Page 60 of On the Wild Side

As usual, Abbi and I make our plates, adding one for Daisy, and then we sit at the table to eat together.

“So, what’s happening at the ranch with spring here? Sort of.” Abbi takes a bite of bread and sighs in happiness. God, I love watching this woman eat.

Or do anything at all.

“We have a lot of cleanup,” I reply. “Fences need mending. We’ll move the herd a little further out so they have fresh grass and more room to spread out. Next week will be interesting, though.”

“Why’s that?” she asks.

“We have camera crews from Rancher Jeans coming to film me while I work for a commercial and some online ads. I told them I was needed here, so they’re coming to me.”

“Wow.” Abbi blinks in surprise and then smiles at Daisy. “Hear that? Brady’s going to be on TV.”

I don’t bother to tell them that I’ve been on TV plenty, but it’s usually when I’m riding a bull or being interviewed.

Daisy’s eyes widen, and then she dances in her seat. “You’re gonna be famous, Brady.”

“If you say so, Princess.” I wink at her and then smile over at Abbi. “You guys are welcome to come out to see what it’s all about if you want to.”

“I do believe we want to,” Abbi confirms. “Just let me know which day, and I’ll get it covered at work. I just hired four new people, so it won’t be an issue.”

“But I have to go to school,” Daisy reminds us with a frown. “Will you still be taking pictures when I’m done?”

“I’m sure we will. It sounds like it’ll be an all-day thing.” I’m already exhausted just thinking about it.

“Thenyes, I want to go, too,” Daisy says, doing another dance.

“Now, tell me about what’s happening withyou,” I say to Abbi. “You hired new people?”

“Yes, and I have interviews for three more tomorrow.” She smiles at me, her blue eyes lighting up. “The business is growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to tourist season ramping up for the summer and all the lovely people coming to visit our littletown. Plus, more locals are hiring us, too, and thatreallymakes me happy. Before long, I’ll have to move to a bigger office space so I can buy more washers and dryers for linens, but I’m not complaining.”

“Your mom is a powerhouse,” I inform Daisy.

“I know,” she says and swirls her fork in her pasta.

“This also means that I can help out at Daisy’s school more often and really cut back to part time for a while, which has been my goal since she was little.”

I wish I’d known her then. I would have made sure that she could be a stay-at-home mom, if that’s what she wanted to do. I would have made sure that they both were taken care of.

Not that she needed me. Obviously, she didn’t. She doesn’t need anyone.

“Okay,” Abbi says when we’ve finished dinner. “Let’s have some popcorn and watch our movie.”

“Can I have M&Ms?” Daisy asks.

“I got you some,” Abbi assures her daughter, and as we settle in front of the TV, with the lights low and me in the middle of these two girls, there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be.

“No,”I reply, irritation humming through every pore of me. “I can’t do it again. I’m not making a movie here. I’mworking.”

The guy in the designer suit with the expensive shoes he’s already ruined sighs. “Can’t you justtryto lead the horse around again so we can get another shot of it?”

“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter and grab Blackjack’s bridle. “I’ll lead him aroundone time.And then I have to ride out to mend a fence.”

“Oh, good, we get to catch him riding,” he says, turning to his crew.

Why he thought he’d be comfortable in that getup on a working cattle ranch, I’ll never know.

“You could walk Blackjack around this ring all day and he wouldn’t care,” Dad reminds me as he falls into step next to me.

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