Page 6 of His Cowboy

Fucking hell. What had this man been through these past five years? And why would his family—his own fucking mother—let him live like this when she was likely living the life of luxury?

“You’ll stay here,” I said.

Mom’s eyebrows shot up, and my brother’s fork dropped to his plate with a clatter.

“He’ll do what now?” Rory said.

“There plenty of room in the house. Perry, you can drive to and from work. The vet clinic isn’t that far away.” Of course, looking at his car I wasn’t sure how much farther it’d make it. “You can take one of the ranch trucks if you need to.”

“I think that’s a splendid idea,” Momma said. “I’ve always said you’re too alone in this house with five bedrooms and no one but you living in it.”

“ I can pay. I—”

“You can see Blossom anytime you want.” I pushed my plate away and stood up from the table. “Thanks for dinner, Mom.”

I didn’t know what the hell I was doing offering a room to man I just met. A man who I couldn’t stop thinking about for the past five years and who somehow just happened to land in my lap, looking for a horse that I had no business keeping.

But damn, was I glad I got to see that wide smile on his face when he realized Blossom was here. He didn’t have to look anymore. Perhaps that memory could replace the tear streaked face of a teenager who just had his heart ripped out of his chest that plagued me the past five years.

Chapter 4

Perry

When Blossom got picked up all those years ago, my eyes had been filled with tears and I hadn’t really seen the face of the man who had picked her up. Of course, I had seen pictures of Reese in the years since then. I knew the name of the ranch that bought her, and I’d seen pictures of him on their website, and on their social media when their horses won the reigning championships and whatnot. But it wasn’t until I saw him move and walk that I realized he had been the one to pick up Blossom all those years ago.

And he kept her. Why?

That question whispered its way around my brain all throughout the meal I shared with Rory and Karilyn, his mother.

I finished the meal that Karilyn had provided. Once Reese left the table, it was just me, her, and Rory. She sat down with me, introduced herself, and told me a little bit about the ranch where they all were raised. Rory talked a little bit as well. He told me about the horses they raised here and the things that they did. Most of it I already knew, but it was fascinating to hear more about the ins and outs of the working ranch.

“Is he going to come back?” I asked, looking at his half finished plate of food.

Rory shrugged. “He might.”

“I’ll wrap up his plate and toss it in the fridge. He’ll eat it later. Reese makes his own schedule. You just get used to it,” Karilyn said.

Rory snorted. “Yeah, there’s a reason the two of us manage different branches of this operation.”

I must have had a questioning look on my face, because Rory continued.

“We have cattle on the other side of the ranch. Where we are right now, that’s the horse side and then there’s the cattle side. We run the two businesses separately. I manage cattle, Reese manages the horses. We share our resources. If you kept driving down this road a fair bit farther you’d run into my house, where I live with my partners. Stay here long enough, you’ll probably meet them. Pete works in town as a school teacher and Nick works at home.”

“I really appreciate y’all giving me a chance, but I think I’d like to talk with Reese and make sure me staying here is really a good idea. He lives here, right?”

Rory nodded.

“I come in from town every day to make meals for the whole ranch,” Karilyn said. “Reese is in the house all by himself.”

That was what I was afraid of. “I just don’t want to impose.” But where else did I have to go? Right now I was technically homeless.

“Well, your horse is here, you might as well be, too,” Rory said.

“I have to buy her first. Reese would have to agree to sell,” I said. “I don’t even know what she’s worth now. I’m sure you guys have done a lot of training with her—”

Rory pinched his lips closed. His eyes filled with laughter. “Why don’t you go ahead and talk to Reese. That’ll give you a better idea of Blossom’s place around here and the status of her training.” Rory nodded his head toward the front door. “Reese will probably be in the barn somewhere, if you want to talk to him.”

“Excuse me, ma’am. Thank you for dinner. Should I pick up my plate?” I asked Karilyn.

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