Page 43 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
For anyone.
Since leaving, he’d never stayed anywhere long enough to get attached. He’d work enough to afford to move on and then start all over again.
Nothing to hold him back, nothing to keep him from moving forward. If he didn’t get attached, he couldn’t get hurt.
This high school girl would be nothing to him once he left the town behind.
He got to work, issuing directions to Gabe and Hadley like he was a task master and they were his worker bees.
The morning passed in a flurry of activity, none of them resting as they tried to finish the job. He’d expected Hadley to slack off, to act like the spoiled WentWood princess he’d assumed she was. The one who didn’t think she’d face the consequences for the prank she pulled.
But she never complained, never slowed.
“Want to ride back with me while Spence gathers the tools?” Gabe asked Hadley.
“Is that okay, Spencer?” she asked, her voice unsure.
He didn’t even look back at her. “Why wouldn’t it be? I’ll meet you guys after lunch for some work in the barn.”
As soon as they were gone, Spencer put his hands on the new section of fence and dropped his chin to his chest, breathing deeply.
It’s only temporary,he reminded himself. Gulf City would soon be a blip in his rearview mirror.
He wasn’t sure where he’d go next. Australia called to him since he’d left before really getting to know the place. Maybe Thailand? A buddy he’d met in Europe lived there.
Wherever it was, it wouldn’t be Florida.
He thought of Hadley and her dream to go to Paris, the city he’d called overrated. He hadn’t been lying, but she’d probably still love every minute of it. Spencer had been there twice, taking in the lights and culture.
Hadley would fit right in with all the pretty Americans sitting at tiny cafes pretending to be sophisticated.
Only, she didn’t pretend. There was nothing sophisticated about Hadley. Maybe that was what intrigued him about her. She wore loose-fitting, non-designer clothes and little makeup. She spoke more like a tomboy than anything else.
Yet, she was beautiful. So. Freaking. Beautiful.
And seventeen.
Spencer blew out a breath before dropping the tools into a pile. He’d make Gabe drive the truck up later to pick them up. He guessed he could have been nice and driven Hadley up instead of making her ride, but traversing the family lands on horseback was second nature to him. He hadn’t thought about it at the time.
Untying Toby, he climbed into the saddle and nudged him into a trot. A cold breeze struck his sweaty face, chilling his wet shirt.
By the time he got back to the barn, Gabe and Hadley were nowhere to be found.
He unsaddled Toby and rubbed him down before heading to the bunkhouse to change his shirt.
When he emerged, dry and warm, he held two apples in one handle and a sandwich in the other.
His feet slowed as he caught sight of Hadley sitting on the front porch of his parents’ house with a bowl of whatever his mom had made for lunch in her lap.
Spencer’s dad sat to one side of her with Gabe joining her on the other.
His mom appeared with a tray of biscuits and smiled down at Hadley whose mouth was moving a mile a minute.
It was an image he’d once taken for granted. When he was in high school, he worked weekends on the ranch, and his mom always had lunch hot and ready come noon.
The hands used to eat on the front porch with Spencer, Damien, and their dad.
And now… he didn’t know if he was welcome in that picture anymore. Did he want to be? This wasn’t his life, but they were his family.
