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He could hardly believe his ears. How long had it been since someone had actually agreed with him? His mother always defended Ted, his siblings idolized their dad and shrugged off his behavior around Jake. The Gundersons just saw a successful businessman. But Hannah saw Ted through Jake’s eyes.
“Talk to Sam or Ryan,” she said. “Or, Hooley’s is always looking for stockers, or night managers. You could work the ranch during the day and have a part-time night job.”
“Oh, how the tables have turned,” he teased, gently elbowing her, trying to lighten the mood. “The truth is, though, I don’t know if I’d be able to afford this place with just a stocking job.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?”
“What if I helped, by investing?” she asked. “I don’t have a lot of savings, but it’s something.”
This was a big move, one she hadn’t expected to make, and by the look on Jake’s face, he wasn’t expecting it either.
“Hannah, I can’t ask you to do that,” he said.
“We could be roommates, no strings attached.”
He took her hand. “But I want the strings.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. They still didn’t get any more intimate than that in front of Emma. “I’ll figure things out.” He wrapped his arm around her and leaned back again.
Hannah watched Emma trot Trigger around the pen, a wide smile on her face. She would give him the money. She’d give every penny she had so that this could be her life, forever. She hadn’t realized until then just how much she had fallen in love with the ranch, how much of a home it had become, and the thought of someone other than Jake living there made her heart ache.
Jake walked them home when the night ended. He gave her a kiss as Emma ran up to the apartment, and like always, she watched as he and Millie walked away. She headed over to the house when she saw the kitchen lights still on and Ryan and Olivia out on the back porch.
“Hey guys,” she said, tiptoeing up the steps, not wanting to set the dogs off into a tizzy and wake the sleeping baby.
“Hey, what are you doing back so early?” Olivia asked.
“I wanted to talk to you about the barn, actually.”
“What about it?” Ryan asked.
“I thought Sam was happy with Jake’s work?” SheknewSam was. She wanted this Ted guy to look like the jerk he was.
“He is. Everyone thinks Jake did a great job.”
It really wasn’t her place, but she couldn’t help it. “Ted fired him today.”
“What?” Jesse’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, without any warning, just, ‘OK, the barn’s done, you’re done, see ya.’” She waved her hand in the air, feeling her anger building as she spoke. Jake had worked so hard on that barn, including a lot of overtime. Jakealwaysworked harder than most people she knew. How could his stepfather not see his value?
“I’m real sorry to hear about that. Mr. Ryland always did kind of seem like a jerk.” Jesse pulled out his phone. “I can definitely hire him on as a ranch hand, but the pay won’t go nearly as far as his construction job would.”
“We need some work done on our barn,” Olivia said, sitting up straighter. “Plus, we’ve been talking about renovating the bathrooms, getting a better shower put in, and a walk-in closet for the master bedroom, maybe even an in-law suite for Nana.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow. “Itwouldbe nice to have a shower stall you don’t have to duck into.”
“Seriously?” Hannah knew Jake was even prouder than she was. He’d never accept the job if he thought it was charity.
“I’ll talk to him,” Jesse said.
She smacked her forehead. Wasn’t this exactly the kind of thing she’d complained about when she’d lost her job and Jake had “butted in”? Now she understood him so much better. “No, please. I’d hate for him to think I was gossiping about him.”
“Maybe you should have Sam call Ted to thank Jake for such a great job,” Olivia suggested to Jesse.
He clicked his tongue. “He obviously doesn’t understand how well Jake represents his business.”
Hannah smiled and felt gratitude fill her. “I love you guys.”
