Chapter 2
two
K ristie Higgins had hallucinated. Straight-up gone into fantasy-land. Otherwise, how else would she be standing inside the lobby of the administration barn, holding hands with Mission Redbay?
The warmth of his skin against hers sent a shiver through her body, and she quickly released his hand, suddenly aware of how forward she’d been. No fantasy-land. Just her asserting herself in probably an unwelcome way.
She reminded herself that Mission had picked her up off the floor of the barn and carried her across the farm to his house, fed her, and then insisted he drive her back to her van.
Months ago , she told herself. They’d been friendly enough since then, but Kristie didn’t truly know Mission. He made it very difficult for someone to get to know him.
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry,” she said, taking a step back. “I shouldn’t—you don’t have to tell me anything.” She watched his eyes, noting how he didn’t look away from her. He didn’t flush or duck his head. “I thought maybe you needed a moment.”
Mission’s dark eyes fired with emotion, which Kristie actually liked.
He’d been such an enigma, this mystery cowboy that had spent so much time camped out in her head.
Seeing him show emotions made him so much more human, more relatable, and she settled her weight on her back leg to put a bit more distance between them.
“It’s okay,” he said so softly it almost sounded like a hum. “I’m okay.”
Kristie nodded, unsure of what to say next. She’d acted on impulse, wanting to comfort this man she barely knew but felt inexplicably drawn to. Now, standing alone with him, a flutter of nervousness assaulted her stomach. “Okay, well, it’s your party.”
“My parents—it’s complicated.”
“Most families are.”
“Can I tell you another time?”
“Of course. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.” She’d simply wondered if his parents would be joining the party when his grandfather had.
“It’s fine,” he said, but it didn’t feel like it was.
He turned and looked over his shoulder and then faced her again.
Everything about him, from his neatly trimmed beard to the energy in his eyes to that sexy navy jacket, called to her, which surprised her so much.
She hadn’t liked him much in the past, and now she found herself hoping he’d ask her to dinner.
“I should get back,” he said. “I think Deac’s gonna make an announcement and everything, as if everyone here doesn’t already know tomorrow is my first day as the foreman.”
Kristie nodded, a twinge of disappointment winging its way through her guts.
“Right, of course. Let’s go back.” She wasn’t sure what people would think if they saw her and Mission sneaking out of this barn.
Part of her wanted to go down the long hallway and out the back, where she could rejoin the party without all the eyes on her.
She didn’t normally mind having people look her way, but she knew Mission did, and she didn’t want to cause him any issues.
“I’m just going to head to the restroom really quick.” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll see you out there, okay?”
Mission met her gaze again, and he saw right through her, she knew. “Okay,” he said.
Kristie held her head high as she walked in the opposite direction, trying not to feel like she was scampering away from the gorgeous cowboy.
Once she made it back outside, Kristie stood in the shade of the tent, out of the way but still part of the party. She wasn’t a Hammond, but she knew all of them. She’d been coming to Pony Power and the farm for a few years now, and she’d been to Travis and Poppy’s farm as well as Mike and Gerty’s.
“You okay over here?” a man asked, and Kristie turned toward Keith Whettstein. He smiled at her and added, “You won’t drive all the way to Blackhorse Bay, will you?”
She grinned at him and leaned in for a hug. “I’m not sure where that is.” She glanced over to the woman at his side, and she knew they’d gotten married a couple of years ago, but Kristie couldn’t remember her name.
“Have you met my wife, Lindsay?” Keith asked.
“I’m not sure.” Kristie shook her hand, her smile as wide as possible. “So tell me where Blackhorse Bay is.”
“It’s a big boarding stable about an hour north of here.”
“Not as far as Tuck’s place,” Kristie said. “I’d come if you needed me.” She glanced back out to the party and then focused on Keith again. “You’re telling me a ‘big boarding stable’ doesn’t have a vet on-staff?”
“We have two,” Lindsay said. “But one of them is having a baby next month, so we’re looking for someone else.”
“A full-time position?” Kristie met Lindsay’s gaze. “I own a roaming veterinary office. I have appointments at various ranches and farms every day, with emergency appointments available same-day.”
“My dad says you’re great.”
“His mom too.”
“She is great.”
Kristie got whipped over to the third voice in the conversation, and now Mission stood there. He gave her a smile and stepped into Keith and Lindsay at the same time. “I sure miss you around here, brother.”
Keith laughed, and Kristie even heard Mission issue a chuckle. “Maybe I’ll come back if I can work for you.”
“Nah.” Mission shook his head. “You’ve got such a great gig at Blackhorse.” He nodded over to Kristie next. “She’s a great vet, but you can’t steal her from us forever.”
The way he spoke about her sent warmth spreading through her chest. She didn’t want to melt into the compliment, but she found herself smiling, ducking her head, and tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Maybe just in a pinch,” Keith said. “Bart’s been having a hard time finding a full-time vet.”
“I can give you my number,” Kristie said.
“Yeah, sure.” Keith smiled at her, and then someone tapped on a live mic.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Deacon said. “Cowboys and cowgirls.” He grinned, which Kristie didn’t see him do often either. She felt nothing for the cowboy standing several yards away, but the moment she looked at Mission, every cell in her body rioted.
The crowd quieted, all eyes turning to Deacon. Hunter stood nearby, but he also held his wife’s hand, both of them smiling at Deacon. Kristie glanced at Mission, noticing the way he straightened his posture, his jaw tightening slightly.
“We’re here tonight to celebrate two very important things,” Deacon continued. “First, the retirement of a man who has been the backbone of this ranch for so many years. Matt Whettstein, would you please c’mon over here?”
Applause erupted as Matt made his way to the center of the tent, his weathered face creased in a broad smile. Deacon clapped him on the back as he reached him, and the two of them spoke to each other, with the mic out to the side so it wasn’t broadcasted to the crowd.
Matt stepped back and wiped his eyes, and Deac lifted the mic back to his mouth.
“Matt has been more than just a foreman,” Deacon said, his voice filled with emotion.
“He’s been a friend, a mentor, and a part of our family.
Heck, he’s been here longer than I have.
” He grinned at Matt as several people laughed and agreed.
Kristie didn’t know the whole history of the Hammond Family Farm, but she knew Matt had come to the farm as the foreman every summer when Deacon’s parents went north.
“Matt, we can’t thank you enough for your years of dedication and hard work here at the Hammond Family Farm.” Deacon handed him an envelope, which seemed way too small for Matt’s big hands. He then passed Matt the mic, and he looked around the crowd for a moment.
“I can’t find my wife.”
“Right here,” Gloria called from back by the front of the barn.
Matt nodded, his throat working as he swallowed several times.
“It’s been my honor to work for the Hammond family for so long.
Some of them know this, and my kids definitely know this, but this job saved me.
It saved my kids’ lives, and it provided a new start for Gloria and I that we needed so badly. ”
He glanced around and nodded to various people, including Travis Thatcher, Cord Behr, Hunter, Deacon, his own brother, Mike, Joseph, and finally, Mission.
He said nothing, and yet the air carried an emotional charge that had Kristie tearing up. Why, she had no idea. Perhaps seeing such camaraderie and loyalty and love simply reminded her that the world still had good people living in it.
“The Hammond family has become my family, and I can’t wait to spend more free time with some of you.” He grinned then, and extended his arm toward Mission. “And I know I’m leaving the ranch in extremely good hands.”
Mission marched over to Matt, his legs barely bending as he did. He looked like he might start yelling at any moment, and then he stepped into Matt and hugged him. He softened then, and again, the two men talked without anyone else being able to hear them.
Deacon took the mic back, and Matt stood next to Mission, his arm around the man’s shoulders.
“Which brings me to our second celebration,” Deacon said.
“As one chapter ends, another begins. I’m thrilled to be the Hammond who gets to announce that Mission Redbay is the new foreman here at the farm, and we’re all really excited to keep working with him. ”
He extended the mic to Mission, who looked at it like it had turned into a rattlesnake. Kristie ducked her head to hide her smile, because the thought of Mission making a speech was laughable.
Mission simply leaned over and said, “Thanks, everyone. I’m going to do my best.” Then he straightened and looked straight at her. She grinned and grinned, and she started to clap along with everyone else.
The applause swelled up and up, a few cowboys adding whoops and hollers to the noise, and Mission’s face turned an adorable shade of red Kristie would like to see again.
His words had been sincere, if simple, and Kristie whooped as the applause started to die down.
“Please, everyone, eat as much as you can,” Deacon said. “We have so much food.”
Mission got surrounded by friends and the cowboys he worked with, and since Kristie wasn’t on the staff here at the farm, she felt slightly removed from everyone.
Thankfully, one of the counselors at Pony Power, a woman named Hannah, looped her arm through Kristie's and said, “Come get something to eat with me.”
“Yes, I’m starving,” Kristie said, grateful to have a friend to go with.
“How are things at the office?” Hannah asked.
“Good.” Kristie worked out of a home office to schedule her appointments at the farms and ranches where she worked. “I’m taking tomorrow off, in fact. I’m going to go through the files in my office and get everything put away.”
“You’ll be happy about that.” Hannah grinned and picked up a plate.
“Yeah.” Kristie kept her smile on her face as she moved down the table behind her friend, but she seriously wondered if her life’s happiness had come to her cleaning up her client files in the spare bedroom of her house.
Holy cow , she thought. Because it had.
As she sat at one of the checkered-cloth covered tables, she couldn’t help but keep glancing at Mission. He seemed more at ease now, laughing with some of the other ranch hands and accepting handshakes from what seemed like the same people as before.
“Mind if I join you?”
Kristie looked up to see Mission’s grandfather standing beside her table, a plate of food shaking in his hands.
She jumped to her feet and took his plate. “Of course not,” she said, pulling out the chair in front of him. “Please, sit with us.”
“Mission can have that spot,” the older man said as he went around the chair and sat.
Kristie put his plate in front of him and glanced over to Mission.
She found he’d moved to the buffet, and he’d have his food in only a few minutes.
Surely he’d know to come sit with his grandfather, and Kristie's pulse rioted at the thought of eating with him.
“I’m Ted,” he said, extending a hand. “Mission’s grandfather.”
“Kristie.” She shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ted.”
“Kristie,” Ted repeated thoughtfully. “Are you a veterinarian?”
“Yes, sir.” She smiled at him. “How did you know that?”
“My grandson’s mentioned you,” Ted said without revealing much else.
Kristie blinked, not sure what to make of that. “Oh, I didn’t realize he talked about me.”
Ted chuckled and picked up his fork. “Don’t worry, it’s all good things. Though between me and you, I think?—”
“Grandad,” Mission said as he sank into the chair between Kristie and Ted. “I hope you’re not tellin’ stories you shouldn’t.” He turned away from Kristie to look at his grandfather, then cut her a look out of the corner of his eye.
Kristie's heartbeat skipped over beats as she thought about what Ted would’ve said. Or maybe that was the scent of Mission’s cologne—a mix of cedar wood, something spicy, and a touch of delicious male. Or that mighty fine jacket.
“I was just telling Kristie here that I think you’re sweet on her.”
Kristie sucked in a breath, and Hannah coughed once, then started to laugh. Mission sat there, his face absolutely stoic. He seemed to have frozen; his chest didn’t even rise and fall.
After a few seconds, where both she and Hannah stared at Mission and his grandfather simply ate a few bites of his cole slaw, Mission turned toward Ted. “You know what? I kind of am.”
Kristie pulled in another breath, surprised she still had room in her lungs for more air.
She and Mission had texted plenty of times in the past six months, but always about work.
And moving forward, she expected to keep dealing with Gloria, but she’d have to copy him on the important things, because that was what she’d done with Matt.
He turned toward her, glancing over to Hannah before clearing his throat and meeting her eye. “I’ve been thinkin’ about asking you to dinner.”
“You’ve been thinking about it?” she asked, surprised her voice worked at all. “Or you’re doing it?”
The heat in his eyes turned into a glare. “I’m hoping you’ll be free for dinner soon,” he said. “With me. Dinner with me.” He looked over to his granddad. “See what you made me do?”
Kristie smiled, especially when Ted bickered back with him. Her curiosity about their relationship soared, and her pulse roared at her. She’d hoped he’d ask her out in the barn, and now he’d finally done it.
But she’d been hurt before, and getting involved with someone she worked with had never turned out well for her. Suddenly, everything felt exactly as Mission had said in the barn—complicated.
Mission turned back to her, his expression now a mix of hope, nerves, and irritation, and Kristie knew her next words could change everything between them. She cast a look over to Hannah, who nodded encouragingly.
Then she opened her mouth and prayed the right thing would come out.