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I laughed and pretended to look hurt. “How dare you! I’m no city slicker, I was born here in the dirt, same as you!”
Sam laughed. “You’ve been living in the city for long enough.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” I told him with a sour expression. My mind wandered back to Rylee and Jayden again. It was impossible to stop it. I couldn’t help but think about that meeting in Chicago. It had provided me with wealth beyond my wildest dreams, but no amount of money could buy me the last five years back.
“Did you miss the hard work of ranching while you were busy being a big city fella?” Sam probed, standing up and wiping his hands down his jeans.
“I don’t know if missing it is the right word…” I replied. I put my hand to my chin and rubbed the short stubble there as I thought about the question. “But there is something rewarding in it, I’ll give you that. Being able to work with my own, bare hands on something and seeing the immediate effects of it… Well, it’s almost like therapy.”
Sam nodded and smiled over at me. “You’re not wrong about that, Spencer,” he said as he put a rough, calloused hand on my shoulder. “It can help you work through all manner of demons, if you know what I mean.” He shot me a knowing look with those green eyes of his and I knew he wasn’t talking in the abstract. Sam always did have a funny way of being able to see right through me.
I nodded at him. “You said it, Sam.”
We both stood in a comfortable silence before making our way inside the house after a long, arduous day of work. Sam fixed the dinner while I washed myself up a little. I took a nice, long shower and made sure to wash all the dirt and remnants of the day off of my skin. The water felt smooth and refreshing after such a long time in the scorching heat and I couldn’t help but spend more time than usual under the warm spray.
Once I was finally washed and dressed, I headed back down the stairs to meet up with Sam. The most delicious fragrance of roasting lamb shank and rosemary wafted through the air and it put a happy smile on my face.
“Smells good, Sam,” I commented.
Sam turned away from the stove. “It’s not much, I’m no fancy chef, but it’ll keep you fed!” he declared with a toothy grin.
Before I could respond, I felt my phone vibrate in my jeans pocket. My first thought was of Rylee. Had she come to her senses? Did she want to talk everything over? My hands fumbled with my jeans and retrieved the small device from my pocket. I looked at the caller ID hopefully only to be disappointed.
It was Robin.
Why on Earth is Robin calling me? I let out a huff and tried to stifle the sadness that was causing my throat to feel thick. I coughed and tapped the screen to answer.
“Hello?”
“Spencer! It’s Robin!”
“Hey, Robin. How are you doing today?” I asked her politely.
“I’m fine. Listen,” she said and I could hear some shuffling in the background. “I need to talk to you, sooner rather than later. I’m outside the main house at the ranch.”
I looked over out of the kitchen window and I could see her familiar blonde hair streaked with grays. Yes, I could see her, but I had no clue what she wanted to talk to me about. This fake boyfriend thing was done and dusted. We’d put on a show at the restaurant last Friday, that’s what she’d asked for. Surely, she wasn’t here to ask for more favors?
No, that wasn’t like Robin. Perhaps… Would Rylee tell her mother what happened between us? Unlikely, Rylee had tried so hard to keep our relationship hidden from her mother. Why would that change now?
I realized I’d been quiet for a little too long and Robin was still waiting for an answer. “Oh, yes, of course,” I replied, feeling nervous and on edge. “I’ll be right out, just give me a second.”
“Okay, thanks, Spencer,” she said before I heard the telltale sound of the call disconnecting.
“Rylee, was it?” Sam asked from over his shoulder as he was washing dishes.
“No… Robin,” I answered in a grave voice, feeling as though my troubles were far from over.
“Ahh! I never have met your old friend. Give me a minute with this greasy pan and I’ll be out to say hello,” Sam called over his shoulder.
“Sounds good to me,” I told him in reply before heading for the door.
As I walked, I took deep breaths and tried desperately to convince myself that Robin wasn’t going to murder me over the whole Rylee thing. It made sense that Rylee might have confessed everything to her mother after our heated argument yesterday. After all, she seemed pretty serious about keeping Jayden away from me. But no matter what happened, no matter if she did get Robin involved, I wasn’t going down without a fight.
