Page 51 of Last Chance for Her Rancher Boss

Opal was being a major pain and taking immense pleasure in it. The yearling hadn’t even reached her full height yet and she was already causing mischief: stealing hoses, jumping fences and ignoring every command thrown her way. Today, the chaos she decided to sow involved taking every bucket she could find and throwing them about the yard. She had also attempted to knock over the water trough, which had been cemented into the ground for this exact reason.

“Were you a rodeo clown in a past life or something?” Meg asked the horse, attaching a lead to her halter and moving her to a safer pasture that was free of buckets. “Like seriously? For someone a year old, you have a serious propensity for mischief.”

Opal just whinnied, delighted at all of the attention she was getting because of her exploits. Meg couldn’t even be angry at her. She’d somehow ended up being Meg’s horse, the same way that Tilly would only ever listen to Nash. And as naughty as she was, she was also one of the smartest animals Meg had ever encountered. Which was going to become a serious problem,because it was only a matter of time before she figured out how to work the latches on all the pens.

“Go on,” she said, letting Opal loose in the corral so she could blow off some steam without damaging any more property. Not to mention the adult horses needed a break from her insanity for a couple of hours. Meg sat on top of the fence, watching Opal trot around gleefully, squealing and snorting at the top of her lungs. Beyond the corral the sun was starting to dip into mid-afternoon, lighting up the pastures in a gentle, golden glow.

When she had first set foot on the ranch, a little over a year ago, Meg’s first thought had been that it looked like a storybook illustration. It still did. In fact, it was probably even more true than it had been before. With the money they made from the Hillside Rentals, there were funds and time available to fix up the whole ranch. The main house was looking just as fresh as the buildings on the hill, and the horse yards had new fencing. That was mostly because Opal was feral and they needed to keep her contained, but it still looked nice.

The remaining cattle were mostly here to keep the grass down and because Nash just couldn’t bear to part with them if he didn’t have to. In a few years the herd might multiply back to the numbers it had once been, but for now they were just some very spoiled cows, eating grass to their hearts’ content. Plus the guests from the city justlovedtaking pictures of them, especially when there were any calves bouncing around.

“Hey,” came a grunt from behind Meg. She turned to find Nash wandering over to her, looking tired, which was pretty normal. But he didn’t look stressed these days. In fact, she’d never really seen him so happy.

“What did she destroy this time?” he asked, jutting his chin at Opal.

“Threw a bunch of buckets around. Attacked the water trough. Nothing too terrible.”

Nash rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she’s an angel.”

Opal whinnied louder as if she knew she was being talked about.

“Are you busy?” Nash asked.

“When?”

“Now.”

“Nope. The only thing on my agenda was to deal with this delinquent.”

“That’s a job that never ends. Come on, then, before she destroys something else.”

He gave Meg a tap on her thigh, always finding an excuse to touch her as much as he could and walked off in the direction of the house. Meg swung off the fence and followed.

“Why? What’s up?” she called after him. All manner of things sprung up on the ranch that needed their attention. She’d stopped trying to predict what her day might hold a long time ago.

“Jump in the truck. I’ll show you.”

“Okaaay. Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Is pestering you with more questions going to work?”

“Nope.”

Meg sighed. “Fine. Just let me wash my hands. The delinquent slobbered all over them.”

Getting pulled away to do something last minute with Nash was nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, she did the same to him on a regular basis. But having the reason be a surprise was new… Life on the ranch wasbusy, and the only way they got to spend any real time together was to see an opportunity and take it with both hands. Though getting in the truck and actually goingsomewhere was new. But asking questions wasn’t going to reveal anything, was it? Meg was just going to have to be patient and wait to see what scheme Nash was cooking up.

“Busy” was an understatement really, considering how wildly successful the Hillside Rentals had become. Within a month of starting up, they were pretty solidly booked out. Apparently they were filling a niche that they didn’t know existed. Being on a hill was the main attraction instead of a deterrent… people loved a good view.

Nash had seized the beginnings of success and refused to let go, riding the momentum and adding new features to keep the place fresh and exciting. Meg’s idea of hiring out the barn as a wedding venue had been a hit, with the wedding parties staying in the surrounding buildings for convenience. Tours of the property soon became an option as well, with Nash as a guide explaining about the small herd they still had and the crazy uncle that had moved from the hill to flat land. It had become a more and more elaborate legend over time, but that was half the fun. Once Nash had the idea to throw in horse riding lessons as an add-on option, bookings had doubled, leading to a lengthy waitlist. Only the geldings were available for actual riding, but Tilly was at least content to be groomed by strangers if she deemed themworthy — or if they fed her snacks first. People were allowed to approach Opal at their own risk. She was going to make the perfect rodeo horse one day and a complete menace to society.

Running the rentals, the tours and the lessons kept Nash busy from dawn till dusk, and he’d never been happier. These days he walked with his head high and his shoulders back, ready to take on the world. It made Meg smile just to see how light his steps were these days. He’d finally found a purpose, and his purpose was thriving. There was no stopping him now.

Meg, meanwhile, was kept busy with her own work. When she’d promised Nash to stick around, to run this place together, she had assumed she would just be running the rentals with him and tending to their own animals on the ranch. But word of mouth soon got around that there was a new livestock vet in the area, and she wasgood. One call out to a neighboring farm turned into another, and before Meg knew it, she was fully booked with appointments. She was asked to look at everything from horse dentistry to cattle vaccinations, stray kittens and elderly donkeys with arthritis. That was probably her favorite patient.

Somehow, completely by accident, she’d fallen into the image of a large animal vet that had once seemed like a fairytale. The image she’d had for her life at the start of college had now become a reality, driving around country roads and seeing to all sorts of animals from dawn until dusk. The lingering fear that she would have to return to an industrial lot took time to disappear, but disappear it did. So Nash wasn’t the only one with lighter steps these days.

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