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The trip alone takes three hours, so I can’t waste too much time right now.
“Anything you need me to do?”
I shake my head and sigh. “Just email me throughout the week if anyone calls for me, redirect them to my cell if it’s important. Otherwise, take a message.”
“At least you’ll be out of this place for a little bit.”
True, got that going for me. She lets me get my things in order and I make sure to leave directions for the plant on my desk. It’s not the first time Alicia has had to take care of it for me, but that woman forgets things insanely fast and I’m not counting on her remembering the steps on her own.
I give her my best smile when I walk out the door, locking it behind me, then make my way over to her desk. “Here’s the keys for my office. I left instructions for the plant on my desk.”
She chuckles with a shake of her head while grabbing the key from my palm and stuffing it into the top drawer of her desk. “You and that damn plant.”
“It’s sacred,” I huff out, then look toward the elevator. “Wish me luck and see you in a week.” Then I give her a small wave before heading into the open elevator.
* * *
My eyes latch onto the large white ranch house sitting at the top of a hill as I inch my car up the driveway. The wraparound porch is everything I could ever want in a house and I’m practically vibrating with excitement to walk along it, but that comes to a screeching halt when I catch sight of the two men standing at the end of the drive.
The younger one, whose hair falls loosely over his face, glances over his shoulder at my car before saying something to the older one. Even from feet away, I can tell they’re son and father — the similarities are uncanny. While the son heads in my direction, I quickly step out of the car and head toward the open trunk, grabbing my bag from it easily.
“I can help with that,” he says politely, reaching a hand down and grabbing hold of the bag. “You must be Sydney?”
I nod, giving him a bright smile. “That’s me, and you are?” After reading up on the ranch, I can only assume that the young man standing in front of me is Nathan — but I’d hate to be wrong.
He smirks and holds his other hand out to me. “Nathan, ma’am.” His gaze darts over his shoulder as the older guy comes to a stop at his side and he nudges his head in that direction. “This is my dad, Brent.”
“You have a lovely property here,” I say to his father, but only get a grunt in response before he walks away from us.
Well, that was rude.
Nathan sighs and shakes his head. “Sorry about that. Let me show you to the guest house.” While he leads me in the direction of where I’ll be staying, I can’t help but trail my gaze over my shoulder and lock eyes with Brent.
He doesn’t hold the gaze very long, but that doesn’t do anything to ebb the warmth spreading inside of me. That’s a bad idea, he clearly isn’t very fond of me.
Chapter 3
Brent
I huff out a sigh as I come to a stop in front of the large slabs of wood sitting on top of a pile of ash. Looking at it only brings back memories of the night and a throbbing starts up in my knee. Out of instinct, I rub at it, but it only angers me further when all I connect with is the cast.
Nathan told me he didn’t need my help with cleaning things up, but I couldn’t bring myself to sit in the house all day. He’s been coming out here every morning to clean things up and it’s been a week since the incident. It’s about time I start trying to pull my weight around here.
I’ve rested enough, even if the doctor thinks I should be resting more.
With a deep breath, I place the crutches beneath my arms and start my trek through the field, moving around where the side of the barn would be if it were still standing, and lean down to grab a slab of wood. A few splinters pierce through my skin, but it’s nothing compared to my other injuries, and I shake it off as I try to hop my way over to the dumpster Nathan rented out.
When I turn back around, I’m already wiping sweat from my brow, and I’ve barely done anything. My knee is thumping as I make my way back over to the damage and reach for another wooden beam, but this time I almost fall flat on my face. Luckily I get a crutch out in front of me in enough time to save my fall, but the throat clearing behind me has me stiffening immediately.
“Want some help?” a feminine voice asks. The same one who took residence in the guest house yesterday, and my skin prickles at the idea of her watching me. That quickly goes away though when I realize she watched me just about knock myself out.
Instead of answering her, I simply let the wood I was holding fall to the ground and hobble away from her. She calls my name, trying to gain my attention, but I refuse to give it to her.
God, I can only imagine what she’s thinking right now.
Just looking at the way she was dressed yesterday I can tell she comes from money that I don’t think I’ll ever have. I might own this ranch, but that doesn’t mean money comes easy to us. Her blonde hair is bright against the morning sun when I turn around and her eyes follow my movements as I slowly ascend the steps, then head toward the swing out back and flop onto it.
I glance toward the side door when it bursts open, Nathan giving me a frown as he walks out. “What the hell are you doing?”
