Page 18 of Unforgettable Cowboy
“That’s the one.”
“Oh boy.”
“What?”
“I advertised for a caretaker to run the house until Wade’s back on his feet.She’s the only candidate, and if the mom is like the daughter, then I’m not feeling good about this.”
“Would you hire her anyway?”
“Oh yeah.”He spoke a little too adamantly, because there was no way he could care for Wade while he convalesced and handle ranch business at the same time.“If she’s game, so am I.I just don’t want to have to do this all over again after Wade scares her off.He comes home in two days, and I want everything set employment-wise.Otherwise, he’s going to come up with a reason not to hire help.”
“I see your point.When’s the interview?”
“Tomorrow.Here at the ranch, so that she can see the place.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks, Bae.”
Her expression shifted ever so slightly, and Hayes realized his mistake.The nickname had slipped from his lips so naturally that it barely registered until he’d noted her reaction.
“No problem, Hay.”She capped the word with a twist of her lips.
Bae and Hay.Cutesy bantering nicknames from back in the day that, judging from her tone, Bailey no longer appreciated.He saw her point.
“Shut me down there, didn’t you?”
“Someone had to.”She took a slow step forward, hands jammed into her back pockets.“Those are stupid nicknames, you know.But…” she gave a dismissive shrug “…fun at the time, I guess.”
“We had fun,” he agreed.“Kids.”
“Exactly.”
The way she was looking at him reminded Hayes that they were no longer kids.Far from it.And being consenting adults, capable of communicating—
He shut the thought down.Hard.
Bailey was driving him crazy.
*
Where in thehell was Hayes?
Bailey checked her phone again, then tucked it into her back pocket.This morning, before she’d taken off, he’d said that he was going to ride the southern fence line to make certain it was secure before they moved the cattle.He’d also said that he planned to get back in time to clean up for the housekeeper interview.
That interview was in less than an hour and no Hayes.No cleanup.Nothing.He had to be out of cell service, which was spotty on the hill.
That left her with two choices—find him or handle the interview herself.The first option was obviously the best, so she headed to the barn to fire up the quad.He’d saddled Spot, the big Appaloosa gelding, meaning that the terrain was too challenging in certain areas for the ATV, but she didn’t have time to catch and saddle a horse.Besides, it would take longer to ride, so she was going to chance using the quad.
She crossed the field to the southern fence, stopped to open the gate, thinking that it needed its hinges tightened so it didn’t scrape the ground, then mounted the quad and took off up the rocky trail, immediately understanding why Hayes had chosen to ride horseback.
She’d only traveled a couple of miles before she saw a rider in the distance, making his way down the steep trail.She debated about simply turning the quad around and heading home, but instead she waited where she was, at the top of the draw, which was steep on Hayes’s side and more gently sloped on hers.When he stopped at the bottom at the edge of the wide shallow creek and dismounted, she got off the quad and followed the trail down.Even at a distance, she could see that he’d also had a muddy accident of some kind and was now crouched at the creek, attempting to get the worst of it off his hands and bare forearms.The thickly caked knees of his jeans were probably hopeless.He glanced up as she approached, then let out a breath as if he’d been caught stealing cookies from Wade’s secret stash.
“You know, if the ground even hints at being soft, you should—” His dark expression brought her teasing words to a halt.She gave a shrug.“Just saying.”
“It wasn’t soft ground.”He stood and shook the water off his arms, then eyed the muddy knees of his jeans before turning his attention back to Bailey.“The gravity-feed water pipe in the top pasture was plugged, and I tried to clear it.I got sludge, but no water.There must be an issue at the spring, but I didn’t have time to go up to check.”His gaze narrowed as he studied Bailey in a way that made things shift deep inside of her.“You came after me?”
She held up her hands.“I’mnot conducting an interview.”
