Page 21 of Ranch Life At Heart
CHAPTER TWELVE
– CEDAR –
My chest tightens due to the devastated look in her eyes. I know the next few words out of my mouth will make or break what we have between us. Fucking hell, I have no clue if her father made a note in that book of his because I wasn’t there when they had the meeting.
To my surprise my father steps into the room with us and gently states, “Cedar is not the one who should answer your question. I am.” He points at one of the chairs near the desk. “May I?”
Rosy shrugs and clutches the tiny book to her chest.
Once my father is seated, he explains, “It was my Anne who invited your father over. She also suggested the idea of a trade after we ran into your father before that day. It was clear your ranch needed help, and we have enough expertise under contract. The offer I made your father was for him to receive workers for a few hours a week, and in return we could put our horses in the pasture next to ours. No money exchange, no buying or selling.”
Rosy frowns and stumbles slightly as she sinks down into the chair. Without another word she glances down and thumbs through her father’s book. I can see her swallow hard as she takes in the words her father wrote. I have no damn clue what’s in there and her expression doesn’t give a hint either as she places the book on the desk in front of her.
Silence drags on and I realize in this moment I don’t want whatever is growing between us to end. All I want to do rightfucking now is walk up to her, pull her into my arms and tell her everything will be alright.
My breath comes out in a rush of released endorphins when she softly murmurs, “You told me the truth.”
My father’s voice is filled with sadness. “I’m sorry this compromise didn’t cross my mind sooner. Maybe if we had, he would still be alive today.”
Rosy squeezes her eyes shut for a heartbeat; a lone tear slides over her cheek. “Maybe. We’ll never know.” She sniffles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “Dad had heart issues. It took me weeks to get him to go and see the doctor. He had a meeting set later that week at the hospital for cardiology tests. He should have listened and stopped working so damn hard. We were going to hire a ranch hand, and I already took over some of his lessons. I thought…he should avoid stressful situations. He never mentioned the meeting he had with you until you mentioned it at the funeral. I made assumptions I shouldn’t have.”
My father holds up his hand. “It’s only logical to make them with our history. I’m sorry I didn’t know about your father’s health issues. We offered to call a doctor when he wasn’t feeling well, I wish we had or at least checked up on him.”
New tears slide over her cheeks and I can’t stand to see and feel her sadness. Closing the distance between us, I drag her out of the chair and take her into my arms. Sobs rip from her chest and they feel like blows to my very soul.
I hold her and it feels as if time stops. Nothing matters in this moment except for the woman I’m holding. Everything that happened over the past few weeks…hell, decades…connecting us through matters tied to our family matters has been a whirlwind.In the midst of it all we managed to come out as a couple, still standing strong.
It doesn’t matter if we started out as boss and employee, upped our connection to throw in some special benefits, because all of it led to this moment right here where we found a strong foundation to something long-term.
Pulling back, I cup her face and brush my lips against hers. Tasting the salt of her tears, I stare into her stormy gray eyes.
“Are you okay?” I murmur.
A sad smile tugs her lips. “No, but I’ll get there.”
I pull her into another hug again, place a kiss on the crown of her head and state, “Yeah, you will.”
A few minutes pass when we pull apart and notice my father isn’t in the room anymore. When we walk into the living room, I glance through the window and notice his car is gone.
“He must have gone home,” Rosy says when she comes to a stop next to me.
I turn to face her and gently brush a strand of hair out of her face. “Would you like to go for a ride?”
“Yeah,” she croaks. “I’d like that. Though, I think I’m going to take your horse for a ride instead of you.”
I snicker. “Do you now?”
Where there was sadness a moment ago, her face now shows a smirk and her eyes twinkle with life and energy.
“Best of both worlds to have horses to ride and a man who does the hard work, so he can work me harder as well.” She winks and sways her hips as she heads for the door.
“Work you harder?” I growl, my cock standing to attention. “If you mean I get to pound your pussy into oblivion, I won’t count it as work, sweetheart. It’s more of a necessity of life that keeps both of us healthy and sated.”
I grab her hips and pull her back to let her feel my hard cock against her ass while I nip the skin of her neck. The clearing of a throat draws my attention, and I raise my head to see a woman and a child standing in front of us.
“Shit,” Rosy whispers under her breath.
Placing a kiss on the top of her head, I tell her, “Let me guess, you forgot you rescheduled a lesson to this morning?”
