Page 49 of Roping Her In

“I saw a therapist once, and she told me I do it because it feels safe.”

Jake’s mind started working overtime. “Do you not feel safe?”

“My momma died when I was six years old,” Hailey said. “She fell off a roof and broke her back, and obviously hit her head. My daddy found her, but I saw her lying there, and it was like everything I’d ever known got erased, and all that was left was her death.”

Jake reached over and twined his fingers between hers. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I guess I didn’t realize your mother had actually passed away.”

She nodded. “That’s why we left Hill Country. Daddy couldn’t stand to be there, and honestly, though I was really young, I felt like I’d lost him too. He just sort of….” She shook her head and looked back at the rolling credits of the movie Jake hadn’t stopped yet.

“He was there physically, but not in any other way. My grandparents took good care of us, and then he finally said he had to go somewhere else. That being on the farm where she’d died was too painful, and that he’d never be able to move forward if we didn’t leave.”

“That’s when you moved to Three Rivers,” Jake said.

“Yep.” Hailey nodded in an exaggerated movement, her gaze somewhere far away. “And that didn’t feel safe either. My daddy got a job at Shiloh Ridge, and he worked long hours, and I was staying with strangers. That didn’t feel very safe—at least not at first.”

She blew out another sigh. “I think I learned during those four or five years how to make myself feel safe. And Daddy gave me parameters: I could get up, and I could pour my own cereal, and I could check my phone for when he would text me to leave for school. Then, I could walk down the lane to Betty’s house, and she’d help me get on the bus.”

Jake hadn’t experienced any of that in his life, as his father had walked him and Carson over to the bus Squire Ackerman had bought. Sometimes he drove it, and sometimes Daddy did, or Ethan, or Pete.

There were a lot of kids on the ranch while Jake was growing up, and he’d never had a parent text him for when it was time to get to school.

“Then Daddy and Etta got married, and life changed again. But I could still get up, and brush my teeth, and put my hair in a ponytail, and pour my own bowl of cereal, and make sure I had everything I needed in my backpack.” She finally blinked and met his gaze again. “It became a checklist for my morning, and I have a version of it that I do to this day.”

“It’s not a toxic trait,” Jake said, the corners of his mouth tipping up into a smile.

Hailey watched him for a moment, and then relief marched across her face. “No, I suppose you’re right. It’s not a toxic trait.”

He leaned toward her and pressed his cheek against hers. “I hate that someone made you feel like it was,” he whispered in her ear. He pressed a kiss almost against her earlobe, then along her jaw, finally claimed her mouth as his. He only kissed her for a few moments before he pulled away, his adrenaline humming nicely in his bloodstream.

“I like schedules and routines and things happening the way I predict them, because it makes me feel accomplished,” he said. “And I don’t know if you know how I got this job, but it was basically because of my dad. I still struggle with the idea that I’m not good enough to be here and to work on a ranch this size, and that at any moment everyone around me will realize it.”

Hailey blinked at him, pure shock flowing from her. “Jake, that’s just not true. You’re so smart, and you know exactly what’s going on around here—with every person and every animal.”

He appreciated her saying that. “And I work really hard to know that.”

She shook her head, her jaw tightening. “I don’t believe for a second that Libby would give you this job just because your daddy worked here.”

Jake really didn’t want to talk about this anymore. He honestly couldn’t believe he’d brought it up in the first place. “Well, I wasn’t at the top of my class like some people I know.”

Hailey scoffed, refusing to go along with his teasing. He got to his feet, another groan pulling through every muscle in his body. “All right, I’ve got to go get some sleep,” he said. “Tomorrow we’ll be on cleanup duty here, and ten to one on Friday we’ll be going around to all the hobby farms and ranches to help dig everyone out and make sure their animals are okay.”

Hailey’s face brightened, and she stood too. “Can I go with you?”

Jake took her face into both of his hands and smiled down at her. “Of course you can, sweetheart.” He kissed her one more time before he left the office.

The hall temperature dropped about ten degrees, and he hurried through it and into the break room, where the space heater had been pumping. Sure enough, all five men were asleep, and Jake used the restroom, and brushed his teeth before he settled down on the couch they’d reserved for him.

He hadn’t announced at last week’s small ranch owners meeting that he and Hailey were dating, because there had been so much chaos and so many people missing. He knew everyone around town was struggling with this year’s wicked winter, and this ice storm had only added to that.

Dear Lord, he prayed silently. Bless us here in Three Rivers to have Thy protective hand over our farms, families, and animals.

Jake hadn’t been to church in a while, and as he lay there in the dark, he knew he needed to get back and feel that spirit of the Lord touch his heart. He also knew Finn Ackerman would have a text out in the morning, asking who needed help and who could help.

And if Jake took Hailey around to all of his friends’ farms and ranches, he knew exactly how he would introduce her. This is Hailey Winters, my gorgeous girlfriend.

That thought calmed him enough to block out Alder’s snoring, and he fell asleep with fabulous fantasies in his head, no ice storms, ranch problems, or sick animals in sight.

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