Page 12 of The Cowboy Fix

“I’ll move in tomorrow morning if that’s okay.” He stood when she grabbed her handbag.

“That’ll be fine.” Holding open the door, he wondered suddenly how he’d gone from saying goodbye to the surprising woman to renting the guesthouse to her for the rest of the summer.

He walked her to her car, wanting to, but unable to tell her he’d made a mistake... she couldn’t stay. Her sincerity and keenness to succeed were just too potent. He was beginning to be a believer.

Opening the car door, she said, “Oh, and I want to get a cat while I’m here.”

With that, she grinned, got in, and drove off.

Chapter Four

Izzy moved intothe Lohmen’s guesthouse and over the next couple of days settled in quite nicely. She cut flowers and put them in vases around the main room. Took walks to the pond. She even went to say hi to the horses when they were out in the pasture. Rosie, sweet-natured, light brown with a spotted white coat that meandered from her back end to the sides of her face, was her favorite.

All the while, she didn’t see hide nor hair of Nathan Lohmen. It was a head-scratcher because she kind of thought, as her landlord, he’d at least welcome her to the ranch, even if all he did was wave on the way by.

Even Jonas and Blake were absent, though she knew from Malorie that Blake was taking the week off to attend to book publishing business. Their newly minted, almost anyway, family had flown to New York City so he could meet with his publisher and then show Mal and the kids the town and take in a play before they came back.

Every morning Jonas left early, presumably to work on setting up his law practice in Strawberry Ridge. He didn’t return until long after dark. Before he left in the mornings, he put the horses out to pasture.

So why was she still here? Between the three brothers, if they each played their part, they could save the ranch. She was sure of it.

She was here because... well... she’d fallen hard for the Triple L. And not just professionally, though she had to keep her sights on the goal—stop the ranch’s financial bleeding and add a new success story to her résumé. But it was more than that. The ranch tugged at her heartstrings. The peacefulness of the mornings. The sounds of the birds. An occasional hoot of an owl. She felt that for the first time in a long time, she could breathe as she sat on the back porch, seeing the mountains jutting almost straight up from the ground in the distance.

Honestly? The best part of her job was moving from place to place so she could explore the country. Some days, rare though they were, if she didn’t stay busy enough, she got lonely. Silly, wasn’t it?

The ranch and its cranky part-owner chased that loneliness away.

Completely taken by surprise by the revelation, she decided no matter how much Nathan ignored her or told hernoshe couldn’t do... whatever, she was going to find a way to save the charming ranch. She just had to discover the key that would unlock the grumpy cowboy’s door.

Rosie ambled over for what had become her daily scratch.

“She likes you.” The deep male voice came from behind Izzy.

She didn’t turn. “I like her too. She’s beautiful.”

“I want to show you something.” Nathan leaned on the fence next to Izzy. He smelled like a warm summer breeze.

“What?” She finally looked at him and stumbled right into his deep, dark eyes. Clearing her throat, she eased back on her heels. “You’ve found a way to save the ranch without me?”

That sounded too pathetic. She straightened her shoulders and zipped her lips waiting for him to give her marching orders.

“Come with me.”

She patted Rosie’s neck. “See you later, girl. The boss wants me—”To go with him.For Pete’s sake.

That got her a side glance with a twist of his lips that she would qualify the same as an eye roll. Izzy bit back a gotcha smile as he led the way to the barn. He moved slowly, but he wasn’t using his cane and his steps seemed steady.

Apparently no marching orders. Yet.

What would he do if she refused to leave? She wouldn’t do that, but it would be fun to tease the contrary rancher with the idea that he had a renter whether he wanted one or not just to see what his serious, and sometimes annoyed, expression would do next.

The interior of the barn was cooler than outside in the direct sunlight. There was no time like the present to start presenting the plan she’d worked out since having nothing else to do after moving into the cottage. It would have to be done in small bites if she wanted to convince Nathan to get on board her train. “You have a lot of empty stalls. You could board horses and make some extra money that way.”

“We could, but it wouldn’t be enough.” He stopped at the tack room before he looked at her. The door was ajar.

That wasn’t a flat-out,no. In her book, a point in her favor. “So, you’ve thought about it?”

All she got in reply was a very manly shrug.

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