Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 94(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
I still don’t know what to think. He’s right. I don’t have a lot of options, but that doesn’t mean I want to take the wrong one.
He holds his hands out to me, palms up. “Look, I’ll be honest with you. I used to be in the rodeo. I broke a few bones, doctor told me I shouldn’t compete anymore, so I took the money I won from all the competitions and bought the ranch. I was engaged to be married and she left me at the altar. I wasn’t good enough for her, she wanted out. So see, I have no interest in getting with another woman. Plus, you’re not really my type.”
He’s saying exactly what I need to hear, so I don’t know why his words hurt me, but they do.
“I didn’t think I was. I’m sorry. About your fiancée and well, for causing problems. I’ll work hard, and I know how to cook and clean.”
He shakes his head. “You’re already hired, Heather.”
“Right. Gosh, I’m sorry. You must think I’m a lunatic.”
He walks over to the truck and opens my door. “So what do you say – you coming? I can’t just leave you here. You can go to the ranch or I’ll take you back to town – it’s your choice.”
And it’s like he said the magic word. Choice. It’s my choice. Town or ranch. I haven’t had a choice in a long, long time.
I don’t know if he realizes how much his words affect me, but just the fact that he’s giving me a choice is a big deal to me.
“Ranch... if that’s okay.”
Brett
“Sounds good,” I tell her.
She gets into the truck, and even though I want to reach for her and help her in – I don’t. She’s small and has to pull herself up, but I just wait until she does and then I shut the door.
I jog around to the driver’s side and get in. “You good?” I ask her because I don’t want a repeat of her trying to get out of a moving vehicle.
She nods, and I put it into drive and take off. It’s in my nature to mind my own business, but today I want to know it all. There’s obviously something or someone that she’s running from. But I can’t ask her about it. I have a feeling that she’s on edge right now, and what if she doesn’t wait until I stop the next time she decides she wants out of my truck?
Neither one of us speaks.
I feel a little guilty. I lied to her. I am attracted to her, but there’s no way I’ll ever do anything about it. I’ve learned my lesson on that front.
We get to the ranch, and when we pull in, she sits up in her seat, peering out the window. It’s dark except for the floodlight that comes on, lighting up the small house and barn.
“I warned you that it’s not much to look at,” I remind her.
She swallows, and I grab her bag and meet her at the front of the truck. She’s looking all around, her eyes wide as she follows me.
Walking in, I see the odd pieces of furniture that don’t match and the drab walls that need paint, and I wince looking at it. I clear my throat. “That’s the doors to the bedrooms. Yours is on the left. Here’s the bathroom.” I point to the door between the two bedrooms and then around us. “Kitchen and living room.... I know it’s small, but like I said...”
She interrupts. “You warned me.”
I nod and walk toward the bedroom she’s going to be staying in. I flip on the light and jiggle on the door that we just walked through. Then I walk to the connecting bathroom door and point out the lock. “See, two locks. I won’t bother you.”
“I’m not your type,” she says softly. The way she says it, I wonder if that comment bothered her, but already I know it’s probably just my mind playing tricks on me.
I clear my throat again. “Yeah, uh, you need anything? I usually go to bed early, but if you need anything tomorrow, you can come to the barn. Usually one of us is close by. Until you’re more familiar with the place, I’d rather you stick close to the house or the barn.”
She looks defiant and upset that I’m trying to give her rules. I hold my hands up. “I’m not trying to keep you chained up. I just want to give you a tour before you go exploring, that’s all. You can come and go as you please.”
“Where are your neighbors?” she asks.
Of all the questions I thought she’d ask, I didn’t expect that one. She definitely isn’t from a ranch family. “I don’t have neighbors. Well, Mr. and Mrs. Jamison live around a quarter mile down the road. They’re the closest neighbors.”