Page 8 of Ranch Life At Heart
“See you next week, Rosy.” The little boy waves at me, and I shoot him a grin while I close the gate.
His mother closes the car door and I return her wave as she rounds the vehicle and gets behind the wheel. I release a deep sigh and wander into the house. It’s almost eight at night and I’m damn hungry.
The lessons today were back-to-back. My father had his own lessons and with him passing away, they all agreed on me taking over. Which means my schedule has doubled. My schedule has been busier since the week before my father died due to his possible heart issue.
We didn’t know the extent of it because the hospital checks were scheduled, and he only visited the doctor who said he should take it easy until they ran more tests. It’s why we agreed I would take over some of his load. Now I don’t even have a break in between lessons, and I have all the other chores piling up as well.
I yawn and it causes a tear to fall. I wipe it away as I make some tomato soup along with a grilled cheese sandwich. The house is silent and an ache of loneliness settles inside my chest. It’s a gaping hole I have no damn clue how to fix.
The only time I felt alive without a care in the world was when the sexy man held me while pleasuring my body. One night of sex, the memory of a lifetime. It was incredible andmaybe it was the booze heightening everything or lowering my inhibitions, but I’ve never felt this way with a man.
I eat on autopilot and then wash the dishes. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, I head outside to fetch the horses and breathe in the chilly evening air. Grabbing a halter off the hook, I wander in the direction of the pasture. The place where Bronco always stood like clockwork is vacant. I drag my gaze away and give a short whistle.
Dancer, Pepper, and Freckles rush for the gate. The other two are a bit slower. Freckles is an Appaloosa mare, and I’ve had her for nine years now. She’s the one I easily place the halter on and open the gate to guide her while she leads the others to the stables.
They know the routine and easily slip into their stalls as I close the doors behind them. The new horse I picked up a little over three weeks ago is still in its stall. I hear a car approaching, the gravel crunching under the tires. Double checking to make sure every horse is good for the night, I close up to see who’s here.
Daphne gets out of the car and walks in the direction of the house.
“Hey,” I greet as I come up from her left.
She jumps a little. “Dude, you scared the piss out of me.”
I snicker. “I’m just walking here; it’s you who has a bad conscience if you get spooked easily.”
She sticks out her tongue. “Very mature. Are your kids rubbing off on you?”
Another mature action of hers is to flip me off while she says, “The kids are wrapping up their homework and heading tobed as we speak. Jason is making sure of it while I’m here to tell you something my dear husband found out.”
“Come on, I’m assuming we’ll need coffee. Well, I need all the coffee because I’m dead on my feet,” I grumble.
Daphne closes the door behind her and follows me into the kitchen where I start to make a pot of coffee.
“Still thinking about the wild night you had with your mystery man?” she asks.
I shrug. “It’s a nice memory to think about when I’m alone in bed.”
“Would you like to jump his bones again?” She plunks down on one of the chairs and places her forearms on the table to stare at me.
She gets another shrug out of me. “Weirdly enough, he knew your name and mine. I didn’t want to know his because I wanted to keep it to one night without consequences. Only pleasure mattered and no promises for the future.”
“Answer my question, Rosy,” she presses.
“Honestly?” I ask.
Daphne rolls her eyes. “No. Lies, please, because that always works out perfectly.”
I grab two mugs and pour coffee, adding sugar in Daphne’s and a bit of cream in mine. Taking the mugs to the table, I place one in front of her while I sit down and warm my hands on mine. Enough seconds have passed by for me to think about her question.
The only answer I can come up with is, “I’d like a repeat of it every damn night, but I can’t. I’m completely beat, and that’s two days after I went out for a few hours. Seriously, I need to hiresomeone because I’m drained. I have more issues on my plate, urgent ranch matters to think about instead of wanting some action between the legs.”
“Maybe your mystery man can warm you, your bed, and work at the ranch.” Daphne smirks. “Jason found out his name, and the mystery man is more than capable of handling everything you and your ranch need.”
I stay quiet while she takes a few sips from her coffee before she adds, “Of course, once you know who he is you’ll hate yourself and won’t want to have anything to do with him ever again. But Jason says he’s nice. He spoke to him last night.”
“He spoke to him?” I frown. “Did Jason go back to the bar, or to the bed and breakfast so he could get the information?”
Daphne snickers. “Hell no. One of his clients called him to ask if he could come over and show the books to his son. When he got there Jason came face-to-face with your one-night stand.”
