Chapter 18
Miranda
“Have I thanked you yet? If not, thank you.”
I look up to where Joy is standing, watching me expectantly. She hasn’t gone out of her way to thank me, and honestly, it would be weird if she did. That’s just what we do here. If one of us notices someone else struggling, we jump in and help. No questions. No expectations.
“Um—you’re welcome?” It’s all I manage to get out.
“Relax,” she says with a laugh. “I just wanted to thank you for coming back. So, thanks.”
My grin spreads as I watch her, but I’m hit with an instant pang of guilt when I remember how I’d nearly refused Tate’s request. If I had, Joy would have been left doing all the work in the stables, no matter how hard it was on her.
Hopefully they’ll hire another person soon, so I can work on getting out of here.
Now that Hayden and I…crossed a line, there’s definitely no way I’ll move on if I still have to see him around.
“I’m glad Tate dragged me back. You don’t need to be working this hard…”
Joy adjusts her ponytail before taking a seat on a bale of hay in the corner.
It’s finally starting to warm up, and I swipe at the sweat beading on my forehead.
I meant what I said. I am glad to be back here.
Every day I worked at Wilber’s Daily Grocery, I wished I were hanging out with horses instead.
Dealing with their actual shit is better than the bullshit I had to face when working with people.
“Maybe we’ll have even more help. I guess we’ll see when Hayden gets here.”
Confused, I turn my head to look at her, but get distracted by movement at the other end of the stalls. In walks Hayden with what appears to be a teenage girl. She’s cute. Light brown skin, gorgeous curls. Coming just about to his shoulder, she’s only maybe an inch shorter than I am.
“Hey,” he says, his voice sounding more unsure than I’ve ever heard it before.
“Hey, yourself,” I respond, trying my best to sound chipper, even though I’m clearly the only one in the dark about something. “You brought help?”
He smiles at Joy and me. “This is Sierra. She’s my—”
He hesitates, and I swear my knees might buckle. If he says daughter, I might just lose it right here in front of everyone. Not because he has a child, but because he didn’t tell me. He doesn’t owe me his life story, but I thought we really connected on that trip. Beyond just the amazing sex.
“She’s my niece,” he finally finishes.
In all the years I’ve known him, I never heard him mention a niece. And I thought for sure he was an only child. My expression must mirror my thoughts because Hayden shifts on his feet before continuing to explain.
“She was—this is Lisa’s sister’s daughter.”
Lisa. His late fiancée. I shrug off the twinge of jealousy.
Lisa passed away. It doesn’t matter that she had something with Hayden that I never will.
There’s no way I should be jealous of her.
I try to remember that even as the devil on my shoulder reminds me that’s the only reason they aren’t together right now.
I reach out my hand. “Hi. I’m Miranda. I’m sorry he dragged you down here this early, but I promise we don’t bite.”
I let out a nervous chuckle. We don’t bite? Good grief. I continue to smile awkwardly as we shake hands, and I wonder who I can bribe to let me redo the past five minutes. Sierra tucks a stray curl behind her ear and smiles shyly.
“He didn’t drag me. I wanted to come. I love horses and the rodeo. I was hoping I could help out, or maybe watch some people practice,” she explains, her smile faltering just a bit.
“We’ll never turn down help,” Joy says from behind me. “Here. I’ll even let you use my shovel.”
Laughing, Sierra joins Joy in the next stall, seemingly forgetting about the rest of us. My focus returns to Hayden. His smile is wistful as he watches the two interact, and it causes my heart to stutter before picking up speed just a bit.
“Sierra’s mom passed away. She kind of just showed up yesterday. Her mom had asked us to be godparents when she was just a baby, but then she moved along, and we didn’t see them much. And then Lisa…”
He trails off, and I continue to watch Sierra and Joy. It’s no wonder he’d been looking at them with a somber expression. That poor girl. My chest aches just thinking about what she must be going through. It’s obvious Hayden feels the same.
“Poor girl. Do you two need anything? I’m sure you did fine yesterday, but you could have called me, you know. If you needed something…”
“Oh, yeah?” His tone is low and suggestive, sending a spark of heat to my center.
“Yeah.” I let the meaning linger in the air.
This is the opposite of keeping him at a distance, but I’m powerless to stop it. I’ll be out of here soon enough, anyway. A little flirting can’t hurt.
Hayden clears his throat before bringing the conversation back to where it was supposed to go.
“So, anyway, yeah. She just got here, and I know nothing about teenage girls, so I just might take you up on that offer. I only saw her really smile for the first time when I mentioned I’d be coming here this morning. ”
Dammit. I do not need to see this side of Hayden. He’s already impossible to resist, and seeing him genuinely care about this girl he doesn’t even know is doing something to my insides. Swallowing hard, I do my best to ignore my body’s reaction.
“Well, I certainly don’t know anything about teenage girls either,” I say with a laugh.
Hayden smiles and scrubs a hand over his beard. “Yeah, well, at least you’ve been one before.”
“This is true. Anyway, she’s welcome to tag along with me anytime. I’m sure Tate and Joy won’t mind. Beats her sitting in the house with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company while you’re here.”
I turn back around and finish mucking the stall before I can continue to get wrapped up in Hayden. When he smiles at me, my brain stops functioning. I forget who I am and what I’m supposed to be doing. I forget that what happened at Silver Fox Ranch was a one-time thing.
Shoving those thoughts away, I pretend not to watch him walk away before I get back to the task at hand.
Sierra and Joy are doing their own thing, so I pop my earbuds in and lose myself in music as I work.
It feels almost like it used to, before I was too worried about avoiding Hayden to enjoy the job I’ve always liked.
Even when my thoughts drift back to Hayden, they aren’t accompanied by the pain that used to follow.
A smile tugs at my lips as I imagine how out of his element he must have been when Sierra showed up.
I can’t explain it, but even though I’m sure she must be devastated after losing her mother, she seems happy as she works alongside Joy.
And I vow to myself to do whatever I can to keep her that way, even if it means spending more time around Hayden and having to pretend like nothing happened between us.
If she wants to spend time here with the horses, feeding them and cleaning out stalls instead of sitting alone at Hayden’s place, that’s fine with me.
Like Joy said, we’ll never turn down extra hands.