Page 30 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
It would solve a lot of problems...
Or cause more.
Hayley did not back away from the debate—if anything, she embraced it.What if, what if, what if?
“Hayley?”
She looked up to see Andie’s head poke through the doorway. “Yeah?”
“You’ve got some serious fence issues in the north pasture. A tree came down and wiped out a good section. It’s going to take chainsaws and manpower.”
Hayley was glad that she wasn’t putting any animals in that pasture for the next six weeks. She wiped her palms down her pants. “It must have come down in that windstorm we had a couple weeks ago.”
Andie nodded, then said, “What do you want to do about it?”
“I’ll ride out and take a look, let you know.”
“Great.” She nodded, then said, “Are you okay with me taking off after work?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I just wanted to make sure. The Hunts were more about the staff not leaving until their official days off. We were ‘on call,’ which usually meant cleaning up some mess.”
“On this ranch, you’re free as soon as you’re off the clock. Big plans?”
“You remember that guy we met at the horse sale? Brandon Grady.”
“The one you thought you had class with?”
“Yes. That one. He called me and asked if I wanted to have a drink, and... I do.” She smiled.
“How did he get your number?”
Andie glanced down. “I have ads up at the feedstore and Big Z’s, offering to start and train colts. I put them up the day you hired me and never took them down. I’ll take them down when I meet Brandon.”
“Or leave them up. If you want to train in your spare time, I’m okay with that.”
“No offense,” Andie said, “but I don’t see having a lot of spare time.”
She was right. They had tons to do, and what had she done? She’d encouraged a guy that could help them out to take another job.
“You have a point, but maybe in the fall?”
“Maybe.”
Hayley pressed her lips together as she followed Andie out of the barn. Fencing issues were normal, especially after a stormy winter, but she would have appreciated not having a major repair facing her down when she was shorthanded. She’d told Spence that she and Andie and her high school crew could handle matters—and they could—but they didn’t need extra work on top of the seasonal chores.
Andie headed to her bunk and Hayley to the greenhouse to check the temperature there.
Spence would be back, and she imagined that unless things got crazy on the Keller Ranch, he’d lend a hand where needed. She appreciated that, and she wondered if they’d cozy up to one another again.
Probably not. Cozying would muddy waters that she wanted to be crystal clear—if she was brave enough to follow through with her crazy idea.
Time, it seemed, would tell just how brave she was able to be.
*
Spence took thecontract. It was either that or block Millie’s calls. But he made it clear that this was the last contract until fall. He and Henry and Daniel had a heart-to-heart prior to him accepting the job, during which time Spence realized just how frightened the older man was of the huge life change. What would he do with his time, having no family to speak of?
