“What good is an unrideable horse at a guest ranch?” Wesley asks, scowling.
Heath sighs deeply. “Maybe he’s feeding off the piss-poor attitude you’ve got going on, son. Consider working him a lesson. Plus, I’m sure guests will get a real kick outta seeing you try to tame him.” He chuckles softly before downing the rest of his coffee.
“I could try working with him, if it would help,” Emmett offers.
Heath shakes his head firmly. “No. He’s Wes’s responsibility now. Nobody touches him. Let the rest of the guys know.”
Emmett frowns, but it fades quickly. “Yes, sir,” he says, stealing a sausage link off my plate with a wink. I scrunch my nose, picking over the remaining berries.
“Now that Sadie has had a few days to settle, it’s about time we take her around and show her what she’ll be doing to help us out,” Heath says, not bothering to look up from his newspaper.
I glance between Emmett and Wesley, foolishly lingering on Wesley longer than I should. My eyes narrow, silently waiting for him to fess up and apologize about the hot water situation. But he keeps staring back at me, his expression completely unreadable. All but drawing a line in the sand.
Emmett knocks his shoulder gently into me again, snapping me back into the moment.
“Aww, don’t worry, Sades. We won’t work ya too hard,” he says, a playful smile on his face.
But the work isn’t what worries me. It’s the flash of Wesley’s eyes as he dares me to say something, and the relentless prickle of heat flooding my cheeks.
I’ve never been able to walk away from a challenge.
“Onceyougetalay of the land, we can talk about adding more responsibilities. But for now, I think starting with keeping the barn in order and feeding the animals is enough,” Heath says, an encouraging smile on his face as we exit the barn and start walking the path back to the main house.
I wish Warren believed in me even a fraction of what Heath does. He hasn’t even checked in to see if I made it okay and have settled in. It shouldn’t surprise me—he’s never cared about my well-being, even before. But I can’t help the dim remainder of hope lingering in my heart.
As if one day he will finally show up and be the father I’ve always wanted. The father I’veneeded.
“I changed the schedule for the first week so one of the boys will always be here, should you need them. But after that, they usually alternate driving cattle and leading guests on the trails,” Heath says, interrupting my thoughts. “We always hire a few extra sets of hands for the summer to help out, so there will always be someone around. Think you’ll be okay?”
I smile and nod. “Absolutely.”
We keep walking down the worn path. I’m lost in my head until I notice Heath isn’t beside me anymore. He’s stopped a few steps back, hands braced on his hips as he looks out over the pasture. I follow his gaze—Wesley and Emmett are out there, working together to move a group of cattle.
“I know Wesley can be…challenging.” He takes a deep breath and turns back to me. “He’s been a little more withdrawn since their mother passed.”
I swallow, rolling my lips between my teeth. I know the feeling well—the urge to shut everyone out. The burning need to be alone with the ghosts of what used to be.
Swearing if you could have one more day—just one—you’d give anything in the world.
“I’m not excusing his behavior, don’t get me wrong. He—“ Heath pauses, looking back out over the pasture. He leans forward, resting his forearms on the top rail of the wooden fence. For a moment, I think he’s done talking. Then, quietly, he adds, “He needs time.”
My chest tightens under the weight of it. The grief. The memory.
I was a complete wreck for months after she left me. I know it’s not fair to say sheleft—as if she’d had a choice in the matter.
But shedid.
She left, and I was trapped in that house. Completely alone and devoid of love.
She left me with a cold-blooded, dispassionate monster who hated my existence and never let me forget it.
It only got worse after.
Seeing me was a constant and painful reminder she was truly gone and wasn’t coming back.
For months, I wished it had been me instead.
Because when she died, part of me went with her.
