Page 18 of The Cowboy’s Intriguing Love

Thank you! I just arrived at Violets. I’ll let you know what they say about you. Lol, unless it’s something horrible! I don’t think it will be though. I probably shouldn’t admit that I’m excited to talk to your friends, should I? Then again, I probably gave it away already by answering you before I even get into work. Oh well, sticking with being honest – I love chatting with you so far.

Chapter Five

Hey Shay.

I love chatting with you so far, too. What do you think, do you want to talk on the phone? I think we know enough about each other now that we’re safe to move off this site – but if you’re not comfortable with that, no worries. We can stay on here till you’re ready.

Lol, I’m assuming that Xander didn’t tell you some horror stories about me. If he did, none of it’s true, he’s just messing with me, and I’ll kill him! Or no, forget I said that – considering that you’ve only just moved me out of the possible axe-murderer category, I shouldn’t even joke about it.

Anyway, I hope you had a good chat with Xander and Tori, and I hope you had a good afternoon with your family. What did you do? What do your Sunday afternoons with them look like?

It was a run of the mill Sunday around here. It’s finally warm enough to enjoy eating outside so I smoked us a prime rib and did all the trimmings and we sat out back. The brothers all help with Sunday lunch, I enjoy it. And saying that we sat out back, I should send you some photos of what it’s like here. It’s beautiful – if you like mountains. Do you? What’s it like where you live? I know from the name that it’s a lake but no clue what it’s like. I was stationed in Coronado, we used to go up to Big Bear sometimes – is it that kind of scenery? Maybe you can send me some photos of the place, too?

Today was fun because everyone except Cash was here. He doesn’t live in the valley. He runs a private security firm andonly comes to visit every so often. When I say everyone else, I mean:

Ford is the eldest of us who live here, I already told you that he manages the herd. He’s single and lives in the big house with me and Tanner. He’s a good guy, he keeps to himself more than the rest of us, he’s more the broody kind, but he has a big heart – he just doesn’t like to show it.

Wade came with his fiancée, Sierra. I told you that they adopted little Mateo and Maya. The kids came from a bad situation. Both their parents were killed. They were rescued by a SEAL team – Sierra’s brother was a SEAL, and his best friend and teammate, Dax, brought the kids up here to her. She’s a sweetie, she’s kind of quiet and seems like a bit of a pushover at first, but she’s got a backbone of steel. You wouldn’t believe it because she’s real down to earth, but she’s a super-wealthy heiress.

Tanner’s the one who runs the stud. Not sure I should tell you too much about him since most women seem to think he is a stud! He’s definitely the best-looking one in the family. If you fall for him instead of me, I’ll understand it. I might not get over it, but I’ll understand. When we were kids, Kolby and I did our best to never bring girls around when Tanner was here because they all fell for him instead of us. But since everyone in the valley knows everyone else, there was always the possibility that girls only showed interest in us to get closer to him. He’s still single and more than ready to mingle – with as many women as possible as often as possible.

I don’t think I’ve told you much about my sisters. Laney and Janey are awesome. They’re twins but they couldn’t be more different. Janey’s a veterinarian, she’s more of a homebody and maybe you’d say she’s an introvert. She has a huge heart. Ourdad used to call her plain Jane, and she believed him for the longest time. She’s married now to a great guy named Rocket. She didn’t date much before she met him – she didn’t think much of herself. But Rocket fell for her in a big way, and he’s worked wonders in helping her see her own worth. I was wary of him at first – I’m kind of protective of the women in my life. But I’m happy to admit that I was wrong about him, and now I’m glad to have him as a brother.

Laney is cowgirl to the core. People describe her as a hot blonde – but as her brother that just makes me shudder. She’s awesome. She’s headstrong and stubborn. She could probably out cowboy every single one of us if she chose. She moved away when she was eighteen and trained racehorses in Kentucky for years. She’s not been home all that long, and when she came home, she got together with Luke. He’s Tanner’s best friend, and we’ve always thought of him as just another brother. It was kind of a shock when he and Laney told us that they were together – and even more of a shock when it turned out that they were back together. They’d had a thing for each other since we were all kids. I was kind of mad at him at first for keeping secrets from us all but I shouldn’t have been. They’re great together.

Then there’s Frankie and her fiancé, Spider. Frankie’s our cousin – she’s another feisty cowgirl – love her to bits. Spider is Rocket’s best friend. He owns the local bakery. It’s more than just a bakery, it’s a coffee shop as well. Spider and Rocket moved here from California. Spider came to visit some friends and met Frankie and never went home. So … shit we haven’t even seen each other’s photo yet, I shouldn’t say it, should I?

I’m going to say it, though. I’m loving chatting with you so far. I’m excited to see what might happen, and it was onlytalking about Spider that it hit me – he moved here for Frankie, so … it happens.

Anyway. This got long again. I think I might have talked about the family too much. But let me know what you think – if you want to exchange numbers and actually talk on the phone. If you even have the time to do that. I’m only an hour ahead of you if you do. Tell you what, I’ll give you my number. Not expecting you to call me – you can send me yours if you like and I’ll call you. Just letting you know that I’m comfortable sharing with you.

It's 406-555-0122

And if you want to switch to just regular email, my address is Ty@ MacFarlandRanch.com

No worries if you don’t want to give me yours yet.

What you up to tomorrow? Which of your many jobs are you off to?

I’d better stop now, or you’ll have to stay up past your bedtime just to finish reading.

I said I’d send some pics, but I can’t make them load on this site. I’ll send them when we start emailing – if you want to.

G’nite, Shay.

~ ~ ~

From: Shayna Rose:ShayMRose1@ gmail.com

To: Tyler MacFarland:Ty@ MacFarlandRanch.com

Hi Ty.

Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night. I wanted to but when I came back up to my apartment – I’ll explain how that works in a minute – I had to finish submitting my assignment and the portal was being stupid. It took me ages, and the deadline was midnight. I made it, but only just. I read your message but had so much to say that I didn’t dare start – I had to get some sleep.

I’ve been to the barn this morning and I’m home again now, getting ready to go to the grocery store for my shift there. I’m glad you had a good time with your family – they sound awesome. And yes please – I’d love to see some photos of where you live. I’ll attach some of Summer Lake to this email. As you probably noticed, I have no problem getting off that dating site. Happy to email you properly instead. And I’d love to talk on the phone. My only issue will be finding the time.

Actually – being honest again. Monday nights, I don’t usually work at any of my jobs. I’m home but I have to do my schoolwork. And today’s Monday – so I don’t want to seem too eager – lol, I might have blown that already. After tonight, the week gets busy. Tomorrow night I’m at the gym – not to teach but for a self-defense class that Alexis teaches. Booker, my kind-of little brother, said I should have told you from the start that I know self-defense!

---