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Gunner chuckled. “It’s not because of that. He’s just not working out.”
She studied him, trying to figure out what the real reason was, but she got distracted by the chiseled perfection of his jawline. He caught her staring, and her cheeks grew warm. “But you’re going to wait till tomorrow?” She said because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Gunner nodded. “He’s been drinking again, so I don’t want to deal with him till he’s sober. Plus, if you do decide to ride off into the sunset tomorrow, which is perfectly understandable, I don’twant your only night at the Bridge Brothers’ Ranch to be full of that kind of drama.”
“Do you really think there would be that much drama?” She was almost sorry that she might miss it.
He nodded. “There would be if I did it while he was drinking.”
Still worried that this was her fault somehow, she asked, “Is that why you’re firing him, because he broke your alcohol rule?”
Gunner took a deep breath and exhaled fully. “I have a long list of reasons to fire him and not a single reason not to.”
Fair enough. Now, if she was going to pretend to be a cook, she only had to do it for two men. And, she hoped, the kids, but she already knew they were easy to please. That’s why God had invented peanut butter and Fluff. “Do you think that you can manage with just one ranch hand?”
Gunner glanced behind him as if to make sure no one was within earshot. “I thought they called him Bull because he was a big dude, but the guy also works like a bull. I’m tempted to try it with him alone.”
“The kids might be able to help some. Gabby is only eleven, but she’s not lazy.”
Gunner chuckled ruefully. “I am not turning those kids into slave labor. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I wasn’t worried. I just thought that they could do some of the easier chores like feeding the goats.”
“Only if they truly want to.” His words felt heavy somehow, as if there was more meaning behind them than she was aware of. He caught her studying him. “I’m pretty sure that I was only adopted to be an unpaid ranch hand. I would never do that to another kid, but if one of them takes an interest in the goats, of course I would not stop her or him from helping.”
This was good to hear.
“But only if they want to,” Gunner repeated.
Nova nodded. “I got it. I promise.”
Gunner touched her arm briefly and said, “I’ll be right back.”
She watched him walk toward the front barn and was a little sad he hadn’t invited her to follow. But then he soon returned with two bag chairs. He shook them out and brushed them off. “Sorry, a little dusty.”
“I’m not surprised to learn that you don’t sit around much.”
He chuckled. “I’d like to.” He sat down before she did, and she wondered just how tired this man was. He caught her eye as she sat. “I’m not really the go-go-go type. At least, I don’t want to be. That’s why I hired those hands. I’m not really interested in working myself into a grave, even if it means saving some homeless goats.”
Even though he wasn’t kidding, she laughed at his phrasing.
Gunner heaved a deep sigh. “But it was work, work, work to keep my father off my back, and then it was work, work, work to keep the ranch afloat while he died, and then it was work, work, work to convince my brothers that I could keep the ranch.”
“They tried to steal your ranch?” She was horrified.
“No, no,” he said quickly. “They were trying to rescue me from it. Well, I am confident that they all had good intentions. Well, maybe not Kash, but he was drinking back then, so he’s an entirely different person now. But anyway, they recognized how hard I was working and how tired I was, and they wanted me to sell so I could move on with my life and do something else.
His brothers might have been onto something. “But you didn’t want that?”
Gunner shook his head slightly as he gazed out at the empty goat pasture. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I was exhausted, and grieving, and confused. But I think things landed the way they were supposed to land.”
She liked that idea. It’s as if he had thrown some of the chips up into the air and then had been perfectly content with wherethey fell. She hoped that she too had just landed in the exact spot she was supposed to be.
Chapter 15
Gunner knew it had been twenty minutes since he had put the pizza pieces into the ancient oven, but he was reluctant to get out of his chair. He didn’t want to have to deal with Rocky, and he didn’t want to leave Nova’s side.
Nova must have read his mind because she said, “We could eat out here.”
