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Pops’ ranch would be safe and so would Rivera Ranch, plus having the sheriff in my pocket didn't seem like a bad thing.

Inhaling heavily, my chest rattled.

It was all going to work out the way it was supposed to.

I believed in all of that.

Everything happens for a reason. Your path is laid out in front of you... but sometimes you have to take the dirt track or hit a few speed bumps along the way.

This is all this was.

A speed bump.

A minor inconvenience.

Swinging my legs off the bed, I nodded to the empty room and padded towards the bathroom.

It was late but I needed to wash the day off me, then hopefully, sleep would come before I was up at four, starting my day.

I wake, groggy as hell and my eyes feel like they have grit in them. I dropped off about one, woke at three.

I thought I always had a plan, and honestly, I was never sure a husband was in that plan.

I wasn't even sure that I wanted kids.

Just wanted to keep the ranch running enough that I could keep a roof over mine and my pops’ head, as well as keep Dusty on and not turn him out of work.

He was only young, well, a bit older than me maybe but still. He had a young family and the last thing I wanted to do was to take food off his table. Turning the faucet on, the old pipes banging through the house as I cup my hands under where the water spurts out before splashing my face.

I had no idea if it was going to wake me up, but I needed something and I wasn't even sure coffee was going to hit the spot that it needed to. I was grouchy and I was ready for the sun to set behind the mountains so I could soak my tired body into the tub and try and relax my muscles.

But I knew that wasn't going to happen. The day was going to be full on. We had the vet, and the farrier, Conrad coming along with some buyers to potentially take a few of the calves.

Hated getting rid of them, but knew it had to be done.

We were haemorrhaging money and even with a Rivera linking us together, I still don't think I would be able to keep us afloat.

They had money, they were one of the richest ranches this side of Montana, but since Jorge died, well, I have no idea what kind of state it is in now.

Turning the tap off, I curl my fingers around the edge of the off-white sink and look at myself in the small mirror.

My eyes were hollow, my once sparkling greens were dull and lifeless and my skin looked pale.

I needed to get my shit together.

Let's rationalize this.

No, I didn't want to marry Pacey Rivera.

No, I didn't want to have to be reliant on a man.

No, I didn't want my pops to die.

But those were the facts.

He was dying.

I was going to be left alone.