Page 2 of Lucky in Love

“Get out of the truck,” he demands.

I open the door and, forgetting to use the step rail, I practically fall out onto the ground and find my hand pressed to his chest to regain my balance. He looks down at my hand andthen back up at me, eyes smoldering. Then he pushes me out of the way and climbs into my truck.

“Oh my God! What are you doing?” He’s stealing my truck! And I’m just sitting here letting it happen! I reach for the door handle, just as the truck rolls backward. “Hey!”

“You’re gonna want to move,” he calls out, his arm hanging out the window. I jump back just in time for the truck to lurch forward and turn smoothly into the gate. After a few feet, the truck stops and my cowboy fantasy sticks his head back out the window.

“You coming?” he calls out. I run up to the window and he points at the passenger seat. I’m still completely confused about what’s happening, but I can’t just stand here while he drives off with my truck, so I swing myself up into the passenger seat and he steps on the gas.

TWO

Baylor

No one told me the new vet was a woman. When I heard that Evergreen Animal Clinic was offering on-site vet services, I thought Great, one less thing I have to go to town for. There’s nothing a mountain recluse loves more than an excuse not to have to go into town. But no one warned me that a tiny, blond pixie would be flitting onto my ranch, invading my space and making me want things I haven’t let myself want in a long time.

She follows me into the barn. When I introduce myself as the owner of the ranch, she seems surprised and it makes me wonder what she thought was happening when I helped her out by driving her truck through the gate.

“It was the GPS. It told me to turn too late.” When she shrugs and smiles at me, my stomach starts doing somersaults.

“Yeah. OK.” I raise my eyebrows and press my lips together. If she had trouble getting in my gate, she’s going to have a heck of a time with some of the more rural parts of the mountain.

“Tell me about your horses.”

“Stella’s pregnant,” I say, gesturing to the bulging belly of the roan horse in front of us.

“Well, I can see that. You’ve got a large facility here. How many horses will be under my care?”

“Let’s just start with this one.” In the confines of the stall, this is the closest I’ve been to a woman in… well, longer than I care to admit and the butterflies in my stomach are telling me this is not a good idea. I keep people out for a reason. The last thing I need is this woman squeezing into a horse stall with me every time I turn around. Maybe it would be worth it to drive into town with the horses just to avoid situations like this.

Stella buries her nose in my shoulder and I rub her head and whisper to her to keep her calm during the examination, but the vet handles her gently and the horse responds well.

“Well, she seems fine. I think she’s got a couple of weeks left, but you’ll want to be on the lookout for signs of foaling from here on out.” She packs up her bag and I follow her out to the truck and swing into the driver’s seat.

“What are you doing?” she asks, her eyes wide as saucers.

“Making sure you don’t plow over my gate when you leave.”

“I know how to drive!” she says, a little crease forming between her eyes. I raise my eyebrows at her and she flips her blond bob and huffs as she climbs into the passenger side. She smooths her hair and sits up straight. “Fine. Thank you.”

I bite my lip, fighting the urge to smile, but when I realize what I’m doing, I switch back to my usual scowl.

I clear the gate and put it in park, hopping out of the truck without a word. We cross paths in front of the vehicle and she reaches out for a handshake. I take her hand, startled by the heat that shoots up my arm when we touch.

“Thank you. It was nice to meet you.” She smiles and I nod, words lodged in my throat.

The truck stalls out before she finds the right gear and I lean on the gate post, trying not to smirk as she drives away. Considering how long it’s been since a woman has made me smile, I should run for the hills. Leave me alone on my mountain with my horses. It’s better for everyone that way.

???

Growing up, my twin brother and I helped out on the ranch from the time we could walk. My dad trained and boarded horses and he taught me everything I know. I guess I’ve always preferred horses to people. There’s just something about working with powerful animals who could serve you or seriously hurt you depending on how you treat them that always clicked with me. Nothing beats the moment that you know a horse has deemed you worthy of their trust.

When my dad passed away, we had to close the business side of the ranch. My brother and I were still in high school and my mom wasn’t able to keep things running on her own. My senior year, I committed to enlist in the Marines and I thought for sure my brother would stick around, marry his high school sweetheart, and give Mom some grandbabies, but he got a job offer he couldn’t pass up and decided to take pictures on the other side of the world. After we both left, Mom moved intotown, but she couldn’t bear to sell the ranch and I thank God for that every day.

After a long day of working the ranch, there’s nothing better than sitting on the porch with a drink while I watch the sun drop behind the mountains. I stretch my aching muscles out in front of me, the rhythm of the rocker soothing the anxiety threatening to rise up over my encounter with the vet. So what if she’s pretty and she made me smile? It doesn’t matter that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and I don’t want to explore why I noticed that particular detail. I don’t want to think about how gentle she was with my horse or how being in a stall with her made me feel tingly. Doesn’t make a difference, because I’m a loner and it’s best for me to stay away from people. Especially cute, possibly single people who make me have feelings.

“What’s with you?” my brother asks, dropping into the other rocking chair and destroying my peace.

“What do you mean?”

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