Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
PRESLEY
“Hey, Pres. You want to do me a favor?” Betty calls out, flipping a large stack of hash browns on the grill.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I’ve got a delivery order. Think you could manage it?”
“Sure. Where’s it going?”
She smiles at me. A knowing smile that has an unease settling in my gut. Why do I have a feeling I know where this is going?
“The Lost Spur.”
Of course.
“Okay.”
“Think you can manage that?”
Betty flips the food into a Styrofoam to-go container and closes the lid.
“Why couldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. A certain hunk out there that seems to be keeping you on your toes?”
“What do you mean?”
She waggles her brows at me. “Mr. Moore was telling everyone about you running into each other the other day at the general store.”
I love Pinecrest. I never want to leave. It’s my home—my favorite place in the world. But damn it, there are some days I hate it. Can no one keep their nose out of other people’s business?
“We ran into each other. Nothing dramatic happened.”
“Really? You run into the love of your life and nothing happened?” Betty exclaims. “I don’t believe you.”
“We can be civil adults.” I brush a loose lock of hair out of my face. “Now, do you want me to deliver the order or not?” I give her a fake smile. One that she can totally read based on her reaction. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
“Good.” She nods behind her. “Everything is almost ready to go. Just need to finish the hash browns.”
“It’s nice you’re making them breakfast,” I say, starting to pack everything into boxes to make it easier to carry.
“You think I’m doing this for free? Kade called me this morning requesting food. I’m happy to oblige for any paying customer.” She snorts at me. “Now, make sure to get a good tip for me.”
She winks at me as I shoulder open the back door to the delivery van.
It doesn’t take much to amp up my nerves as Betty comes outside to pass over the last bit of food. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Kade since the other night.
Since he attacked my mouth with his.
I wish I could say it didn’t affect me, but it did. It rearranged every cell in my body.
When Kade left all those years ago, I was able to put him behind me. Eventually.
I tried to make things work with Paul. Things were good the first few years. We clicked. I was happy. We were happy.
Until things started to change. He became too wrapped up in work. Wanted to keep climbing the ladder to take over my dad’s company.
Now, it’s the biggest wedge between us. And now Kade is back and has stepped right into the mess that is my life.
As I start the van and head to the ranch, I try to push the thoughts of Kade out of my head. But how can I? He woke up emotions in me I haven’t felt in years. And having to tell him about Poppy? I guess I didn’t have to worry about telling him because he figured it out.
What’s going to happen now? It’s the thought that keeps plaguing me.
Poppy is the most important person in my life. I can’t lose her. I don’t know Kade anymore. What if he’s angry and wants to take her from me?
I crack the windows, letting the fresh mountain air in to help soothe my frayed nerves.
I wonder what would have happened if Kade had stayed to fight for us. If he hadn’t left town. Would we still be together? Would we be where we are now? At odds with one another?
Back when we first got together, I was so full of hope for our future. Every one of those dreams was dashed when he left.
Pulling under the gateway to the ranch, I follow the familiar road to the lodge. A few cars are in the guest parking lot, but it’s not busy like it used to be.
God, it’s been ages since I’ve been here.
I grab the large bags of food from the back of the truck and head inside.
“Hey, girl,” Joey greets me. “Is that lunch? I’m starving and Rex is still working on his new menu.”
Sam, the ranch hand, is standing behind her. I’ve seen him around town, but don’t know him that well.
“You know it.” I set the bags on top of the desk. “Is Kade around? I’m just going to let him know it was delivered.”
“I’ll take these to the dining room,” Sam says, interrupting us with a wink to Joey.
“Is that all you want to do?” She waggles her brows at me.
“Stop it.” I nudge her in the side before walking down the hall to the office. The door is cracked open, and Kade’s warm voice filters out.
“I know I only said I’d be gone for a few weeks, but I need to extend my time off.”
Time off?
I thought he was here for good.
“I don’t know. Could be a while.”
I’m only hearing his side of the conversation, so it’s hard to know what he’s discussing, but I think I get the gist.
“I’ll still be taking calls and meetings. No balls have been dropped yet. I understand. Maybe February?”
Does that mean what I think it means? That Kade won’t be here longer than a few months?
My stomach drops out at the thought of it. I don’t realize the call has ended until Kade is bumping into me in the hall.
“Presley. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, um, hi,” I stutter.
Kade is standing there in all his glory, in a tight plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Jeans stretching across his thighs. And that same damn hat that would make even the most saintly woman swoon.
“Did Betty send you up here to bring lunch?”
I nod. Suddenly my mouth is too dry to even speak.
“Do you need help bringing it in?”
“No.” I shake my head, clearing my throat. “It’s taken care of.”
“Good.” He scrubs a hand over the back of his neck. “I appreciate you taking care of it.”
“No problem.” Passing through the lobby, I take in the space. “Looks like you’ve made some good changes in here.”
“You think so?”
I nod. “I haven’t been here in years, but it looks good.”
A fresh coat of paint—the smell thick in the air—covers the walls. Photos of the ranch rest in shining frames. Even the wooden front desk has a new coat of varnish.
With the sun coming in through clean windows, it welcomes people to The Lost Spur.
“Thanks. It’s going to take a lot more than this to get this place where it needs to be.”
“Do you plan on sticking around to whip it into shape?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He flips his eyes back to me.
I come to an abrupt stop. “Relax. I don’t know what your plans are. I only imagine you have a life back home.”
“Right.” He turns away from me, closing himself off to any emotions.
He heads to the dining room and I follow. I go to help Joey arrange all the dishes and utensils. It gives me something to do with my hands.
There was a time when Kade stirred the opposite reaction in me. Being around him now? I want to get everything sorted here then leave with my tail between my legs.
People from the ranch—people I recognize—start filtering inside to grab plates and get lunch. I smile at them, trying to keep my nerves at bay.
But when Kade appears behind me, I startle.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Kade asks.
I nod, wiping my hands off and following him to a small alcove by the kitchen. “Is everything okay?”
“Look, Pres.” Kade rests his ass against a table, crossing his ankles as he faces me. “I want to know Poppy.”
I suck in a deep breath. I knew this would be coming. I didn’t know when, but I knew it would be. Because Kade is a good person, and why wouldn’t he want to know his daughter?
With everything else going on in my life, what’s one more complication?
“She doesn’t know you’re her dad,” I say. “There’s enough going on in her life right now.”
“What’s going on?” he questions.
I ignore the question—I don’t need to get into my separation and issues with my dad’s estate. “Enough that I don’t want to add more stress to her plate. I get you want to know her, but I decide when she learns the truth.”
His jaw ticks. He’s not happy, but he nods his head. “I guess I’ll take what I can get.”
“Why don’t I bring her by the ranch tomorrow? I have the day off with her.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it, Kade.” His name feels foreign on my tongue. “That’s the one nonnegotiable. You can’t tell Poppy who you are. If you’re not going to be sticking around—”
He stands, closing the distance between the two of us. “You keep saying that. I have responsibilities here now.”
I steel my spine, tilting my chin up to face him. I won’t back down from him. “You left once. Forgive me if I don’t exactly trust you.”
“And why did I leave, Presley?” He cocks his brow at me.
“It’s not my fault.” I poke a finger in his chest. “One minute you were here, the next you were gone.”
Tension swirls between the two of us. It’s that same feeling from the other night in the diner. Kade’s eyes dart down to my mouth. I don’t miss the way his tongue peeks out to wet his bottom lip.
How is it I can want someone who makes me so crazy? Except before either of us can close the distance between our mouths, a voice rounds the corner.
“Hey, boss?” comes a woman’s voice.
I jump back, hitting my back against the corner of the wall.
“Yeah?” Kade scrubs a hand down his face, turning away from me.
“You’re needed in the kitchen.”
“Everything okay?”
“New appliances are here and you need to sign for them.”
“Be right there, Reenie,” he says, his voice raspy.
Reenie’s gaze flits between the two of us. I rub the sore spot on my back as she leaves.
I clear my throat. “We’ll be over after lunch if that works.”
“Right.”
I brush past him, ignoring the heat emanating from him. Before I can get far, he grabs my arm. Sparks shoot through me.
“Presley?”
“Yeah?”
Meeting his gaze, there is a softness there now.
“I…thanks. Thank you.”
All I can do is nod and run out. Because anything else will trigger all of my emotions about Kade. About that day I found out I was pregnant and wanted nothing more than to tell him about it.
Kade now knows about Poppy.
I only hope he treats her like the precious gift that she is. I couldn’t take anything else.