Page 50 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
“I’ll finish them. It’ll make sorting, loading and shipping your cows so much easier.” He cocked his head at her. “How do you manage that? The sorting and loading?”
“Vince and Dad and I had a system using the old corrals, and Dad had friends who helped out at branding.” She pushed her hair back. “They still help, but they’re close to aging out. Connor and Ash have volunteered for this year, and Vince will come for the weekend, if I ask.”
“If I’m here during fall branding, you can call on me too.”
“I will,” she said. “Do you think you’ll be here?”
“No telling. If Dad gets back on his feet earlier than expected, as he always seems to do, or if Cade comes home for good as he’s hinted, and if Henry continues to make himself useful with or without pay, there’s nothing keeping me here.”
“You don’t want to stay?” She spoke causally, but he sensed it wasn’t a casual question.
Hewouldstay if he had reason, but he decided that it wasn’t time for those words to cross his lips.
“Call of the open road and all that.” He paraphrased what Reed had said about his traveling ways. “Speaking of which... Lex’s party is tomorrow. Do you still plan to attend?”
“I’m not sure how ‘call of the open road’ brought us to a party.”
“My mind jumps around a lot,” he said.
She met his gaze. Smiled. The veiled concern he’d sensed when she’d asked if he wanted to stay was gone.
“What time shall I arrive?”
Chapter Nine
You’re going toa birthday party. No big deal. No need to feel on edge.
But she did.
It wasn’t difficult to pin down the reason. Spence. No matter how many logical pep talks she gave herself about friendship and avoiding anything beyond that, her heart jumped when she saw the man. Fine. It could jump like that all it wanted. And she could silently admire him to her heart’s content. She simply had to keep it to herself.
But doing so made her feel edgy.
She wasn’t a big one for secrets, and the way Spence affected her pretty much needed to stay secret. Her focus needed to be on a baby, and not complicating her life with her hot neighbor, which might affect her baby plans.
So there she was, driving into the Keller Ranch, past grazing cattle and a pivot system spraying leased water on the hayfields, with her heart beating a whole lot faster than normal. Or should she say faster than normal when she wasn’t around Spence?
When was the last time she’d felt this way around someone?
It had probably been when she’d taken command of Spence’s predicament and delivered him to his basketball game years ago. That had been the first time she’d really come out of her shell around someone who wasn’t a close friend. It had been empowering and, looking back, it may have been impetus to the changes she began making after arriving at the university a few months later.
Yes. It most definitely had been the impetus.
Her nerves started to get the better of her as she drove under the log arch that marked the entrance to the Keller Ranch. It seemed that everyone had an arch commemorating the establishment of their ranch, except for her. Ironically, hers was one of the oldest in this part of the valley, but her family had never seen any need to proclaim the fact. The Kellers had homesteaded the area almost a decade after her great-great-great had set down roots.
Both families were considered foundation stock of their part of the valley. Reed would no doubt take over the ranch when his parents retired. She couldn’t see Spence settling for long.Call of the open road and all that.He’d been pretty open about it.
The thought stayed with her as she rounded the last corner on the driveway and the ranch came into sight. The Keller Ranch was one of the prettiest in the valley, set against the mountains and surrounded by pastures to the timberline. She hadn’t visited the place often, having no reason to, other than 4-H events that were hosted there when she was a kid.
When she got closer, she noted that there were several extra cars, and the familiar wave of self-consciousness washed over her at the prospect of meeting new people—or reacquainting herself with old—but she confidently lifted her chin and smiled as Daniel came out of the house and waved for her to park near the barn.
Fake it until you make it.
Not the counselor’s exact words, but close enough. She’d been skeptical at first, which made the success of the strategy all the more amazing. People believed what they saw.
And with Spence, she saw a totally confident guy who had the world by the tail. But was that the whole story?
She parked and got out of her truck, then jumped a mile when Spence ambled out of the barn. “I didn’t see you,” she said, pressing a hand to her chest and smiling through the embarrassment at being so openly startled.
