Her daughter was ten and she was brilliant. She was confident and secure and bright and funny. Abby knew who she was and who loved her. One day her daughter was going to soar.
Who’s the “incapable mother” now, Bev?
The beef cattle were turning a profit while Melissa had transitioned from traditional to the grass-fed market, and the citrus groves would pay for themselves in the next two years, giving her a comfortable margin on the ranch.
She needed to find more help on the ranch, but that was always a challenge.
As for a personal life…
She watched Cary jump down from the split rail fence and walk over to help one of Abby’s friends mount PJ. His jeans fit snug around slim hips and his button-down shirt was rolled up to the elbows, exposing the new tattoo work on his forearms. His silver-black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail at his neck.
So tempting. Sodamntempting.
But Melissa didn’t have time for Cary. Maybe in eight years, when Abby was out of the house, she could ask him out.
Ha! Like that would happen.
Life wasn’t fair, but then her grandfather had always warned her about that. Life was never going to be fair. Luck rolled around, but it rolled around more often for those working the hardest.
Greg and Beverly’s shiny black Range Rover kicked up dust as it pulled away from the ranch house and onto the small road leading back into town. Yet another tense visit from Calvin’s family had been survived.
Only this time there was a giant unresolved Thoroughbred-horse issue just waiting to cause more problems.
Melissa had rebuilt her life through hard work and stubbornness. She didn’t want to get mean, but if the Rhodes family thought they could guilt her into bending to their wishes, they were in for a rude awakening.
Chapter Two
Cary watchedOx kick the corner of the bunkhouse.
“I mean… it’s adobe brick, so it’s solid,” Ox said. “Her plan’s not bad. It’s just that it’s another thing for her to do, you know?”
“I know.” Cary kept glancing between the house and the old outbuilding. The sun was going down, and he could see people moving around inside. Abby’s friends had all gone home after the party, the horses had been stabled, and Ox was telling him about Melissa’s plan to rebuild the bunkhouse where the cowboys had slept when the ranch ran more cattle.
“She really needs to hire someone full time,” Cary said. “She keeps taking on seasonal workers when she needs to hire a manager. Someone who can take some work off her plate.”
“You try telling her that,” Ox said.
“I did. She nearly bit my head off.”
“Did you suggest it or make some irritated snipe about her not knowing what was good for her own ranch?”
Cary crossed his arms over his chest. “Mind your own business.”
Ox chuckled. “One of these days, the two of you…”
He lifted his chin. “The two of us what?”
“Hmmm.” Ox cleared his throat. “You know what? I’m gonna let you sort it out.”
Would Melissa have told her brother about kissing Cary at the hospital? He doubted it. She was fiercely private. She also considered it a moment of insanity that would never be repeated. Which she’d told him in no uncertain terms.
Cary took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Your sister is going to make up her own mind about all this, just like she does about everything. No one can tell her anything to change her mind once it’s made up. Luckily, she isn’t wrong very often.”
Melissa Oxford Rhodes was one of the most competent women he knew. She was whip-smart and highly intuitive, a combination that made her a very fast learner. She’d come to Cary for advice about her citrus groves a few years ago. Now Cary was frequently tempted to ask her opinion on his own farm.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. She’ll figure it out. She always does.” Ox continued talking about the bunkhouse project while Cary watched the house.
Lights were burning bright. He could see Melissa and Emmie in the front window, Abby bouncing around in the background. Even the earlier disappointment about her horse couldn’t keep that little girl down.