Want something to drink?” Heading into the house, I pulled the pitcher of sweet tea from the fridge and poured us glasses.

“Ryder? Hi, Mom,” Lexie said as she came down the stairs and noticed Helen in the kitchen. “What’s going on? The kids are terrified, and all I know is Ruby said we had to go up, and she dragged Sawyer and me to the room.”

“Shit.” Racing out of the kitchen, I took the stairs two at a time. Opening the door to Ruby’s room and finding it empty wasn’t what I’d expected. I checked Sawyer’s room as well but found the same thing. There was only one more room, so I opened the door to Lexie’s childhood room and found both my kids huddled under the covers.

“Hey, you two. You can come down now.”

“Are you sure?” Sawyer asked.

“Yeah, I am. Grandma Helen is here to see you both.” They flung the blankets off them, bounced off the bed, and ran to find Helen. Pulling the sheets back up, I tucked them under the pillows and turned the lights off.

Helen stayed for supper, and the kids regaled us with tales of their day, which led to more laughter than eating. The bus ride to and from school, which seemed to be nothing but a chaoticnightmare, dragged Helen out to see their horses. "Dragged" wasn’t the right word. She suggested it because she could tell Lexie was chomping at the bit to ask what was going on.

“Spill it, Saffort.” She tossed the dish towel at me, and we both stood at the sink.

“Violet’s husband has been causing some trouble around town. No, not around town. It has to do with the ranch.” I reached for the plate she’d just put in the sink and dried it off before placing it in the cupboard.

“What kind of trouble?”

“He wants the ranch,” I said flatly. There was so much more to this story, but we didn’t really have time to get into it tonight.

“Well, good thing you’ve got a great lawyer on your side, and she’s made every deal you’ve ever done ironclad.” She looked over at me and popped her hip out.

“And she was sexier than fuck when she did it.” I took a step close to her, wanting to touch her, but just as I was about to, the screen door screeched and the kids came flying into the house. I never realized how much of a cock block kids were. I chuckled and pushed those thoughts away, giving the kids my full attention as they dove into their stories again.

Chapter Twenty-One

LEXIE

Achill ran through my body as I rolled over and found the spot beside me empty. I placed my hand on the pillow, and it was cold, so Ryder had been gone for a while. Saturday should have been an easy day, but of course, he would be out working already. This week had been a win; the kids had settled into school fairly well, and I was able to go with Ryder to their therapy appointments, thanks to Faith holding everything down. Life seemed to be moving forward with anxiety-riddled ease.

Fresh coffee wafted from the kitchen, and I was laser-focused on the machine. A note sat beside my cup, telling me Ryder was out in the corral. Pouring the steaming elixir into my cup, I walked to the window and looked out at him.

Why was this man so sexy? Had he always been this way? I watched him move around the corral with hypnotic expertise as he tended to the few head of cattle that needed attention. Of course he had always been attractive—it was the first thing I noticed about him when he walked into my father’s law office to sign some documents.

As if something was pulling me, I moved out to the porch and kept my eyes on him. He hadn’t changed much in the lastten years. Maybe a little grey dusted through his hair, but he still made my heart beat a little faster when I looked at him. The hardest thing about our divorce was the fact that I was in love with him, but he deserved to have a family, to be a dad, and I couldn’t give him that.

“Like what you see?” he called out to me. I jumped, not realizing he could see me from where I was standing. “Get down here for a minute.”

Taking a quick glance back into the house, I noticed everything was still quiet. Ruby and Sawyer were still asleep, and judging from the clock on the wall, they would be for a bit longer. I hadn’t been up this early since I was married to Ryder, but the man didn’t know how to be quiet, so I was just thankful that the kids seemed to not mind his stomping around in the mornings.

“Need something?” I asked, holding my coffee against my chest to warm myself from the cold bite of the wind.

“Yeah, that.” He reached out, took the mug from my hand, and took a swig of my coffee.

“Hey,” I grumbled but didn’t protest much. He set the cup on top of the fence post and shrugged out of his jacket.

“Put this on.” He swung his coat around my shoulders, and I slipped my arms into it. His scent enveloped me, and the warmth of the coat took the chill away almost instantly. “Remember how to work the head gate?” he asked, pointing to the lever that opened the doors.

“Kind of a simple thing to forget, isn’t it?” I arched a brow. Ryder took a half step toward me and reached out, grabbing his coat and pulling me toward him.

“Sass like that’s going to get you in trouble,” he said as he lowered his head. His eyes locked on my lips, and I was sure he could feel my heart hammering in my chest.

“It always did like to get into trouble.” My reply was barely above a whisper, and I smirked. What was I doing? Egging Ryder on hadn’t been on my list of things to do today, but here we were.

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