Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Fisher
When Noah returns to the barn, she looks pissed.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
She shakes her head and looks at Ellie. “Someone covered the arena in nails. This was done on purpose. I’m so sorry, El.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Ellie reassuringly pats her back.
“Who the hell would do that?”
“I’m not sure. Tripp’s checkin’ the outside cameras. For now, we’re gettin’ it swept out. Mr. Weston’s on his way, so I’ll be in the corral double-checkin’ that too.”
After Noah leaves, I continue working on Ranger, but my mind stays on her. I feel awful for both of them. Noah loves her job, and it’s obvious she’s one hundred percent committed to her clients. Ellie loves Ranger and takes competing seriously.
The only thing I can do is give Ranger my best care and hope for the best.
Mr. Weston shows up thirty minutes later and determines the hoof is infected. Ranger can’t race until it’s fully healed, which could be a couple of weeks or several months.
“Poor baby. You’re gonna get all kinds of extra lovin’,” Ellie says, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“How long have you been competin’?” I ask in an attempt to distract her. I’m on his last hoof since I had to pause to let Mr. Weston look at him.
“Since I was thirteen, but Ranger was a gift for my sixteenth birthday. We’ve been inseparable since. I hate that we’ll have to skip the fundraiser event. I was lookin’ forward to beatin’ Marcia Grayson’s ass.”
I chuckle at the competitiveness in her voice. “I know the feelin’.”
“You used to race?”
“Rode bulls,” I clarify. “But there’d be times I’d have to take time off to heal after fallin’ or gettin’ stomped on. Not an easy career.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re a former bull rider?” Her tone lightens. “I bet you have the best stories!”
I chuckle and nod because she’s right. “It was many years ago. I did lots of stupid shit.”
“Like what?” Her eager voice makes it hard to ignore her.
“One night after drinkin’, a friend and I decided to go back into the arena and ride a bull drunk off our asses. You’d think my friend fallin’ off in two seconds and gettin’ stomped on woulda stopped me from doing it, but it didn’t.”
She laughs, keeping her attention on me as I walk to my rig to grab another shoe.
“Broke a couple ribs and my collarbone. Nearly lost all my sponsorships, too.”
“Oh my gosh. That sounds painful.” She speaks with awe, but nothing is admirable about what I did in those early years of my career.
“Not the worst pain I’ve experienced,” I mutter.
“What happened after that?”
“Took me three months to fully recover, and even when I did, I couldn’t ride the same. Had to take another month off before they’d let me back on.”
“What about your friend?”
“He wasn’t as lucky. Broke his scapula and never came back. His only sponsor dropped him, and he couldn’t afford it on his own.”
“Wow. How long did you compete?”
“From the time I was twenty-one to twenty-nine. After that, I got my farrier certification.”
“Do you miss it?”
“The lifestyle? No. The rush? Yes. But it was time to retire. I had two young kids and a wife at home always worryin’ about me. It was time I acted like a family man.”
“Where are your kids now?”
“Ellie, can I speak to Fisher for a minute?” Noah asks, thankfully appearing before I had to respond.
“Oh, sure! I’m gonna call my mom and let her know what’s goin’ on.” She gives Ranger a quick peck before leaving the barn.
“How long were you standin’ there?” I ask when we’re alone.
“Long enough to know I’m gonna kick your ass on the mechanical bull tomorrow night.”
I snort, shaking my head at her confidence. “You think the few times you’ve done it will be better than my decade of experience?”
“No, now I know all I gotta do is get you drunk, and I’ll win, no problem.”
I smirk, cleaning up my area now that Ranger’s hooves are done. After his Epsom salt soak and getting checked by the vet, I bandaged it. It’ll need to be soaked and cleaned daily until the wound heals.
“I’m the DD, remember?”
“You sure about that? My brothers can call an Uber or Lyft.”
“And how will you get home?” I ask, knowing how easy it’d be to just take her to my house and keep her for myself.
“I’ll call for my own. Unless you have a better idea?”
Her flirty tone has my dick growing hard. I live right outside of town, so a quick five-minute drive is all it’d take to bring her to my bed.
“You should let me drive you home so I know you’re safe,” I tell her instead of what I’m thinking.
Ellie returns before Noah can respond and takes Ranger to his stall. “I’m gonna stay with him for a little bit longer. Is that okay?”
Noah smiles. “Of course. Stay as long as ya want, and let me know if you need anything.”
Once Ellie leads Ranger back to his stall, I grab my clipboard to check who’s next.
“Are you takin’ your lunch break, or should I bring the next one?” she asks.
I hesitate before answering. “Are you takin’ one?”
She licks her lips as her gaze meets mine, a secret tell that she’s thinking the same thing I am. We’re not supposed to be spending time alone together.
“Probably since I can’t train until everything’s clean. Sweepin’ the trainin’ center will take my brothers at least an hour and another to level new dirt. Add in two more for their fuckin’ around. What’d ya have in mind?”
“Well, turns out I still need that retreat tour.”
She raises a brow. “And you want me to give it to you?”
“Who better than the ranch princess herself?”
“How’d I earn that name?”
I’d rather call her AJ or Goldie, but that’d breach our “friends only” agreement, considering it’d only make us think of our forbidden night together.
“Am I wrong? Seems you run shit ’round here.”
“Only the boarders,” she argues, grinning. “My brothers and parents run many other aspects of the ranch and retreat.”
“If you don’t wanna—”
“No, I will. But we should do it on horseback to get the true ranch experience. I can show you a couple of the popular trails, then, too.”
I hadn’t expected that, but I won’t deny time with her.
“Sure. I’ll clean up my supplies, and we can go.”
“My horse is at the family barn. You can ride one of ours.”
In my gut, I know this is a bad idea. The more time I spend with her, the more I want her.
But if we’re going to try out this “friends” thing and spend time with each other tomorrow night at the restaurant and bar, then I need to slap on my poker face and deal with it.
Unless Jase gives me his blessing and Noah’s parents lift the no employees fraternizing rule, we can’t be anything more. I didn’t spend years healing and overcoming mental trauma to cause more.
My dick stirs in disagreement.
Twenty minutes later, we’re riding side by side toward the retreat.
She points out from the ranch hand quarters, The Lodge, and the cabins.
In between are the trail horse barn and pasture, the pool, fishing pond, and firepit area.
People walk around and wave as we pass them.
Noah leads us around and up to the trail where they give tours.
She studies the view as her shoulders relax. “This is Sunset Trail. It’s a family favorite.”
“Why’s that?” I ask, trotting behind her.
She flashes a sly smile. “You’ll see. C’mon!”
With a little kick, she takes off, and I follow. Denver’s a quarter horse and one of the easiest horses I’ve been on. Not surprised since Noah trained him.
As we ride up the trail, I get a better view of the retreat on one side and the scenery on the other.
“It’s beautiful up here,” I say when I catch up.
“Just wait.” Noah jumps down and grabs Donut’s lead rope, and I do the same with Denver. “There’s a spot up here I wanna show you.”
The sun beats down on me, and sweat trickles down my neck, but I don’t care. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than up here next to her.
“Here.” Noah smiles at me when she glances over her shoulder. “You can see for miles.”
She ties Donut to a post, so I do the same with Denver.
Once the horses are secure, I take in the view—the tops of the trees, the ranch on one side and the retreat on the other, and of course, Noah standing next to me.
“I bet this never gets old,” I say.
“Never.” She turns and points at something behind me. “I brought Mallory here shortly after she moved in a couple years ago. I painted those rocks with her as a way to help her grieve and have a spot to come and talk to her mom and dad.”
She’s mentioned Mallory moving here before, but I didn’t know her parents died.
“What happened? If you don’t mind me askin’...” I admire how colorful and cheerful the rocks look.
“Car crash,” Noah says in a somber tone that has my heart aching.
I know all too well what it’s like to lose a loved one.
“At least they died together,” she adds. “That’s what helps us grieve.”
Noah sits on one of the rocks, and I take the one beside her.
“Poor Mallory. So young. Did she have any siblings?”
“No. Only child.” The corner of her lips tilts up slightly. “Now she has five older ones.”
“That was nice y’all took her in.”
“Wouldn’t have had it any other way,” she says, resting her hand between us. “They didn’t live ’round here, so Mallory had never ridden. She wanted to learn, and I knew it’d be therapeutic for her, so I gave her lessons.”
“And Miss Swift is her horse, right?” I put my hand next to hers, not quite touching but close enough to feel her warmth.
She laughs, crossing her legs and angling toward me so we’re even closer. “Yeah. We couldn’t talk her out of naming her Taylor Alison Swift, so we came up with a nickname when Ayden got tired of callin’ her the full name after the first day.”
I chuckle. “She’s lucky to have y’all. I woulda never guessed what she’s been through if I didn’t know.” My gaze finds hers as I scan her face. “Your family saved her.”
“I like to think we saved each other.” She breaks out into a smile as she stares out at the view. “Losin’ my aunt and uncle wrecked my momma. That was her sister. My dad was distraught, too. I’d never seen him cry until the funeral.”