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What was it about this town that made him feel like he deserved to be part of any of it?
He had no family. He was an orphan with nothing and no one. He’d lost everyone.
Okay, that was disingenuous.
The Reese family had taken him in when he really didn’t have anyone. They’d been the family he needed when he’d hit rock bottom. Jennifer had taken him under her wing and helped him see there was still good in the world.
She was the one he had to thank for his optimistic outlook.
And all it had taken was one person to tear all that optimism away from him. He didn’t blame Brianne. It was like Katrina had pointed out, she was just trying to help. Katrina had hit a new low and she needed something to look forward to.
But why did it have to be aguy?
The cow beside him mooed so loudly that Simon jumped. He took a step to the side and gawked at the animal. He’d had the animals for just over a week and he’d never heard one quite so obnoxious.
“What do you want? You’ve been fed. You’ve been milked.”
The cow shook her head like a wet dog might have done. It was about time to send his small herd out to a pasture to get some sun and exercise anyway. That was something he could do without the help of others.
He still hadn’t reached out to Daniel. Simon wanted to make sure he did everything that he could handle on his own before seeking out additional help. That way, he’d get the most out of that assistance.
His reasons went beyond that mentality. He also didn’t want to make himself look like he couldn’t handle being a farmer. Daniel was Katrina’s brother and as such, he figured there would be conversations about him between them.
At least that was what he assumed happened between siblings.
Simon got the cattle out of the milking machines he’d finally figured out how to operate and let them wander freely. It had taken a lot longer to do that chore than he would have thought and once he was done, he checked his phone.
Still no word from Katrina. She’d said she didn’t want to hang around her family’s ranch lately because she couldn’t stand her family trying to make her feel better about her lack of job prospects. So why hadn’t she stopped by yesterday? She’d been here every Monday through Friday since he’d been handed the key.
Something told him he already knew the answer, though he refused to admit it.
Katrina had actually hit it off with that Duncan guy.
Simon had lost his opportunity to be with her, and nothing made that realization more real than not hearing from her.
His frustrations continued to mount until all he wanted to do was storm over to her place and tell her all the reasons she didn’t have to lower her standards. She wanted to be in the city, right? She deserved to be happy.
And if she was so willing to settle for country life, then why not choose him?
His chest was tight, unyielding in the constrictions of his lungs and heart. While he was still breathing normally, he didn’t feel like he was getting nearly enough oxygen. Simon clutched at his shirt and tugged at it as if that alone would help alleviate the symptoms he was experiencing.
He spent the rest of the day throwing himself into his work until he couldn’t take the silence anymore. He needed to see her, to ask her how it went if only for his own sanity.
When Simon arrived at her place, the sun had already begun to sink behind the tree line. The property was cast in a golden hue from the brilliant sky overhead. Normally, he would have allowed himself a moment to reflect and appreciate the way it shined.
But not today.
He’d been helping Katrina deal with the loss of her job and the heartache that had caused for too long to let her just brush him off when something better came along. He might not be dating material, but he was still her friend and she needed to accept it.
Simon hurried up the steps to the house and rapped his knuckles against the mahogany-stained wood. The sound echoed through the air, reverberating against the structures and trees in the vicinity. He turned away from the door to gaze out at the beauty of the Reese ranch. This place was the reason he wanted to stay in Rocky Ridge even when all of his family was gone.
This place made him realize he was home.
The door behind him swung open and he braced himself to let Katrina have it, but Jennifer’s voice caught him before he made a complete fool of himself.
“Simon? How are you doing?”
He faced her and offered her a surprised smile. “I was just coming by to see if Katrina was doing okay. She was planning on stopping by my farm today.”
