Page 33 of A Rancher's Heart
Chapter Eight
Peacefulness soaked into Caleb’s bones. Early-morning chores had gone well, and none of the animals had tried to kill him, which was always a bonus.
He strolled back to the house to find the coffee was on but Tamara nowhere to be seen, although the scent of bacon was building in the kitchen.
He grabbed a cup then headed to the front porch, pulling to a stop when he discovered Tamara curled up in one of the Adirondack chairs tucked out of the wind. “Mind some company?”
She shook her head, gesturing to the second chair that already had a cushion on it. “It’s your view. I can’t get enough of it.”
Caleb settled into place. He’d worried for a moment she would break his lovely mellow mood by starting in again on the chore issue, but like the night before at dinner, she didn’t say a word.
Only, it wasn’t as if she was refusing to speak about it. More as if she wasn’t stewing over the topic. Definitely not pouting.
He had to admit he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the woman.
She let out a happy sigh. “I could come here every day for an entire year and not get bored of that view. I’ve never lived this close to a lake before. I mean, we have water on the Whiskey Creek property, but it’s constantly moving.” She turned her face toward the lake, smile widening. “You have to go find a quiet fishing hole to get that kind of sparkle on the water.”
“You fish?”
Tamara snorted, taking a sip of her coffee before she lifted her head to answer him. “You don’t have to sound so surprised.”
“It’s just… My sisters don’t like fishing. Ginny and Dare enjoy plenty of other outdoor activities, but they weren’t partial to putting bait on a hook. And since that’s one of the requirements, they tended to not join us when we went.”
“Everybody pretty much likes what they like, and sometimes it doesn’t make any sense. Do your girls fish? Because there must be killer fishing around here.” She pointed at the lake “That stocked?”
He didn’t know which question to answer first. “There’s rainbow in the lake and trout in the river.” It was horrible to have to confess it, but he was honest. “They’ve been a few times, but I don’t know if the girlsliketo fish.”
He knew they liked to play dress-up, and they were both moderately terrible at helping in the kitchen. He knew Emma hated storms, and that Sasha would rather be skinned alive than admit she was afraid of anything.
“Seems whenever it’s just me-and-the-girls time, outside of usual, you know, special-like, I try to do things I know they’ll enjoy.”
Tamara spoke softly. “But sometimes you can’t tell what you like until you’ve tried.”
He nodded, even as temptation said she was partially wrong. There were plenty of things that he’d never tried he was positive he would absolutely love. She’d turned her face back to admire the lake again, so it was easy to pretend to be gazing towards the barn and instead study her out of the corner of his eye.
She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and her lips were curled in a gentle smile. He was pretty sure he would enjoy pressing his mouth to hers. He was fairly certain that if he got a chance he would thoroughly enjoyed tasting every inch of her body. And although he shouldn’t let his mind even begin to head in this direction, he was damn positive if he ever got her naked under him, he’d like that a whole hell of a lot too.
He eased his legs forward, gaining extra room as he turned his thoughts to other matters in the hopes time would allow his body to settle.
What he should be doing instead of sitting here with her was making headway on the mess in his office, but part of him couldn’t bear to leave. “What you got planned for the day? I’ll be around if you need me. I try to take a couple days off each week, or at least the morning or afternoon. Me and the boys rotate. I’ve got Sunday and Wednesday when it works—the girls have early dismissal most Wednesdays.”
“I need the girls this morning, if you don’t mind. If you’d take care of them this afternoon, I’d appreciate it. My sisters are coming to visit, so that means we could go to town. But don’t worry. I’ll still have dinner on the table for six.”
He was going to get to see more of the Coleman clan? “They’re welcome to stay and eat with us,” he offered before snorting. “Which is kind of ironic because you’re the one who’s going to cook it.”
Tamara grinned then eyed her watch. “I’ll extend the invite. I’d better run. I’ve got a few things to do before breakfast.”
She rose to her feet and vanished.
Caleb sat back down, successfully ignoring the office chores as he spent another half hour thinking about how nice it was to have a reasonable conversation with a woman.
The final days of his marriage with Wendy had been all about drama. It was strange, though. Tamara had shouted at him louder yesterday than Wendy ever had, his ex-wife’s complaints delivered in quiet, well-modulated tones alternated with soundless judgement.
In spite of Tamara’s temper, she didn’t seem to carry a grudge.
Later that morning he was checking supplies when Kelli marched past at high speed. “Visitors, boss.”
Caleb put aside his clipboard and stepped after her, watching with curiosity as a truck hauling a small trailer pulled in next to the barn. The trailer slipped close to one of the arenas, and Caleb watched in admiration as the driver tucked it in sweet as possible before stopping perfectly next to the fence.
