Page 24 of The Cowboy Fix

It was just her and her mom. He could understand her concern.

“You sure you’re okay.” Whatever her mom said eased the tension from her shoulders as she leaned against the barn door. “The ranch is lovely.”

He should at least pretend he was a gentleman and give her a little privacy.

Nathan led Bella and Grace to the pasture to join Rosie. Duke was in his own sectioned-off area. By the time his mom had passed, he’d disconnected from his brothers. Not consciously, maybe, but he didn’t tear down the wall once it was erected, either.

There was nothing he could do about losing his parents so young. Life happened.

Yesterday, when he shared his mother’s special place with a red-headed woman who was more determined than he was when it came to not taking no for an answer, somehow something changed. Her idea to set up the shed for weddings was a project his mother would have approved of. He wouldn’t fight Izzy on making the idea a reality, whether it brought in a small income for the ranch or not.

Nathan quickly finished grooming Angel and led her to the pasture with the others. When he came back and started cleaning out the stalls, Izzy was still talking to her mom.

“Mom, I have to get back to work... yes, okay... yes.” Izzy’s voice came closer. She stepped into the stall. “I’ll call you later and let you know.”

Before he could ask her how her mom was doing, Izzy said, “I’ll get started on the next stall.”

As she headed to the tack room, Nathan leaned sideways and watched as she walked away. What was it about the woman that was so dang... intriguing... and surprising... and different from Malorie—whom he’d had a short-lived, intense crush on while she was his nurse?

When she came back carrying a hay fork, he got back to work. Izzy stopped at the stall and said unnecessarily, “That was my mom.”

“I figured,” he said. Wanting her to tell him more, Nathan stopped scooping used chips and straw into the wheelbarrow.

“She wants to come visit while I’m here.”

Surely she knew her mom was welcome. “Did you tell her we’d be glad to have her come stay?”

“I wanted to make sure it was okay first,” she said softly then stood up straight. “I’m here to work and my mom can be a distraction.

“Of course, she can come. Moms are—” For the first time, he looked forward to meeting someone new. Someone vital to Izzy.

“Special and important,” she finished for him, then went into the next stall.

When they had everything ready for the horses’ return, she came with him to take a look at his small herd. He studied the horses, determined to ignore how well Izzy fit into the ranch with her cowgirl boots and cap, her grand ideas, and how easy it was to be with her as they watched Bella amble over.

The sun was warm and bright. If the stretch of white coloring across the horses’ back haunches was an indication, they might have all been Rangerbreds. But untangling that knot would be up to Jonas. That was his area of expertise. Or it used to be back in the day, anyway.

Izzy rested her chin on her hands on the top rail. “Can I ask you something?”

“Maybe,” he said lazily. He was feeling mellow, not a normal thing for Nathan. But standing in the sunshine with a pretty lady at his side? He might even give her a straight answer.

She turned to face him. “Do you like doing veterinary work with the horses, or training riders and horses better?”

Honestly? It was time to move on from his long-ago loss, including his dreams of becoming a vet, and make something better of his life. It was what his parents would have expected and what he suddenly wanted. Very much.

He remembered how much he’d thought about following in his dad’s footsteps when he was younger as he trailed Adam around the ranch learning everything he could about ranching and taking care of the stock. That was a boy’s dream—not his, not anymore.

He scratched Bella’s neck. “Becoming a vet didn’t seem as important after Dad passed.” And like he’d told her, his only dream now was to save the ranch.

“I get that.” Her astute gaze never left his face. “So, we’re still on for barrel-racing lessons?”

He shifted uncomfortably. Izzy Payton saw too much. “If you still want them.” And before she could ask because he knew she would, he said, “We’ll start Thursday.” After she presented her ideas for the ranch.

She was something else. Her ingrained understanding had him revealing things he didn’t tell anyone, not even his brothers. On the outside, she looked like a beautiful wildflower he could find anywhere on the ranch. Inside, her insight was dangerous to his equilibrium. She didn’t have to tell him to stop clinging to the past. He’d finally figured that out for himself. Keeping up with the wily woman was going to be like participating in a tough Olympic sport.

Chapter Eight

Two days later,Izzy silently scolded herself as she stepped into the shower to wash off the barn smells before getting ready to meet with the Lohmen brothers. She shouldn’t enjoy poking at Nathan so much but cleaning the stalls and helping him groom the horses was almost more fun than putting together the package she was about to present.

---