Chapter 3
3
If I don’t fight against this, it could change me irrevocably. -Leah
Leah
I barely slept last night. Nothing new there, really. For the last two years, I’ve walked around like a living zombie, deprived of sleep, and haunted by nightmares. I wince and rub at my eyes again as the GPS tells me to go left again. I’m already winding up a steep mountain road and navigating the one narrow lane is hard as hell. It’s especially difficult when you’re totally out of it because you’re lacking sleep and trying to pull along a horse trailer with an agitated horse in it.
The British male voice I programmed for my navigator tells me to take one more left and then my destination will be straight ahead.
I glance around as I take that final left.
This ranch is up in the Appalachian Mountains, outside the small, quaint town of Holly Oaks, Georgia, and surrounded by a vast amount of natural beauty.
I breath in the clean, mountain air. At least this place feels peaceful. If nothing else, maybe I’ll feel some peace again.
My truck bounces along the bumpy dirt road it finally turns into a rough gravel driveway.
I lean forward, taking in my first glimpses of the ranch where I’ll be staying for however long it takes til…well, however long it takes.
The sight of green, rolling hills with livestock scattered here and there greets my eyes. I carefully steer the truck up the gravel hill, crossing under a large archway that reads Blackstock Ranch with a horseshoe hanging upside down.
I hear Stormy give another whinny. She hates being trapped in the small horse trailer and I can’t blame her. It’s been a long ride from Texas and we’re both done.
The large ranch-style house appears as if out of nowhere. It’s built like a log cabin but rambles and goes on forever. To the side, to the back, the house looks like a complicated maze because of all the additions. To my right, I spy a big horse barn that looks new and taken care of. On the other side, there’s a pasture where I spy some cows roaming and another barn.
I bite down on my lower lip. Up until now, I’ve been running on pure hope with very little time for self-doubt or my usual social anxiety. Now, I’m feeling the whole gambit.
We come to a stop in front of the large house, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. At least I didn’t’ kill myself or Stormy. There were a few times on the way up here I thought we were both going off the side of the mountain.
I cut the engine, open the door, and gingerly take a step down.
I’ve only got the one leg down on the gravel when I hear a deep voice. “Guess you would be Leah, huh? Saul’s rich goddaughter that he’s pawned off on me?”
My head swivels in the direction of the husky sound. My gaze starts at the muddy cowboy boots, then up long, muscle legs encased in tight jeans. I find myself staring a little too long at the crotch area, and then moving my roving eyes on up to a red and black plaid shirt, and finally landing on an amused, hardened face with the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re a deep forest green and for some reason the sight of them makes my heart gallop at a faster speed.
“That would be me,” I say with a twist to my lips and hard steel in my voice. This cowboy isn’t the first to tell me I’m not wanted. Probably won’t be the last either. “Thanks for the warm welcome.”
He does the same thing I just did and scans me from toe to head. I swear there’s heat in his green eyes when he finally says something back. “I hope you’re prepared to work hard. This won’t be easy.”
Those are the only words he says while walking over to the horse trailer to inspect Stormy. I hear him open the back of the trailer and speak to her in a gentle tone. Guess she gets more gentleness than I do.
He walks Stormy off the trailer without saying another word until finally he looks back at me.
“Well, you ready to work or not?” he growls.
I nod resolutely. This man has no idea. I’m going to work harder than anyone he’s ever seen.