Page 5 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
“Hello, beautiful,” he said as he reached down to scratch the pig’s bristly back. Remy snorted and wiggled. He smiled down at the pig, but the smile faded as he straightened, pushed up his glasses, and met Hayley’s gaze.
“I heard back,” he said simply.
“When do you leave?”
Because she’d always assumed that her brilliant, dorky ranch hand was going to be accepted into law school at the University of Montana, even though he’d been wait-listed.
“Sooner than expected because I also nailed down the internship. Two calls in a row. I have a few things I have to take care of before I can leave.” He started talking faster, his excitement beginning to show. “Finding a place to live, stuff like that.”
“Good thing you’re a city boy, so there’ll be no culture shock.” Vince had come to the Lone Tree Ranch from the Bay Area during the summer of his junior year in high school. His father and Hayley’s had been friends, and Vince’s dad thought his son could use a break from academia. Vince, who’d been hesitant about physical labor and the outdoors, had discovered that he loved ranch work as much as he loved studying. Since that time, he’d spent every summer on the ranch, and when Hayley’s father passed away shortly after he’d earned his bachelor’s degree, he’d settled on the ranch to help Hayley on a more permanent basis. But they’d both known that he was not meant to be a full-time ranch hand, much as he loved the life.
“Once I pass the bar exam, I’ll be back here, practicing law in my adopted hometown.” He gave her a half smile. “I assume that Remy will have a home here until I come back?”
“So you’re making it official? You and Remy, I mean.”
“Only if you agree to watch her for me.”
“You might be able to find a place in Missoula that allows pets,” she said in a deadpan voice.
“I think I’d rather have Remy than roommates, but I don’t see her coming up with her share of the rent every month.”
“Touché.” Hayley started for the house and Vince fell into step. “I’m proud of you.”
“I hate leaving you in a lurch.”
“Connor and Ash will be here next week,” she reminded him. The two high school kids who worked for the ranch from the end of May to late August when school started again.
“Then you’d best get them to work on the fences or the cows are going to walk through them.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
Vince grinned. “You do that.”
“Stop bossing.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Hayley gave a mock cough. “The boss.”
Chapter Two
The door tothe three-room homestead house, built in 1910 by Spence’s great-great-grandfather, creaked in classic haunted house style as Spence pushed it open. When he stepped into the small living area, the musty scent of abandonment hit his nostrils and he wrinkled his nose. “I’ll stay in the main house.”
“After all the work the folks have done to keep it rodent free? Come on.” Reed, Spence’s older brother, followed him inside the hundred-year-old dwelling. “Perfect guesthouse.”
No. It had been the perfect playhouse for Em and Cade, who’d claimed it as their own years ago. The lack of insulation and the outdated fixtures and plumbing made it a not-so-perfect guesthouse. The only reason it was still standing was because Em loved it and when the roof had started to go, Daniel had chosen to replace it rather than bulldoze the place as common sense decreed. He had a hard time saying no to his only daughter.
“Come on—it’s perfect,” Reed said in an encouraging voice.
“So sayeth the guy with running water and electricity.” His brother occupied the house their grandparents had lived in, next door to the main ranch house, while Spence was currently living in the main house. He would have claimed the second bedroom in the little house, but Reed’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Lex, stayed there when she visited from Bozeman where she lived with her mom and stepdad.
Reed grinned at him. “You, too, can have those amenities. It’ll just take a few days to hook them up.”
Spence shook his head. “Not being a prima donna or anything, but—”
“You’re totally a prima donna.”
“But I think I will continue in the folks’ house. I don’t know how long I’ll be here, and I don’t have a lot of spare cash to sink into this place.” He was pretty certain that the old wiring and delicate plumbing system would present a whole nest of new problems if they were put into use.
