Page 55 of Tough Love

“Did you want to take your kits for tomorrow with you?” She waves to the storeroom behind her.

Excellent idea, then I don’t need to deal with Justin first thing tomorrow. I walk back and collect two kits—one with supplies, the other with equipment.

Sally leans on the doorframe. “I’ll forward your appointments and their addresses?”

“You’re a lifesaver, Sally. Yes, please.”

“Done and done, my love. You have a good night, hon.”

She gives me a mischievous smile as I back into the glass doors to open them with my ass. She laughs and shakes her head. Outside, the warm breeze tangles in the stray strands of my hair as I load the kits and my bag into the car. I head home, desperate to see Rubes. It has been far too long.

The first thing I find when I round the street corner toward my house is the long, lean legs of Ruby Robbins. Her tan pantsuit is finished with red heels, and her perfect straight blonde hair sits over one shoulder as she taps furiously on her phone. She may be out of the city, but her work never stops. Nor does her wardrobe.

Fully engrossed in whatever is going down on her phone, she doesn’t notice the car pull up, or the door slam. She looks upwhen my feet appear beneath her phone, almost between hers. With a gasp, she leaps up, wrapping me in a hug. I drop my bag and squeeze her back. As my best friend for the last ten years, she is practically my sister.

“Damn, have I missed you girl,” she groans.

“You have no idea. Please tell me you’re staying the weekend?”

“Of course, as long as you need me. My office is right here.” She waves her phone in my face, and I step around her and unlock the door. We file inside, and I give her the tour. She spins around in the huge living room and holds her arms out. “Wow, Adds, all this for one girl. Geez, I should have been a vet.” She laughs.

“Ha! You would be fine until there was blood or poop, Rubes.”

“Ugh, you can keep it. I’ll visit lots and soak up the country living and wide-open spaces.”

“Speaking of wide-open spaces, I have visits tomorrow for some of my equine clients and then I’m off to Rosewood Ranch for another riding lesson.”

“Oh, yes, how is that going? Come here and tell me.” She flops on the couch and pats the seat beside her. I roll my eyes at her, but it’s playful. I can’t wait to hash this out with her. Hudson, the ride along with the roundup, Adam, and now the shithead boss I can’t stand. So, I curl up on the sofa beside her and lean back before turning to face her.

“Wow, that bad, hey?” She studies my face, her body mirroring mine.

“Hudson and the coaching are going well. Better than I expected. Work is okay, but my boss is a douche. Absolute asshat. But what has me the most stressed is Adam. He keeps calling and texting, even though I told him to stop. We are not happening anymore. We’re done.”

“Fuck.”

“Have you seen him around? He needs to move on. What’s going on with him?”

She chews her bottom lip, much the same as I do. “Yeah, I saw him last week. He was freaking out that you up and left. I told him you can go wherever you want. And then... ”

“What? And then what?”

“He kind of got weird. Saying things like you belong together and if you don’t come back after the end of your contract, he’s coming to take you back to the city. I tried to tell him that’s not okay, and not happening. But he stormed off. I’m sorry, Adds, I think I kind of made it worse.”

“How?”

“Told him you and the cowboy were a thing...” Her face is pure cringe, as if that was the biggest lie on the planet.

“I don’t know what Hudson and I are, honestly. If I let my heart decide, I would stay here and have his babies. But I know myself better than that. I need to be busy, and have goals and work, you know. Hudson, he’s like?—”

Her mouth gapes and her eyes widen with delight. “Hold on, this calls for wine!”

Ruby jumps up and runs to the fridge, pulling a bottle of white from the freezer at the top. She knows everything about me, even where I keep the wine I don’t share with anyone else but her. Glasses clink and the wine glugs. She drops onto the sofa a moment later with two glasses, handing me one. She kicks off her heels and sweeps her blonde hair to one side of her neck.

“Thanks, Rubes.”

“Okay, don’t leave out asinglething.”

And I tell her everything, from that first moment in Louisa’s kitchen when I met Hudson and his family, to our camping trip. Her eyes widen and her jaw drops further and further with every detail. When I finally finish, she stares at me for a heartbeat.

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