Page 64 of Jake

“I had a friend in Mobile have a talk with her ex and another with the Sons.” Jake lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “By the way, you interested in selling that trailer?”

Epilogue

Two weeks later

Heatherplacedahandin the small of her back and stretched. As much as her back ached, she was glad to be doing something again. Today had been her second day at her new employer, the vet Lurch had told her they used at the ranch, and so far, she liked Dr. Kurt, as well as the rest of the staff.

After making sure everything had been taken care of, and checking in with the nigh tech, who’s name she couldn’t recall at the moment, she grabbed her coat and headed out. She was tired, but it was a good tired. As she made the twenty-minute drive back to the ranch, she couldn’t help but be glad she wouldn’t have to worry about dinner. Either they would join the rest of the hands and have whatever was being served, or Aaron would fix them something. She was good either way, as long as she didn’t have to do it herself.

Thinking of Aaron, she smiled to herself at how he’d taken care of her, and worried over every little thing. Yes, it was irritating sometimes, but also endearing. It told her he cared. He also didn’t seem to care that she couldn’t get in the habit of calling him Jake like everyone else did. The one time she’d brought it up, he’d said he liked her calling him Aaron, it was their thing, so she’d quit trying.

Heather pulled up outside her borrowed trailer and sat for a minute, wishing for the first time since she’d arrived here, that she had either an apartment or a house. If only so she had room for a proper bathtub. Because right now, nothing sounded better than a soak in a tub of steaming water to ease her sore muscles.

The truck door beside her opened, startling her. She couldn’t help the way she jumped or the high-pitched squeak that escaped.

“Sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you pull in, but not get out and I got worried.” Aaron wrapped one arm around her and tugged her into his embrace. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired and was wishing on stars.” She tipped her head back and kissed him, losing herself for a moment in his taste, then pulling away. “How long do I have before dinner?”

He checked his watch. “About half an hour, why?”

“I’m in desperate need of a hot shower.” She wrinkled her nose as she thought of the things she’d gotten on her today at work. “Can I talk you into clearing the bathroom for me?”

Matt had shown her how to use the hot water in the trailer, but that tank was tiny, and she wanted more than it gave her in hot water.

He watched her for a moment then nodded. “Sure. Want time to yourself or you want me to come talk to you while you shower?”

“I wouldn’t say no to talking, but you’re keeping your clothes on this time. I’m hungry and have no intention of missing dinner again.”

“But it was fun,” Aaron said with a laugh as he stepped back and gave her space.

She climbed down from the truck and shot him a grin as he headed for the door, and she went into the trailer. “I’ll be right there.”

By the time she went into the bunkhouse, there were a couple of Aaron’s brothers in the common room of the bunkhouse, but the bathroom and showers were empty. She waved as she ducked inside, eager to get clean. She’d stripped out of her dirty clothes and turned on the water and was waiting for it to warm up when Aaron came in.

“How was your day?”

“Good. We were busy, so the day went quickly.”

“And you got dirty.”

“Babe, I’m a vet tech. I get dirty every day.”

“So this shower as soon as you get home is going to be a regular thing?”

“Yeah, probably,” she said, stepping under the spray.

“I can deal with that. If you’ll let me know when you leave, I can make sure it’s available when you get home.”

That was sweet. And just another of the many reasons she loved him.

“I’ll do that. Tell me about your day.”

“Ranch work mostly, but I did get a couple of interesting calls.”

“Oh?” She poured shampoo into her hand, then worked it into her hair, biting back a groan at how good it felt to work her fingers along her scalp.

“First was a call from Cowboy telling me he’d heard through the grapevine that the Wandering Sons had been raided. Word went out on the grapevine that any and all offers slash contracts they’d put out might as well be void because they were no longer in a place to honor them.”

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