Page 81 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

“Yeah. Clear Creek Ranch. It’s a resort about thirty miles south of here. Have you met Roman and Hunter Blackwell yet?”

I shook my head. “No, but Dane and Jax have mentioned them. Roman, he builds luxury resorts, right?”

“Yeah. He’s been building one in a valley near the Bitterroot National Forest. Very high end. It’s set to open in about a month. Anyway, Callan and I have been finding him the best horses for the place so you and I are going to head down there to see how things are coming with the stables. Callan wants to get the horses moved within the next week so they have plenty of time to get used to the place.”

Quinn cast a glance at me. “That’s where you and I will be spending most of our time for the next month. Roman’s still hiring the staff so I’ll be helping him interview people when you and I aren’t taking care of the horses.”

I nodded. I didn’t really care where I’d be working or even what kind of work I’d be doing. As long as it kept me busy enough that I didn’t seek out the comfort of my bed, I was good.

Though, admittedly, I’d enjoyed interacting with King today, so maybe things wouldn’t be so bad. And Quinn seemed to be keeping things between us professional, so maybe I’d make it through the summer after all. I’d prove to my fathers I wasn’t a complete and total mess.

And that they could start trusting me again.

“So, why don’t I give you a tour?” Quinn said as we reached the barn. “Then the real work starts.”

“Bring it on,” I said, feeling encouraged for the first time in a long time.

Yeah, I could do this.

Piece of cake.

ChapterFive

Quinn

“Beck,” I said softly as I gave his arm a gentle pat. “Wake up.”

Beck mumbled something into his shoulder that sounded suspiciously like “Piece of cake, my ass” as he sank deeper into the seat of the truck. I smiled to myself as I gave him a little shake. “Time to get up, city slicker,” I said a little more loudly.

“Huh, what?” Beck said as he startled and then straightened. He looked around, his bleary eyes shifting back and forth between me and our surroundings. I loved how rumpled and cute he looked with his hair sticking up all over the place. He’d adamantly refused to wear the hat I’d given him this morning, but I knew it was just a matter of time before he caved. He hadn’t needed the protection while working in the barn, but once he spent a few hours beneath the hot Montana sun, he’d be begging me to return it to him. I’d urged him to buy one he liked when we’d stopped to get him his own boots, but he’d muttered something about not being caught dead in a cowboy hat and I’d left it alone. He’d managed to find a pair of boots that fit and had put them on in the truck just moments before he’d fallen asleep.

It had been hard to give him Griff’s boots and hat, even for a short amount of time. I’d purposefully kept both the hat and boots at the back of my closet and hadn’t pulled them out even once in the two years since I’d arrived at the CB Bar. They were the only things I’d kept besides pictures and Griff’s wedding ring to remind me of my husband, though I certainly didn’t need any of those things to remember the man I’d loved and lost. And sadly, the hat and boots hadn’t even been Griff’s favorites. Like the ring, I’d initially gotten his favorite hat and boots back after his death, but one look at them in the police issued plastic bag and I’d quickly handed the bag back to the cops after removing just the ring and asked them to destroy everything in it.

“Wow, sorry,” Beck said as he rubbed at his eyes.

“No problem,” I responded as I watched Beck try to pull himself together. “You cleaned twelve stalls this morning…that’s bound to wear you out if you aren’t used to that kind of work. That reminds me,” I said as I reached past Beck to the glovebox. The young man flinched and shifted away from me as my hand neared his body. I ignored the fleeting pain that went through me at knowing he wanted nothing to do with my touch and flipped the latch on the glove compartment. “Here,” I said as I pulled out the small bottle of generic ibuprofen. “Take a couple now or you’ll really be feeling it later.”

Beck hesitated and then took the bottle from me. “Sorry,” he murmured as his gaze settled on my hand as I closed the glove compartment.

“No worries,” I managed to get out. I went to open my door but stopped when I felt fingers on my arm.

“Quinn,” Beck said softly and I forced myself to turn and look at him. Sensation flared to life where his fingers were resting against my forearm. I’d rolled up my sleeves earlier in the day so he was touching my skin. “That wasn’t about you,” Beck whispered as he motioned to the glove compartment.

I desperately wanted to ask him what itwasabout, but I already had a good idea of the answer. If Beck’s reaction to our sexual encounter hadn’t been enough to tell me the young man had some serious trauma in his past, his reaction to Callan would have been. I doubted Callan or Finn had noticed Beck putting space between himself and Callan when the older man had approached him, but the move was all I’d been able to think about after the men had left the barn, leaving me to deal with Beck. That was why I hadn’t touched Beck when I’d explained to him how to lead King to the wash stall or properly wash the horse down.

“You don’t owe me any explanations, Beck,” I offered as Beck withdrew his hand. “Not about that night in the club, not about this,” I said as I motioned between us. “Not about anything, okay?”

Beck nodded. I knew I should just leave it at that and get out of the truck, but I couldn’t force myself to open the door. I turned to look at Beck and held his gaze before saying, “But if you ever want to talk, I’m here. I may not have all the answers, but I know how to keep my ears open and my mouth shut.” I chuckled and added, “Griff used to say it was one of the qualities that used to drive him craziest about me…and one of the first things he fell in love with.”

A small smile drifted over Beck’s lips. “What about you?” he asked.

“What about me?”

“What was the quality you fell in love with?”

I chuckled. “The fact that he could love someone who also drove him nuts,” I admitted. “He was really good at loving me,” I murmured, more to myself than anything else. It took me a moment to remember where I was and I shook my head. “Let’s go check things out.”

Beck nodded, his knowing eyes holding mine for a moment. We finally got out of the truck and headed towards the huge barn. There was a second pickup truck sitting closer to the entrance and I absently noted the nameWilder Constructionstenciled on the side of the door. Roman had told me the main barn was mostly done in terms of construction but there were a couple of stalls that needed to be finished. There’d apparently been some kind of problem with the original contractor and a new company had been brought in to complete the job. Since there were already enough completed stalls for the horses we’d be bringing to the resort, it wouldn’t have any kind of impact on the work Beck and I would be doing over the next several weeks.

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