Page 75 of Second Chance with the Rancher

“Don’t think I’m not going to sue the fucking pants off both of you,” he said between coughing fits. “I fought hard for this country so we could have the freedom to smoke where we want and when we want. So you silver-spooned little pussies could have a life like this.”

Asher reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out his dog tags, shaking them toward the man. “We fought, too, you fuckwad. Every single man who works here did. So shut your fucking face and get the fuck off my property.”

“Gonna sue the pants off this place,” the man murmured, struggling to get up in between more coughing fits.

Mieka marched forward, plopped her hands on her hips and tipped her chin up. “Just try, buddy. The non-smoking signs are everywhere. As are cameras. And there are enough witnesses here, with their phones out that you won’t have a leg to fucking stand on in court. You put every person here, including your family, and every animal in danger with your recklessness.”

“What are you, their lawyer?” the man on the ground asked with a snarl.

“Not their lawyer, but I am a lawyer, and I’ll happily represent them for free if necessary.” She glanced back at Triss, Asher and Nate and smiled. “Family discount and all that.”

What the hell was she going on about? She wasn’t a lawyer.

And was it illegal to impersonate one like it was a police officer?

The thought of losing the ranch because this fucker decided to sue them sent Nate’s head spinning, but the fact that for the second time in less than five minutes, Mieka was saving them, had the spots from Nate’s vision disappearing.

Nobody helped the smoking guy up, but Asher did walk over, pulled the cigarette with a long stalk of ash from his yellow fingers and crushed it beneath his boot. Then he dug a small hole and buried it so none of the animals accidentally ate it.

Normally, it was Asher with the hot temper, but the fire combined with nearly losing Bruno, and Mieka running into the shack for him, it was all just too much and Nate had lost his cool.

It was nice to see Asher take the hot-head-helm again and grab the old guy by the collar and escort him—and his family, yeah, he was there with his grandchildren and wife—to their vehicle. Then he followed them down the laneway in his truck to make sure they were good and gone, while Nate sat on the front steps of the house stewing in his own mental anguish.

Mieka was with Triss and the two of them were helping calm down guests and let them know they could return to the petting pens. They also started to lead the animals back into the pens and barns along with the ranch hands. The entire time Bruno was right on Mieka’s heels. He was her furry shadow, never letting her out of his sight, let alone more than two feet away. If she stood still for too long, Bruno sat right on her feet. She took it all in stride, laughing at the goofy dog now made of super glue, and smiling at guests.

Her warm, inviting demeanor put everyone at ease and soon things were back to normal, as if nothing had caught fire and Nate hadn’t nearly put his fist through a man’s face.

Still sitting on the porch, Nate watched his brother lumber toward him, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, eyes scanning the property as cars full of families came and went. Asher sat down next to Nate. “That was something,” he finally said, after a long tense minute of silence.

“Yeah,” Nate exhaled. “It was.”

Every year since they’d opened the ranch, they added something new to the property or business. Something else to make them money. Last summer it had been Triss’s clinic, this summer it was the cabins. Next summer, who knows? But with those additional income streams came more stress, and more responsibility. They had to hire more people, get more insurance and as successful as the place was, the responsibility of it all could, at times, be crushing.

Asher had a soft place to land at the end of each day—Triss. Nate had nobody. Nate had no one to bury himself in or a caring and patient shoulder to lay his head on and forget the stress and responsibility of this demanding job. At least not a permanent place. Mieka was here—for now. But as much fun as they were having and as much as he thought she was perfect for this life, he wasn’t so sure he’d done enough to convince her of that.

“So you love her?” Asher said, breaking through Nate’s plaguing thoughts as he stared blankly at a leaf on the gravel.

Nate’s shoulders slumped and finally, he nodded. “I think so.”

Asher blew out a breath. “That’s a lot.”

“It is.”

“Does she know?”

“I think so, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough to keep her here.”

They weren’t looking at each other, but Nate could see out of the corner of his eye that Asher was shaking his head. “Bro, that’s tough. I don’t know Mieka that well, but I know the woman needs to be busy. At least that’s what Triss says about her sister.”

“She does, yeah.”

“And the ranch is always busy.”

“It is.”

Asher blew out another slow breath, then rested his hand on Nate’s shoulder. “And here I was worried that you’d break her heart.”

Nate hung his head. “I know, right?”

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