Page 63 of A Rancher's Love
“Anyone I need to talk to?” Tucker asked, trusting Alex’s opinion.
Not only was Alex one of the lead ranch hands, he was an active coordinator with the Heart Falls firefighting team, which made the man a little more balanced when it came to relationships in the community. He hung out with people other than just his fellow ranch hands, and he seemed solid to the core.
Alex shook his head. “Seems the threat of you or Ashton showing up was enough to calm them down this time.”
Or was it only Ashton’s displeasure?
One step at a time. Tucker looped an arm around Alex’s shoulder and guided him toward the drink station. “Can I buy you a coffee?”
“Big spender,” Alex joked. “Sure.”
By the time they got themselves drinks and settled at a table near the exit door, most of the men contemplating trouble had slunk out of sight as quickly as they could. Only Jim met Tucker’s gaze head on, disapproval written all over him.
Tucker didn’t bother to change his expression. He didn’t need the man to suck up. He needed him to do his job.
Alex stirred his coffee and chuckled. “Damn. That glare you and Ashton have. Is it genetic, or is it something I can learn?”
“What are you talking about?” Tucker asked with amusement.
“That thing you do. That Ashton does, where you look as if you could zap lasers out of your eyeballs, and woe to the man who triggers the beast.”
A snort escaped him. “Are you sure you’re a ranch hand? You’ve got a bit of—”
“—literary genius?” Alex offered.
“—bullshit in you,” Tucker finished.
An outright burst of laughter escaped Alex. “You’re going to do just fine,” he assured Tucker. “While I’m here, if you ever need an extra hand, let me know.”
“Going somewhere?”
Alex dipped his head. “Ashton must’ve forgotten to tell you. Yeah, he’s letting me go on short warning. My parents are back in Manitoba, and they’re both on waiting lists for major surgery. Hip and knee replacements. My sister fosters high-needs kids, so she can’t drop everything.”
That made sense. “You’re going home to help them until they recover? I hope you’re coming back,” Tucker said honestly.
Something a little more unreadable crossed Alex’s face. “Hell, yeah, I’m coming back. All sorts of things waiting here for me. Just postponing some of it until the right time, you know?”
The right time. Tucker was beginning to hate that phrase. It represented too much of his life that had been put on hold, waiting for theright moment.
He had to find a way to make the right moment arrive sooner than later…
13
While it was pretty clear both she and Tucker had hoped for more interaction on a regular basis, the next days flowed into a week, which flowed into time passing all too rapidly without getting the chance to talk with the man.
She’d tracked him down a few times, but every time she closed her approach, a ranch hand, or Ashton, or one of her brothers would show up, so she’d casually keep walking and pretend that everything was business as usual.
Diane and Jack were at the end of their visit, so Kelli and Luke set up a final evening together where laughter and outrageous stories were standard fare. Tucker was there for about half the time before he had to respond to a summons from his uncle. Which meant while Ginny saw him briefly, they weren’t together.
She distracted herself by sharing a couple of the funnier moments from her time away, saving her favourite for last.
“Going to the spa was an absolute splurge after being in the French countryside with nothing but lukewarm water in the workers’ quarters for a month. So I’m in Paris, all comfy in this robe that’s like a heavenly cotton ball. I’ve had a pedicure and manicure, and I’m so relaxed I’m fuzzy-brained when they send me into a teeny sauna room that’s like five feet by five feet. The woman helping me takes my robe and closes the door. I figure it’s a small enough space, it must be a private sauna.”
“Oh, oh,” Diane’s eyes were wide. “No?”
“No,” Ginny said dryly. “About two minutes later, just when I’m starting to sweat, the door opens and in comes person number two. A guy, who also loses his robe. Followed seconds later by guy number two.”
Kelli glanced at Luke, then slapped a hand over her mouth as if trapping some truly dirty comment.
