Page 113 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

She tightened her arms around him. “And I appreciate you looking out for me.”

She loved the way his eyes seemed to twinkle as he looked down at her. “Just don’t take on too much, okay?”

She nodded happily. She wasn’t doing anywhere near as much as she used to do at the lake.

“It won’t be every day,” said Wade. “I’ll talk to Sierra and let you know.”

“Okay. I’ll look forward to it.”

Ty kissed the top of her head. “I’d better get back to the grill. You okay?”

“I’m good.”

Callie sighed beside her as they watched him go. “Girl, we got so damn lucky. Not only did we get ourselves two hot men, but we also landed ourselves in the middle of this family. I used to dream of having a family like this when I was a kid.”

Shayna nodded. “Yeah, I did, too.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

By the time Friday rolled around again the following week, Ty was looking forward to going home and spending the evening chilling with Shay. There’d been a large group staying at the lodge, and things had been crazy. Shay had a big assignment that she’d been working on in the evenings and she’d picked Mateo and Maya up from school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. He loved that she’d slotted right into life on the ranch. He felt as though she’d always been around. It was hard to believe that they’d only known each other for such a short time.

He ran into Wade on his way out to his truck, and his brother smiled. “Are you headed to the bakery?”

“Nah. I’m going straight home. I want a bit of time with Shay to myself – she needs to study later.”

Wade frowned. “Are we putting too much on her?”

He let out a short laugh. “Maybe, but I’m not blaming you. She’d only find something else to do if she wasn’t doing something for you.”

“Okay, but just say so if you want me to back things down a bit.”

Ty held his hands up. “It’s not my call to make. If it were up to me, she wouldn’t do anything other than her schoolwork.”

Wade nodded slowly. “And she’d be able to get through more of that faster if she wasn’t working so much.”

“Yeah. I hadn’t thought of that.” He smiled. “Thanks, bro. You might just have given me an angle I can work. She’s so usedto thinking that it’s going to take her years before she’s done studying that I bet she hasn’t even considered that she could get there faster now.”

Wade grinned. “You should talk to her about it. I love having her around here, but I’d rather she was working toward what she really wants to do. And that reminds me – did Libby get ahold of you yet?”

“No. Why?”

“Just talking about what Shayna really wants to do reminded me – she wants to work with vets, when she’s qualified, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you know Libb’s running that equine therapy program? When the guys were talking about Shay, Libb said that she’d give you guys a call – there might be a good fit there.”

“There might. I’ll tell her. We could give Libb a call tonight. I don’t like the idea of her taking on even more – or of her driving down there to Mav’s place, but I know she’d love to help. All the other jobs that she does are just about surviving – making ends meet. I know she’d love to be able to do something in the line of work she’s aiming for.”

Wade gave him a puzzled look.

“What?”

“Making ends meet?”

Ty shrugged. “That’s how it was for her in Summer Lake – and it’s just what she’s used to. Like I said, if it were up to me, she wouldn’t work at all – she could just focus on her schoolwork.”

“Does she know that?”

---