Page 10 of Devoted Enough

I nodded once again. Before we pulled down the drive that would lead to my parents’ part of the ranch, Lily called.

“Hey, sorry for the delay. We’re good here. Haven was able to get Lady into her stall.”

My heart dropped. “Haven? She’s there?”

“Yeah, she was here before the storm moved in and offered to help us. It’s crazy cause once Lady knew Haven was here, she wouldn’t have anything to do with me or Maverick.”

I smiled. “Sounds about right. So, you guys are all good? You don’t need me and Josh to help with anything, right?”

“We’re good. I’m trying to convince Haven to stay until the storm clears up some, but she’s insisting she needs to head on out.”

I frowned. “Sounds like her. Stubborn as a mule.”

Josh laughed, clearly knowing I was talking about Haven.

“We’re heading back to the main barn to ensure everything is battened down. If you need anything, give me a call.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Nate. I love you.”

“Love you too, sis.”

I hit End and looked out the passenger window. I couldn’t see shit with the rain coming down in sheets, but my mind was swirling with thoughts of Haven. What in the hell was she thinking being out in this storm? They said it was going to be bad, with even some flooding expected with how fast it was coming down.

“What are you huffing about over there?” Josh asked as he pulled up to the main barn and parked next to our cousin Hunter’s truck.

Hunter and Blayze were brothers, and Uncle Brock’s only two sons. Their sister, Morgan, didn’t live on the ranch and instead lived with her husband, Ryan, on their ranch where they raised and trained horses. To say the entire family ran the ranch was an understatement. All the grandkids lived on the ranch except for Morgan and Rose. Josh and I technically didn’t live on the ranch, but we purchased land that butted up to the ranch when we received our trust fund from our grandparents. Every acre was then incorporated into the original ranch. Just like everyone else, Josh and I had our allotted acres of the ranch.

“I’m not huffing.”

Josh laughed. “Dude, you were sighing big time.”

A loud crack of thunder hit, and we jumped.

“Shit,” we both said at the same time.

“Let’s make a run for it!” Josh said before he opened the truck door and stepped into the storm. I couldn’t even see him running because the rain was falling so hard.

So I did what any self-respecting male would do, I drew in a deep breath and ran for cover.

Once it was clear the storm was not letting up, I decided to head home. Blayze assured me that I wasn’t needed, and after spending much of yesterday in the saddle of my horse checking the fence line and hauling hay up to the loft, I was ready for a hot bath. My body ached. There were ranch hands who were responsible for the hay hauling, but I volunteered to help out. It was a good workout and kept me in shape, and I never minded a hard day’s work.

The road to my property was already flooding, so I left by the main gate. When I went to turn left onto the road, I noticed a car pulled over and someone bending down to look at their tire. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. I turned to the right andpulled up behind them. Grabbing an umbrella—not that it would do much good—I jumped out of my truck. I knew who it was the second they stood and turned to me.

“Haven.”

Rushing over to her, I held the umbrella above her. Not that I’d somehow make her drier, I mean, she was soaked.

“What’s wrong?” I called out over the rain and wind. It was so windy Haven had to grab onto the car to keep from being blown around.

“My tire is flat, and when I checked the spare, it was flat too.”

Frowning, I looked at the car and back to her. “We have to stop meeting this way!”

Haven rolled her eyes. The day before Halloween, I found her on the side of the road with a flat tire. I had offered to help her then, albeit with a lot less rain pouring down, and we ended up arguing. I walked away with a black eye from her elbow. She hadn’t done it on purpose, or so she said, but I’m still questioning that.

“Why are you standing out here in the rain?” I shouted.

“I was trying to decide after I looked at the flat if returning to Lily’s was worth the risk.”

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