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“What kind of help?”
“I don’t know.” He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “I don’t suppose one of your brothers would be willing to help me get started. What do you think? Could I ask them?”
She cocked her head to the side and smiled broadly at him. “Of course my brothers would help. This is just the sort of thing they’d love to do.”
“But I haven’t been that close to them over the years. Our friendship was mostly just the two of us.”
Her hand sliced through the air indifferently. “Bo is running the place more these days. Jack and Andrew just do what he tells them to do. And Daniel has tried to step up more. If I had to guess, I’d say Daniel would be the one you ask first. Maybe he’d even be willing to do a partnership of some kind.”
“You really think so?”
“Sure. I’ll even ask him with you.” She made another excited noise. “I still can’t believe it. Your dream is finally coming true.” Then her features faltered.
Simon knew that look. She was thinking about her own shattered dreams. That look alone was proof she had no intentions of staying in Rocky Ridge as long as she had something to say about it. He’d just have to take advantage of every spare second he got with her.
CHAPTERTHREE
Well,her life had just gotten worse.
Okay, that was harsh. Maybe a little on the dramatic side.
Katrina really was thrilled about Simon finding his happiness. She would never wish that this hadn’t happened to him. He deserved it.
But there was a part of her that wished she had something, too.
Brianne and Simon were so happy. Their lives were coming together in a way that she could only dream would happen for herself. Brianne might not be dating anyone or have a huge career, but she was honest-to-goodness happy. And now Simon had a farm to run.
Where did that leave Katrina?
Feeling guilty because she was so dang jealous over what she didn’t have. Why couldn’t she find meaning in life without the career she wanted so badly? Why couldn’t she just accept that her life was always meant to end up at Rocky Ridge and she might as well give up on her dreams?
She sighed as she entered her bedroom, closing the door and leaning against it. Slowly, she dragged her body down it until she sat on the floor.
Everyone around her was right. She couldn’t just stay locked in her room doing nothing. She had to get out there again and make something of herself. Submitting application after application was giving her zero results.
Katrina dug her fingers into her hair and closed her eyes tight. Her family wasn’t as supportive as Simon had been. The way they looked at her with such disappointment only made matters worse.
Of course, it wasn’t the same kind of disappointment as what she was experiencing. It was disappointment over the fact that she simply didn’t feel like she belonged here.
Perhaps she needed to do something different—away from her family.
Maybe Simon would be willing to have her hang out at his farm while he got it ready for another season.
For the first time in weeks, Katrina felt a glimmer of hope. This wasn’t the kind of hope that came with looking forward to a job offer. It was the kind that made her feel like everything would work out—eventually.
If she could get out from under the watchful gaze of her family and the pushiness of Brianne, then maybe she could find that light they were all telling her she needed to get back.
* * *
“If you’re goingto be here, you might as well grab a shovel and help me muck these stalls.” Simon held out the offensive object toward her and Katrina smirked.
“You realize that my hiding out here was meant to be an escape from the work my brothers were trying to make me do.”
It had been a whole month since he’d found out about the farm, and he’d finally gotten all the paperwork in order.
Simon gestured with the shovel again, drawing her attention to it.
“You have to be kidding.”
