Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Alice
Caleb scowled at me when I brought up going home the next morning. Really, he’d gone above and beyond for me— way above and beyond. I wasn’t in imminent danger of falling into a coma. And I had a library to run.
But Caleb wouldn’t even entertain the idea of me leaving. Nor did he think I should be on my own yet. That was how I ended up shadowing him while he worked the ranch.
The sun was peeking over the hills when we headed out to the barn. I was wearing Jesse’s boots and sweats, and one of Caleb’s flannels. I looked absolutely ridiculous. When Caleb saw me in my outfit, he’d patted my head like a child.
“Stay close.” The muscles in his back flexed as he pushed open the barn doors. “Don’t need you getting trampled.”
I laughed, careful not to jostle my sore ribs too much. “No. Getting trampled is the last thing I need.”
He shot me a smirk, then guided me to sit on an overturned bucket before he got to work alongside a few other men. Despite their curious looks my way, he hadn’t introduced me to them. And that was fine. I wasn’t much in the mood to talk to strangers anyway.
I watched him check feed bins, heft bales of hay like they weighed nothing, and swing saddles over horses’ backs in one smooth motion. He brushed down a palomino mare, his hands firm and sure on her sleek flank, and I wondered if he’d let me ride her. Not today, obviously, but one day.
At one point, he turned and caught me staring. “Are you bored yet?”
“Not at all. Actually…it’s kind of fascinating.”
His brow furrowed, like he didn’t believe me. “It’s just work, Alice. Nothing special.”
I grinned. “Well, to me it is. I’ve only read about ranchers. This is my first time experiencing one in real life.”
He put his dirty hands on his hips and stared for a long beat before nodding. “Then we’ll have to give you the full experience.”
He took me out in a UTV, driving at a snail’s pace over bumps and bends.
When he continuously slid his gaze over to me, I suspected his low speed was for my sake, but I didn’t complain.
Not when I was still so achy all over and there was a low throb in my temples.
The fresh air was doing me good, though, and I couldn’t take in my surroundings quickly enough.
The Kelly ranch was something out of the old Westerns I used to read.
This land was rugged and raw. Yellowed grass stretched for miles, brittle under the summer sun, dotted with clumps of sagebrush and the occasional wiry bush clinging to life.
Rocks jutted up from the earth, their edges worn smooth by wind and time.
We drove past herds of cattle spread out across the plains, their dark bodies stark against the pale grass. Some picked their way carefully around the rocks, others stood huddled under the scant shade offered by a lone tree, its leaves fluttering in the late spring breeze.
Dust billowed behind us as Caleb steered around a rut, the UTV bouncing over the uneven terrain. It was harsh country. Unforgiving, sunbaked, and vast. It was beautiful, too, in a way that made my chest ache. This land made me feel small, in the best way possible.
I glanced at Caleb as he navigated the rough terrain, one hand loose on the wheel, the other resting on his thigh. He made sense here, like he’d been born from this rugged land. As he slowed to check a broken fence post, I couldn’t stop the bloom of heat that unfurled in my chest.
“I’m going to put you to work,” he stated.
“Oh yeah?” I held up my cast. “Are you sure I can handle it?”
“Think you can hold a nail?”
I grinned. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure I can manage that.”
He motioned me over to him. “Then get over here. The day’s wasting.”
With surprising eagerness in my belly, I climbed out of the UTV and went to where he was standing by a sagging section of fence.
He gave me a bundle of nails to hold, the calloused pads of his fingers brushing my palm.
Every time I passed him one, his fingers slid along mine, making my breath stutter.
I decided not to think about my feelings today.
My brain was supposed to be resting, after all.
Instead, I let the steady motion of pass, hammer, pass, hammer soothe me.
I didn’t think I was cut out to be a rancher full time, but there was something to be said for spending the day outdoors, working with your hands, and seeing the results of your labor immediately.
Caleb paused often, checking on me with quiet glances, handing me his water bottle before I could ask. The air was still cool, but the sun was high. Sweat beaded at his temples and ran down the column of his neck, disappearing under the collar of his shirt.
I tried not to stare, but…wow. Caleb, in his natural environment, was the most compelling thing I had ever seen. The breeze whipped his brown hair into streamers. His massive boots were planted in the soil like he’d grown out of this ground—like he was one of the sandstone outcroppings.
I turned away, swallowing hard. Enough of that.
After checking the rest of the fence line, we headed back toward the barn. When he stopped the vehicle, he turned to me, one hand draped over the wheel. “You hungry, Allie?”
No one had ever called me Allie. I guessed this was going to be Caleb’s thing. And I…didn’t mind it. Not even a little bit.
“I’m getting there.”
“Come on.” He jerked his chin in the direction of his house in the distance. “We’ll grab something then I need to check the north pasture.”
He fed me sandwiches—two, just like I’d eaten yesterday—then took a long look at me. Whatever he saw made him nod a few times.
“You’re staying here the rest of the day.”
I raised a brow. “I am?”
“Yep. The terrain is rougher up north. I can’t have your brain getting jostled around.”
That made me laugh a little. “Can’t get trampled, can’t get jostled, what can I do?”
Caleb guffawed, low and rumbly. “You can take it easy, that’s what.” He gave my head another pat. “I’ll be back in a few hours. You give me a call if you need me before then, and I’ll head right back.”
“I’ll be fine.” Then I decided to tease him again, since I liked hearing him laugh. “But I don’t know what you’ll do without your nail holder.”
He gave me exactly what I’d been hoping for—another roll of thunderous laughter. “I’ll have to make do as best I can.” His smile softened. “See you in a while, Allie. Be good.”
“See you, Caleb.”
That night went much like the one before, except Caleb took a call from Jesse. I listened in as they talked about his day at school. He mentioned I’d been absent from the library, which was a rarity, and told his dad my assistant, Roberta, had said I was sick. Caleb assured him I was probably fine.
I’d never been close with my dad. He’d worked a lot, and when he hadn’t been at the office, he’d only had enough bandwidth for one of his daughters.
Silla’s illness had been like a black hole, sucking up our parents’ time, attention, and affection.
I couldn’t blame her for that. None of it had been her fault.
I couldn’t really blame my parents either.
Having a sick child…well, I couldn’t imagine.
I hadn’t needed them with the same urgency, so they hadn’t looked my way.
I couldn’t picture Caleb ever turning away from Jesse. Not with how zeroed in he was during their conversation. The questions he asked, the way he nodded along with the stories Jesse was telling on the other end of the line.
After he hung up, Caleb set his phone aside and turned to me. “Are you feeling up for a little reading tonight?”
“I’d really love that.” Such an understatement.
We settled in our corners of the couch, and he grabbed the book from where he’d set it on the side table.
He flicked on the lamp, casting the room in a golden glow, and started reading where we’d left off.
His gravelly baritone drew me in. Outside, the wind rattled against the windowpanes, but in here, it was warm and still.
I watched him more than I listened to the words. The way his mouth moved as he read. The crease between his brows when he concentrated. Every once in a while, he glanced at me, like he was checking to see if I was following along. I always was. Just…not the story.
I was following him.
I tucked my knees under the blanket he’d given me and leaned my head against the back cushion. I could get used to nights like this.
And that was the problem.
This wasn’t my home. This wasn’t my life. Caleb was being kind because that was who he was. Soon, this house, with Caleb reading to me, dinner dishes drying in the sink, the sound of the horses in the distance, would be nothing more than a really good memory.
I’d leave tomorrow even if Caleb fought me on it. If I stayed any longer, if I let myself slip any deeper into this cozy cocoon, it would hurt to claw myself back out of it.
I closed my eyes, letting his voice roll over me. Tomorrow, I’d go home and get back to my life. I would let myself have this one more night.