“My dad doesn’t want me to be part of the ranch unless I’m married,” he admits quietly. “It’s because my brothers both wanted to be part owners but ended up moving away and getting married in other states. Dad’s hoping that if I get married first, he’ll know that I’ll be able to stay and take care of things.”
“So, go find someone you actually want to be married to.”
I can’t believe I’m telling him this. I used to crave even a second of his attention, and now I’m telling him to go find himself another wife.
It’s a good thing people grow and mature, because a younger version of me would have said yes right away, not caring about the reasons.
“I know you’re not a big fan of marriage, but you’re a smart enough guy to realize you could find someone you actually want to be with.”
“I don’t want to.” He sounds like a petulant child.
“So you decided to propose to the only single female in a hundred-mile radius?!” I’m actually getting mad. And honestly, it feels good. I’d rather feel anger than embarrassment right now.
Zane holds his hands up in a placating motion. “It’s not like that. Iwantto marry you. I know you love ranching and living in Pine Ridge. Your dad told me that you planned to stay here and keep growing your herd. It seems like we have common interests. We get along every time we work together.”
Yeah, this is definitely not how I imagined I would be proposed to.We should get married because we live in the same town and have similar careers.
I pivot on my heel and walk back to my truck. I have work to do today, and I don’t need to be wasting time on something so absolutely ridiculous.
“Can you promise me you’ll at least think about it?” he calls after me.
I ignore him and climb in, telling Chip, my border collie, to get out of my seat. The damn dog thinks he’s licensed to drive. One of these days, I’m going to catch him driving down the highway—I’m sure of it.
“You’re not going to tell anyone about this conversation, right?” Zane asks, his voice much closer now.
I glance up to find him standing next to me, holding the truck door open.
I scowl at him. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pass the word along? Maybe someone has a cousin who’s a farmer or rancher and who also likes Pine Ridge.”
Zane frowns right back at me. “You make it sound bad to want something in common with my wife.”
“It’s more the fact that that’s theonlything you want from a wife.”
I lean forward and grab the handle on the door and slam it closed, forcing Zane to jump out of the way. Coffee sloshes over the side of his mug, and I don’t even feel bad about it.
There is something to be said for the guy because he doesn’t discourage easily.
He knocks on the window, his charming smile firmly in place. “I’ll think about that irrigated pasture!”
I roll my eyes and shift the truck into first, rolling past him.
He sounds like he’s still trying to talk to me, so I shift it into second and peel out of the gravel turnout.
Only twenty minutes ago, I had pulled into the small driveway to lock the gate leading into one of my pastures—Dad had probably left it open. He’s notorious for forgetting gates, probably because he’s had years of gate openers and closers riding around with him, aka my sisters and me—and while I was parked in the gravel pull-out on the side of the road, Zane had pulled in behind me with his pickup, jumped out to help close the heavy gate, and proposed marriage. All in that order and just as quickly.
It was a heck of a way to start the day—and it’s only seven o’clock.
CHAPTER 2
Bliss
7 MONTHS AGO
My phone ringsshrilly around six in the morning. The sun is just now rising, and I can’t believe someone would call at this time. I set down my cup of coffee and answer the call before the ringing wakes up Mom. I learned long ago that waking up my mother is a horrible idea.
“Hello?” My voice is raspy since it’s the first word I’ve said all morning. Not a very smooth greeting, consideringwhois calling me at this time.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Zane greets me with a laugh.
