Chapter 3
Viv took the next week to settle into the routine at the Guest Ranch at Buck’s Falls. Such a simple name. She had expected a small ranch, an intimate setting for the family-owned and operated guest ranch. She’d been surprised by the extensive grounds and facilities dedicated to guest services. There was nothing “roughing it” about this place. The guests each had their own cabins, very well-appointed and comfortable. The food was top-notch, with an excellent chef and staff who focused on farm-to-table cooking using the ranch’s own products, along with local produce. Activities were extensive for all ages, ranging from young kids up to the older folks, all focusing on ranch life and outdoor fun.
Then there was the spa that she had been brought in to oversee. It had been a risk for them to hire her, sight unseen. She had met their spa manager, Greta Henry, at a training symposium they had both attended for a yoga certification. They had roomed together at subsequent programs and found they had many of the same ideas about how things should be run and programs for the ideal spa. When Greta got the job at the Guest Ranch, she had invited Viv to move out there and work, but Viv hadn’t quite been ready to leave home. Moving to Montana was a big move from Lovelorn, New York. Being away from her family, her friends, not to mention the entire culture shift, was more than Viv had been prepared for.
But now, with her best friend, Eden, getting married, her cousin Amy moving on with her life, and her siblings all settling into life at the family vineyard, Viv was feeling left out. She had never really fit in with her family, feeling a bit like the proverbial black sheep. Not in a bad way, like a troublemaker or anything, though she had her share of youthful rebellions—and if you asked her parents now, they’d say her entire choice of careers was one big fly-by-night thing. Her family saw everything she did as a flight of fancy, not understanding her. Instead of being business-focused and professional on growing the vineyard and winery brand, she was teaching people how to meditate and stretch. They didn’t understand their youngest child. Her older siblings said she had been spoiled. Her parents wondered if they hadn’t spent enough time with her or hadn’t been tough enough on her.
Why wasn’t she good enough?
So, when Greta called and said she needed someone to step in for the season as spa manager while she was out on maternity leave, Viv jumped on it as a way to get away and maybe prove to her family that she was capable and professional in her chosen field. Sadly, they didn’t see it that way.
She’d thought that she and Greta would have a couple of weeks before Greta’s maternity leave kicked in, but the day Viv got there, Greta’s doctor placed her on strict bed rest with orders for no stress. Her friend had been waiting a long time for this baby. Viv would do everything she could to make sure she had a stress-free and wonderful remaining pregnancy. She had just received word that Greta had her little girl the previous evening, so that part of the plan was working. If only the little goat gang would cooperate and stop trying to eat the yoga mats, poop everywhere, assault the guests, and escape, it might be a smooth ride, because everything else was going great.
The door to her office opened and Janine stood there, her long honey-brown hair in straggles out of its usual ponytail and her typical perky attitude completely gone. Her pink yoga pants were smeared with something that smelled foul and Viv didn’t want to ask because she feared the truth.
“We can’t work with Gilbert. Or Goatis. They’ve upped their game. I swear, I think they conspire at night.”
“They’re goats. They can’t plan things.” But even Viv didn’t believe that. She’d seen their eyes. Little demons.
Janine only arched her eyebrow and gestured to her soiled yoga pants.“Really? Well, they’re both gone this time. Headed for the hill. And I need to torch these pants.”
She turned on her heel and stalked out of the office. Viv sighed. Maybe the goats really were planning their revolution. She picked up the phone and dialed the number Michael gave her, but it went to voicemail. Crap, he’d told her that he had to go out of town for something. What had Wade told her? The stables. They could help her.
She walked into the bright stables and a horse poked his head over the stall, startling a yelp out of her. A man’s head peeked around the corner from the next stall. Wade Buchanan, the man she’d been trying to get out of her thoughts and dreams since the previous week. Sure, he was hot and felt like a total dream the way he’d had no trouble picking her up and holding her against his firm body, but his attitude screamed that he didn’t like her at all. She hadn’t been too panicked to have noticed the muscle definition beneath the shirt, the rippling of abs, the muscular arms, the way he filled out his jeans. She was a sucker, though, for muscular arms and often stared through the glass from her yoga class back home at the gym area where some of the men worked their upper bodies. Arm porn. That was where it was, and Wade had it in spades.
Seeing him now wearing a tank top made her want to trace those muscles, first with her fingers, then with her tongue. And she didn’t even like the man. But you didn’t have to like him to admire the body. Yeah, it was a double standard. Sue her.
Wade straightened, leaning on the pitchfork, and smirked at her.“Can I help you with something, Miss Kendrick?”
His eyes clearly said he knew what she was looking at, what she wanted, and her face burned. She wasn’t embarrassed, not exactly. She had no problem making her desires known under normal circumstances, but this was Wade Buchanan, and he was under her skin like a splinter.
“Yes, you said if I lost a goat, I should come to the stables. Not to go out looking for them.”
He sighed, a heavy, put-upon sound.“You lost another one?”
“Apparently someone didn’t fix the fencing well.” Her tone implied that he was the one who hadn’t, since he had looked at it after the last breakout.“But yes, we lost Gilbert Goatfried and Goatis Redding.”
He rolled his eyes.“What’s with the names? We don’t name our cows.”
“For one thing, you have a lot of cows. Two, our guests like the names. They’re cute.”
“They’re stupid. But fine. I’ll saddle up a couple of horses and we’ll go look for them.”
“Thank you.”
She turned to leave, and he made a sound.“Where are you going? We have goats to find.”
She pivoted on her heel.“What do you mean ‘we’? I thought you were going to find them?”
“I don’t know what they look like or where they are.”
Was he fucking kidding? She planted her hands on her hips.“They’re goats. Rounded little bodies, flickering ears, fur all over, cloven hooves, demonic eyes. Look for chaos and destruction and you’ll find them.”
He roared a laugh.“I know what a goat looks like. But they come in different colors.”
“Gilbert is brown and white. You met him last week. Goatis is all brown with a black streak down his back, on his ears, and around his hooves. And they headed for the same area as last time. Or so Janine thinks. Can you handle that?”
She made to leave, but he reached out and grabbed her forearm gently.“Oh no. Your goats, your problem. We deal with it together.”
She glanced at the horse that was snuffling at her hair, lipping at her to see if she was edible.“Yeah, I don’t think so. I like my feet firmly planted on the ground. Both of them. The only thing I ride has wheels and batteries.”
He arched an eyebrow suggestively, and she felt her face burn again. That time she heard it, damn it. What was it about this damned cowboy that got her all flustered? She was the one usually in control of the situation. Men didn’t manage her. She blamed the arms. Yeah, he was flexing those muscles, and she lost her brain cells. It was a proven fact. Both men and women could lose their trains of thought through sexual desire. And it had been a while for her. The men in Lovelorn had grown less interesting in recent months.
“Hey, Viv. You in there? We’re losing daylight.”
“I’m not riding a horse.”
“You afraid?”
Oh no, he didn’t. He did not just challenge her.
“Bring it.”