Page 10 of Cowhand Crush

She made a valiant attempt to hide the guilt she must be feeling, but it seeped into her words anyway.

“You couldn’t have known who he was,” I replied.

“If you had warned us in the first place,” Dad said. “We would have made sure you never got that call.”

I tamped down my initial reaction to bristle. He had a point. I just hated to admit it. And it made me nervous to think about putting Birdie and Dad in the line of fire where Isaac was involved. I had hoped to leave this problem behind in California after graduating college. I hated the idea that it was spilling over into my personal life, tainting my family, especially when Birdie and Dad hadn’t even been married for a year yet.

Birdie moved to sit beside me on the couch and clasped my hand.

“Avery, are you okay? This sounds so stressful.”

“I’m fine,” I said, mustering a smile to put her at ease. “All things considered.”

I left out the part about how freaked I felt after seeing Isaac at the bakery. He was just…sitting there. So casually reading the paper and sipping his coffee. I don’t think he noticed me—I couldn’t be sure, since everything was a blur after that—but he was here. Miles and miles away from California. In Ash Ridge.

Since it was a small town, he would have no trouble tracking down where I lived. My father was practically a celebrity around here, with hundreds of acres to his name. All Isaac had to do was ask anyone on the street for directions right to my front door.

Fuck, this was a mess.

“We’ll take this to the police,” Dad said, pulling his phone from his pocket.

I shook my head.

“I already talked to them when I was in college. Didn’t do any good.”

“Well, this is Ash Ridge, not California. I can pull some strings. The local sheriff owes me a favor anyway. Every time you leave this house, I want Bowen with you. No negotiations. Is that clear?”

For a split second, I wanted to be selfish. I felt safe in Bowen’s presence, knowing he would do everything in his power to protect me. He’d been doing that for my entire life.

I remembered learning to ride as a little girl, with Bowen’s hand on my back, strong and steady to prevent me from slipping out of the saddle.

I remembered getting lost in the mountains when I was thirteen. My horse had been spooked by a rattlesnake in the underbrush, and took off, knocking me to the ground. Bowen found me, blue-lipped and shivering in the frigid November, on the verge of hypothermia. He bundled me into his coat and rubbed my arms in an effort to generate some heat on the ride back home.

I remembered my first broken heart at fifteen, hiding in the stall with my horse as I cried my eyes out. When Bowen knocked at the stall door, I furiously tried to swipe my tears away. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. I needed to have a backbone of steel like my dad did. Getting caught crying over a stupid boy was weak.

But Bowen simply sat beside me, wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.

Your secret is safe with me, he had whispered.

I brushed an invisible speck of dirt on my jeans now. As tempting as it was to think of Bowen acting like my watchdog 24/7, that wasn’t his job.

“Dad,” I said. “Bowen is your foreman. Not my bodyguard. Or my babysitter.”

“It’s not babysitting. You’re a grown woman. And since you’re part of this ranch, it fits Bowen’s job description to keep an eye on you.”

Birdie patted my hand.

“It’s just a precaution, Avery. If nothing happens, then there’s no harm done. Better to play it safe than sorry. Besides, it gives us peace of mind, knowing that you’re safe.”

“Exactly,” Dad said. “I’ll get the sheriff down here and you can tell him everything.”

I sighed, admitting defeat. A small voice in the back of my head chastised me for overreacting. Isaac never laid a finger on me. Maybe he didn’t mean any harm.

When I rose from the couch to leave, Dad covered the phone with a sharp glance in my direction.

“Where are you going?”

Oh, boy. If this was any indication of what my life would be like now, I would go stir-crazy in a heartbeat. I was supposed to be gaining more freedom at twenty-five years old. Instead, my father looked like he was ready to put me under house arrest. I knew he was worried, and I loved him for taking care of me, but he had to find a balance before he smothered me.

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