Page 22 of Headstrong Cowboy
“You okay, Ryder?”Chrissy asked, and he realized she hadn’t moved and he’d been staring into space.
He mustered up a smile.“Yep.All good.Shall I fill them up over there?”He pointed to the sink in the corner.
“Yes, but are you sure there’s nothing wrong?That you still want to help?”
Ryder tucked the box under his arm and with his other, he stroked Chrissy’s cheeks with the back of his knuckles.“More than sure.And yes, I still want to help, little flower.”
Pink bloomed in her cheeks at the endearment he’d given her.He didn’t know why he called her that, only that he thought it suited her.“I’ll be right back,” she said and headed into the office at the back of the workshop.
He sighed when she disappeared from view.Even though she let him off the hook, he sensed that she hadn’t quite believed him when he said he was fine.He’d deal with that later, but first he had a task to perform and while it may not have been his intention when he arrived, he was glad to be helping the Bloom women.
“You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to,” Sunny said quietly as she deftly dethorned a rose and placed it on the growing pile.
“I know, but I want to.You need to get this done and I don’t have anything else that needs my urgent attention today.”He had a lot of free time on his hands now that he didn’t have an oil company to oversee.Or a rodeo to get ready for.
“What brings you to Marietta?”Sunny asked.“You here for the rodeo?”
Ryder absorbed the punch in the gut the perfectly innocent question caused.He shook his head.“My rodeo days are over.”
“Will you watch?Chrissy is going to compete.She was amazing when she was a junior.She could’ve made it far if she hadn’t...”Sunny clamped her lips shut.Ryder wanted to ask her to continue, but he had a feeling there was no way Sunny would break her loyalty to her sister.
Ryder was intrigued at the tidbit of information Sunny had let slip, though.The first time he’d seen Chrissy ride, he’d been impressed with her skills and thought she would do well competing against the other barrel racers.
What had caused her to give it all up?
Or who?
“I’m guessing that’s a story Chrissy has to tell me?”he asked after a few seconds.
“Yeah.”Sunny gathered up a few of the flowers and brought them over to him.“Once you’ve filled the tubes and put the toppers on, you can slide the roses into them.”
When he’d seen the tubes, he assumed that was what was going to happen.It was the only thing that made sense to him.“Sure.Chrissy said this was for a big order, but she didn’t say who it was for.”
“It’s for a hotel in Bozeman.We are supplying the flowers for a big event they’re having.It’s the first time we’ve been asked to do something like this,” Chrissy informed him as she returned to the main area.“I started reaching out to hotels a couple of days ago and lucked out when this hotel said their supplier had let them down and could we do a super quick order for them.There was no way I was going to say ‘no,’ and so here we are.”
“Still not enough,” Sunny muttered, and Ryder didn’t miss the glare Chrissy sent her sister’s way.
That was interesting.Had one of his assumptions been right that the reason for the property being up for sale was financial?
It didn’t matter.He could afford to pay any price they asked.
“It’s a start, Sunny.It’s a start.”Chrissy steadfastly ignored him, and he kept his attention on filling the tubes.
He would bide his time and when the moment was right, everything would fall into place.At least he hoped it would.
Chapter Eleven
The rodeo wascoming up fast and Chrissy felt so unprepared.She hadn’t been able to spend as much time training as she’d hoped she could.The business of sorting out the farm’s financials was taking a bit longer than she’d thought, not to mention she’d received another accounting contract job.The timing could be better, but the fact that they were willing to pay her a large amount to review their systems and get them back on track had been the only reason Chrissy had taken the job.Every little bit of money she could earn helped with keeping the farm afloat.
The order from the hotel had been a blessing and, as they’d been able to fulfill it quickly, the events manager had been impressed and assured them that they would consider them to become one of their flower suppliers for future events.Of course, it could come to nothing.The manager could’ve just been saying pretty words to Chrissy, but Chrissy was going to accept it and hope the other woman kept her word.
“You ready for a run, Ranger?”she asked as she patted the horse’s long neck.He nudged her shoulder and she chuckled.If only she could afford to buy him.The yearning for her own horse had increased the few times she’d put Ranger through his paces.There was a sense of freedom when she was on his back.The way he moved the direction she wanted him to with the barest of touches from her thrilled her.Their connection had been immediate, something that didn’t always happen between horse and rider.
Pepper had been a wonderful horse, but she hadn’t had the instincts Ranger had.
“Are you practicing, or can I tempt you to join me on a ride?”
Chrissy gripped Ranger’s reins tighter as Ryder’s gravelly, sexy voice sounded behind her.He’d been a big help in getting the order ready for the hotel.It was a simple task, but filling the tubes was time-consuming, and so having him there made it all a bit easier.Even Sunny had grudgingly thanked him when he was done.
