Page 48 of Reclaiming My Wife

“For the hundredth time, she’s not my therapist. I don’t need a therapist. Debra and I are not together, and we will never get together. I’m just trying to figure out how to diffuse the situation so it doesn’t affect her work. She really is the best horse trainer,” he said even as his cheeks reddened. It was disconcerting to see the older man blush, and it put me in an even worse mood.

“Find me a new farrier,” I growled. “Where the hell is Mickie? He’s supposed to be meeting me here.”

“I’m here, boss. Sorry. Got distracted by the gorgeous brunette hanging out with your wife. She’s not off-limits, right?”

“My wife is off-limits, Mickie, and if you bring it up again, I will fire you!” Silence descended on the stable, and I realized that the poor guy wasn’t talking about Jillian. “What brunette?”

“Ah… she said her name was Danielle,” Mickie said stiffly.

“Perfect. This is exactly what I need,” I growled, throwing up my hands. “What the hell is she doing here?”

“Who is she?” Ben asked.

“Jillian’s best friend. The woman loathes me. Jillian must have called her after… never mind. She can’t stay.” I grabbed my hat off the hook.

“Whoa. You’re just going to march over there and kick your wife’s best friend off the ranch? I don’t really think that’s going to help whatever problems you and Jillian are having,” Ben pointed out. “Besides, after all the flack that she’s taken from Kim, I imagine that Jillian needs a friend. Pretending to still love the man who is supposed to be your ex-husband can’t be easy.”

Pretending to still love.

It hurt more than I wanted to admit even if I’d just told Jillian this morning that we were essentially just friends with benefits.

But Ben was right. Things weren’t easy on Jillian, and she probably could use her friend. More importantly, I needed Jillian to be somewhat happy. Harry had been awfully quiet for a week. He was bound to show up sooner rather than later.

“I am not going to kick Danielle out. I’m just going to go say hi and see how long the damned woman is planning on staying. Mickie, Jillian’s best friend is off-limits. Consider anyone you see talking to Jillian or even looking at Jillian as off-limits. I need you to move the horses out of the southwest stables. I’ve got workers getting ready to start checking the irrigation pipes, and I want to start in that pasture. Ben, take care of this farrier ordeal. I do not want Ticker. The man is drunk more than he’s sober.”

The two men just stared at me as I stomped out. I was pissed that Jillian would invite Danielle here without my consent, but more than that, I needed to make sure that she would play along.

Jillian was still hiding out with Silva. I’d hoped the horse would help acclimate her to the ranch, but all I’d done was give her a place to hide. I’d have to fix that as well.

Laughter filtered out from the stable, and I stilled as I entered. They were hugging and talking over each other. It had been a long time since I’d seen Jillian so at ease.

“I hate to interrupt you ladies, but I heard that we had a visitor,” I said calmly as I walked toward them. The laughter immediately stopped, and Danielle narrowed her eyes. I could see the uncertainty shimmering in the air. They both thought I was some sort of monster. “We don’t have another guest room, but there’s a cot in the office if you want to stay. Or you can stay with Jillian.”

“You’re okay if she stays?” Jillian asked softly. “I wasn’t sure.”

“As long as she doesn’t blow it for us. You’re welcome to have friends over, but with all the work that we’re doing around the ranch, it’s not really safe for her to roam around. Just make sure that if Harry comes around…”

“Don’t worry. She knows what to do.” She smiled faintly. “Thanks, Brendan. I appreciate it, but she’s only staying for the night, and she’ll stay with me.”

Relief swept through me. “Are you sure? I don’t mind if she stays longer.”

“I’m sure. She drove here, so we’re planning to go out to dinner, so there’s no need to plan for us to be there.”

“Okay. Enjoy yourself.” With nothing left to say, I turned to walk out. My phone rang, and when I looked down at it, I cringed.

Of course Harry would be calling right now.

Once I was out of earshot, I answered. “Mr. Blackwell. Good afternoon.”

“Afternoon. I just wanted to call and check up on things. See how you and the missus are doing.”

The missus? I cringed. Jillian would throw a fit if she heard anyone calling her that. “Things are great. We’re getting some work done around the ranch,” I answered vaguely. “Jillian has even been helping out where she can. One of my stallions is quite taken with her.”

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