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Finally, they returned to the ranch, shortly before suppertime, and she hurried into the kitchen. “I got a frozen lasagna for tonight because I didn’t want to have to cook. Can you wait a little while?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said, happy to make her day easier.
They went into the living room and sat together on the couch. “You’ve heard all about my family today. Tell me about yours.”
He shrugged. “For as long as I can remember, it was just me and my mom. My dad died when I was little, and she raised me alone.”
“She never remarried?”
“Nope. She said there was no other man alive who could hold a candle to my father, so she was going to remain single for the rest of her life.”
“Wow,” she said. “Sounds like he was practically perfect in every way.”
He chuckled. “I don’t know about that. I have no memories of him, but there are a few photos of him putting me on horses. He was a rancher, but Mom wanted nothing to do with the ranch after he died, so she sold it.”
“That’s sad. You could have been running your own ranch for years now.”
“I haven’t felt ready. I’m still not sure if I’m ready. As much as I love ranching and working with cattle, there are so many things I don’t know. I follow orders. I don’t give them.”
“I have faith in you,” she said. “Dr. Lachele said you would be perfect for me.”
“And you are perfect in my eyes,” he said. “I’m impressed that you’re not bitter toward your parents. I don’t know that I could still feel so devoted to them after that.”
She nodded. “But I had a wonderful childhood. And it sounds like it was my bio dad’s decision to not have me go back and forth between them.”
He looked around the room. “But he has almost a shrine to you in here. You’re staring down at me from every wall.”
“Just one of those things I haven’t gotten around to changing yet. Once I’ve got a housekeeper hired, I can have her do projects like that with me.”
“Have you put an ad anywhere?”
She nodded. “Yes, I actually found an online agency that will place domestic help anywhere in the US. I’ve got three interviews set up for Monday, and I’ll do them all through Skype.”
He nodded. “I think that’s a pretty brilliant way to go about finding someone.”
“I sure hope it works like I think it will.”
“Me too. You don’t need to spend a ton of time on that as you’re getting the business part of the ranch figured out. I guess your dad did all of that himself?”
She nodded. “Yup. He has a CPA, but he just did taxes. This ranch has over three-hundred full-time employees. Maybe I should hire a couple more just to help out with the business side of things.”
“You’d have to really trust your people,” he said.
“I know. I’ll think about that later. I don’t know how Alexander did it. I don’t even know what to call the man. Brad has been my father for as long as I can remember, and Alexander did so much for me without me knowing, and he’s my father, but I have a dad.”
“Call him Alex to me, and I’ll know who you mean. Don’t twist your brain into a knot trying to figure it all out.”
When the timer for the lasagna went off, she jumped up. “I’m so hungry!”
“Me too!”
“Do you want to sit at the table in the kitchen or at the barstools? I don’t care either way.”
“Table then. I’d rather look at you while I eat than at the kitchen.”
She laughed. “I would rather look at you.”
She carried the lasagna tray to the table and set it down on hot pads she’d laid out after putting the lasagna in the oven. “If this isn’t the best lasagna you’ve ever had, just remember I didn’t make it.”
