Page 39 of Broken Boundaries

He kneels down beside me so that he can meet my eyes. “Hey, I want my son to come back to the ranch because he wants to, not for whatever game he’s playing right now. The ranch is your home now, too. I want you to be comfortable here even while you’re working. If his being here while you’re working makes you uncomfortable, then he needs to leave. He’s the one who messed up. Not you.”

I stare at him in awe. He’s willing to make his own son leave in order to make me comfortable? “Brooks… I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me.”

“We’re a family here at Moonlight Ranch. Don’t ever forget that.”

I give him a wobbly smile while I try not to cry. He seems to notice that I’m trying to stay strong, so he stands and takes the attention off my face. “Do you wanna head home for the night?”

I shake my head. “No, I’ve got a little bit left to do.”

I follow him out of the office, and he gives me a quick nod before he heads in the other direction. I head back to the desk where Jazz is in the middle of checking someone in, so I stand behind her and wait for her to finish. Once the family has received their map and key, they head off to find their cabin.

“You good?” Jazz asks.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Don’t be apologizing for that. That was completely inappropriate of Zach, but it was awesome to watch you shove those flowers in the trash can. You should’ve seen his face when you did it.” She laughs, and I wonder if I took it too far. The flowers were nice, but I don’t want anything from him. I don’t want him to think there’s any chance of us getting back together. Because there’s not. It’s over. The sooner he realizes it, the sooner we can all move on.

CHAPTER 15

Brooks

I stare at the text I just got from Zach and wonder what the hell he’s thinking.

Zach: Can you please talk to her? She won’t listen to me.

Me: You think she’ll listen to me?

Zach: Yes! She told me before that she likes you. You’re my best chance.

Me: I can’t make any promises

Zach: I know. I’ll take anything at this point

I sigh and slide my phone back into my jeans pocket. As a father, of course, I want to help my son. I’ll always do whatever I can to make him happy. But I think Aspen deserves better than what he has given her. I can’t plead his case and promise that he won’t make the same mistake twice when I don’t know for sure if that’s true. If he truly cared about her like he claims, he wouldn’t have strayed in the first place. But how do I tell him that without pushing him even further away from me?

I walk toward the front desk, where I can hear Aspen talking to one of our guests. She’s got a big smile on her face as she hands them a map and points in the direction of the cabins. The family has two small kids, so she makes sure to tell them about the water slides by the pool and the ice cream shop down on Main Street. They thank her and head off.

“Hey.” I make myself known once the family is gone.

She turns to smile at me. “Hey, didn’t see you there.”

“Just got here. How’s your day?”

“It’s good. We’ve had a lot of check-ins today. It’s gonna be a busy weekend.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Weekends are usually pretty busy for us. A ranch is the perfect weekend getaway for most families.

“What are you up to?” she asks, leaning back against the desk.

“Not much. Just wanted to ask if you had any plans tonight.”

“Not unless you consider eating mac and cheese and binge-watching reality TV shows plans. Why? Do you need me to do something?”

“No. Wanted to see if you’d be up for a trail ride tonight.”

Her face lights up. “I’d love that.”

“Cool. Meet me at the stables at six. I’ll have the horses saddled up.”