Page 35 of Faking It with my Billionaire Grump

“I know. And that’s why I’m trying to apologize. Things got out of hand. I never expected your antics to attract every farmer in the county. You’ve had a lot on your mind. I wanted to distract you, is all. Clearly, things went a bit too far.”

“A bit?” I counter, though listening to his perfectly understandable explanation has tamed my annoyance.

It’s just the sort of thing Jake would do. It’s the sort of thing he always did. Whenever I got stressed out, he would think of something to take my mind off it.

He flashes me a coy smile across the table.

I can’t help but smirk back at him.

“Well, you certainly succeeded,” I say. “I will admit, Bryan was the last thing on my mind as I ran after squealing piglets and fell in mud and pig poop.”

Jake breaks out into a chuckle then.

“But I’m giving you fair warning,” I continue, “I will get you back. I promise you that.”

And I will. When he’s least expecting it.

14

Jake

A few days later,Tilly arrives at the ranch in foul form.

After the disaster with the piglets, things have gotten back to normal, and we’re thankfully on better terms. In fact, I’m kind of enjoying having her around. It should be worrying, but I’m ignoring the alarm bell ringing in my mind.

“What’s going on?” I say when I see her face. She looks like thunder, and for a second, I wonder if it’s something I’ve done.

“He just won’t let up,” she snaps. Okay. I’m in the clear. “The calls and texts are relentless. Look.”

She pulls her phone from her back pocket, taps the screen a few times, and then turns the phone to face me. The screen is full of texts, one after the other. Then she starts scrolling, and my eyes widen at how many there are.

“Exactly,” she says. “No matter how much I ignore him, and I do, he just won’t give up. If the texts and phone calls aren’t bad enough, I arrived home last night to find the house covered inbouquets of flowers. Not one or two, Jake. There were ten. Ten bouquets of flowers,” she rants. “I mean, who does that?”

“He’s not letting you go without a fight, that’s for sure,” I say.

Unlike me, who probably didn’t try anywhere near as hard to make her stay all those years ago. It’s something I regretted back then, and in these recent weeks of her being back here, that regret has returned. Maybe I could have talked sense into her. Maybe I could have convinced her to stay. But I hadn’t tried hard enough.

This Bryan guy, as awful as he sounds, is putting my poor efforts to shame.

“You want to go for a drive?” I ask. “Maybe take your mind off things?”

She shakes her head. “No. I need to be doing something physical. At least for now.”

“Okay. Good. I need to go and check on the cattle. You good to ride?”

Tilly looks a little taken aback. “It’s been a while.”

I give her a smile. “You’ll be fine. It’s just like riding a bike. With legs.”

She grins then, and I feel pleased with myself that I’ve managed to cheer her up.

At the stables, I ready Clover. She’s a beautiful mare. She’s also calm and has a great temperament. If Tilly hasn’t been on a horse since she left, and that’s what she tells me, I need to break her back into it gently.

I take Finn, as usual, and we head over to the fields. It’s still pretty early, but even so, the day is going to get hot. With the sun still rising and the light mist emanating from the cold earth the scenery ahead of us looks pretty magical.

When I turn to look at Tilly, her face is a picture of awe, soaking it all in and clearly enjoying what she sees.

“This is amazing, Jake.”

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