Page 6 of Second Chances with my Billionaire Bosses

I wanted to scream and throw a tantrum but instead I nodded. I just had to be a good worker. Nothing else. I dropped down from Bob and ignored the way Rhett had tried to catch me. When I didn’t tie Bob up, I noticed them all staring and waiting. “He won’t go anywhere.”

Shep grunted. “He’s crankier than I remember. How old is he now?”

I reached up and stroked Bob’s face and smiled when he turned his head into my hand and huffed. “He’s twelve. And he’s not cranky. He’s just…”

“Reading your energy.” Shep came toward me and slowly held his hand out for Bob. “It’s okay, boy. I remember you. You liked me. I snuck you lots of sugar cubes. Remember?”

Seeing him be nice to my horse made me feel fluttery in ways I didn’t want to. I looked away but I knew Bob well enough to know he was brilliant and had a wildly accurate memory. If Shep had snuck him sugar, he’d remember and he’d love him, no matter how I felt.

“That’s right, big guy. You remember me. No more biting, okay? Your human will warm up to us soon enough and then you’ll see.” Shep was smiling when I looked back at him. “Isn’t that right?”

I bit back a negative response. “Sure.”

He frowned but it only lasted a second before he shook his head and smiled again. “Come on. Whatever you brought smells amazing and I’m starving.”

CHAPTER 5

Maxie

I winced as I looked around the kitchen of the Mays’ house. It wasn’t great. There was a thick layer of dust and grime over everything. The cabinets had once been pine but they were all coated in what looked like cigarette smoke and grease. The table had an old phone book under one of the legs and the chairs were the old vinyl kind with more rips than vinyl left. No matter what I thought about the three men standing behind me, I couldn’t in good conscience let them live with a kitchen like that.

“Maybe you should eat outside.” I chewed on my lip and quickly pulled my hair into a bun. “I’m going to just wipe everything down in here.”

“You’re not here to clean, Maxine.” Arlo spoke from directly behind me. “We’ll take care of this.”

A shiver worked its way down my spine at the deepness of his voice but I ignored it. “I was told to get the ranch up and running. I don’t think you’re going to be very productive at work if you catch your death from whatever is growing on these countertops.”

Rhett moved to stand next to me, his elbow bumping mine. “Have you already eaten?”

I looked up at him and hesitated. Had I? I couldn’t remember. I’d been so overwhelmed and stressed when I got up that I was surprised I was fully dressed.

“That’s a no. Come on, sweetheart.” Shep took my arm and pulled me away from the kitchen. “You’ll eat outside with us. Then we can clean the kitchen together so we’ll have a spot to sit down and make a list of everything that needs to be done around here.”

I wanted to argue but I wasn’t going to fight with them. I was going to be as distant as possible until they got the point I wanted nothing to do with them. Distant but polite.

“Okay.”

Bob was waiting next to the porch when we came out and as soon as he saw me, he let out a huff and walked away to sniff at some grass. I sat on the porch steps and wrapped my arms around my knees, taking note of the holes in my jeans. It was past time to buy new ones but I hated shopping. I still got flashbacks of clothes shopping with my mom and her disappointed face when the size she thought I should be didn’t fit my body. She’d grown up in a time when skinny wasn’t skinny enough and my curves had been a constant plague upon her. It was one of the only things I hadn’t been able to change to be who she needed me to be.

Arlo sank onto the step next to me and studied me so closely that I had to fight the urge to touch my face and hair to make sure it wasn’t doing something weird. His eyes finally settled on mine and a smile stretched his lips.

“How are things?”

I hadn’t expected that question and I didn’t really have an acceptable answer. How were things? I didn’t know. Everyone around me seemed to be starting their lives and getting everything they wanted. That was good. Me, personally, though? I was still in the same place I’d been when they left ten years earlier. I hadn’t budged an inch. The first change I thought I was going to take on hadn’t even been real, it turned out. I still didn’t understand why my brothers hadn’t been clearer about what was happening with the new ranch.

“That good, huh?” He stared out at the land ahead of us and sighed. “What exactly did your brothers tell you about this place?”

I watched as Rhett and Shep settled on the steps in front of us and started opening the containers of food.

“Um… I was under the impression that it was going to be an extension of Hellstone Ranch and that I’d be managing it.”

Arlo took a biscuit and split it open to layer on eggs, bacon, and cheese.

“Mills reached out to us after that shit happened with Vera and mentioned the Mays ranch would be going up for sale soon. They knew we’d been talking about moving back to Texas and starting something of our own. They wanted to make sure whoever bought the land wouldn’t hurt Devil’s Den, or their ranch.”

I bit back a wave of frustration.

“I went back and forth to the bank for them so many times. Why?”

---