Page 75 of Savage Secrets

He shrugged. “I’ve spoken to men we were looking to hire on the Gracey, but Sean had the final word.”

Her lips quirked up in a smile. “You’re on a first-name basis now?”

The corner of his own hitched upward. “I guess we are.”

The previous night after their slow, thorough lovemaking—that she still felt—Zach told her about Mr. Gracey setting up a trust and transferring the land to it. For him. Zach was adamant about paying for it. After all, he knew the troubles on the ranch stemmed from finances, and he refused to be another drain.

She reached up to stroke his angled jaw. The rough rasp of his unshaven face left tingles low in her belly, small sparks that could easily be kindled with a single look, a touch, a word.

He returned to business instead of following the path of seduction.

“Hiring help isn’t easy, and the last few months have made me wary of who I can trust. But if we’re going to grow the ranch, we need help we can count on.”

At that moment, the crunching of tires on the gravel driveway set him into action. He leaned in, pressing a kiss to her lips, before striding out of the barn to greet the first candidate.

Leaving him to it, Opal went back inside. Rainie was still fast asleep. After the excitement of the previous day, she’d stayed up too late. It didn’t help that Opal gave her a sugary drink before bedtime to boost her energy.

She stood at her daughter’s bedroom door, listening for sounds of stirring through the crack. Then she tiptoed back to the kitchen for that coffee.

Carrying it to the front porch, she took up her father’s favorite chair. Sipping her coffee, she surveyed the ranch. Tears blurred her vision as she saw what her dad had seen all these years. The beauty. The potential. The hope for a prosperous new year. And peace.

She had enjoyed her time as a forest ranger…but if she and Rainie could live off the land, she wanted to make the Springvale her life, the same way her father had.

Another man arrived while she was indoors. Zach was speaking to both of them. They nodded respectfully at what he was saying.

There was a confidence in her man that she hadn’t seen before. He’d always been strong and in charge, but life had beaten him down to the point where he almost didn’t believe that he had any authority, even over himself.

Seeing it now stirred something deep inside her. Trust had been scarce for him, especially after the things he’d faced on the Gracey. It was high time that he started putting his trust in something again.

While Opal enjoyed her coffee, Zach showed them the barn and then took them on a tour of the property. She imagined him sharing information about the ranch, including all the plans that he and Opal had discussed many, many nights right here on this very front porch.

With a start, she realized that he was giving these men who had struggles and pasts of their own an opportunity to see a new way of life. He offered the space to men who needed the same second chance he’d been given years ago on the Gracey Ranch.

Opal couldn’t help but marvel at Zach. His sheer strength of will was the most solid, beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

As he led them back to the paddock, she recalled all he’d shared with her about the men he had in mind to work on the ranch. The two men, Nate and Travis, were familiar faces from town. She’d seen them working at the local gas station and the lumber mill respectively. They’d both seen their share of trouble, created by themselves, and then what life tossed at them too.

They weren’t perfect, but neither was Zach. Neither was she. On the Springvale, they weren’t looking for perfect, and that was the beauty of it.

By the end of the tour, Zach shook hands with the men. She wished she could see all the little hints of feeling behind his expression, but she could tell he was satisfied. She felt a swell of pride as she watched him make the commitment to hire Nate and Travis. He’d been given the chance to make something of himself. Now he was offering that to others.

It was a full-circle moment that filled her with emotion. This was more than hiring ranch hands or giving deserving men a new lease on life.

This was her and Zach building their future—together.

* * * * *

Zach cut the truck engine. Silence filled the cab, and he drank it in. Beside him, Opal sat just as quietly in her seat as if soaking in the peaceful moment too.

“Hear that?” she asked after a minute passed.

He looked at her. “What’s that?”

“Nothing. It’s totally quiet.”

Studying her eyes, he tried to gauge if that was a good or bad thing. “Do you regret leaving Rainie at Kirsten’s? We can go get her right now.”

“I was a little hesitant to leave her with Kirsten at first, but then I realized she’s safe.”

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