A Rainfall Promise (Sierra Rose Ridge #5)

Chapter 1

Jose

Ihated crowds.

I hated people.

And because of that, I was labeled the town grouch.

But you know what?

That didn’t bother me.

I welcomed it.

Want to know why?

Because people left me the hell alone. Me and my ranch. I didn’t need anyone.

“And over here,” someone said, her town far too cheerful for my liking, “is the center spot of town. This is where the folklore of this beautiful town came to be, it’s also home of the gossip mill, just ask any of the Abuelita’s that live around here, they’ll tell you anything you need to know.”

“Ah, hell,” I muttered, taking my hat off and running my fingers through my hair before slapping my hat back on.

The last person I wanted to deal with was this woman. Someone who was young and thought she knew absolutely everything about this area.

“And folks, here is one of our town’s legends, Jose Vasquez, owner of Red Mesa. Say hi to the folks, Jose,” Vicky called out, making me grind my teeth.

This was one of the main reasons why I hated coming into town, especially now. It was always a chore before, but now more so with her. She thought she had the right to butt into people’s business because she was this tour guide or something.

But she didn’t.

And most certainly not mine.

I tipped my hat to the people, but my gaze stayed locked with hers. She knew exactly the buttons she was pushing and the smirk on her face told me everything; she was enjoying this.

“All set, Jose,” the young man said, loading the last of the feed in my car.

“Thanks,” I grumbled, watching Vicky drive off with the tourists. I had a load of work to do and the last thing I needed was to be held up by her or her stories that were based on nothing but lies. Or, well, mostly lies.

Vicky had no idea about the land or the history here. I’ve lived here my whole life and never once saw her around. And trust me, even as a grouch and keeping to myself, I knew the people in these parts.

I finally climbed up into the bed of my truck, needing to feed my cows, fix some fencing lines, and about a million other things on the ranch. And all before the storm clouds rolled in this afternoon.

I backed out, checking around me, before pulling out onto the main street, then taking the turn to get to my ranch.

Three hours later, I wiped the sweat from my brow, the sun beating down on me.

There was nothing like a desert sun to make you go crazy.

The heat was intense, and even being at a higher elevation, it was still incredibly hot.

And don’t even get me started on summer.

The only blessed reprieve was the monsoon seasons we had.

It brought the rain, but also brought humidity, making you feel like taking three showers a day wasn’t even enough to cool you down.

I turned to glance over my land as I took a deep drink of water, stopping as I saw the woman I loathed riding over to me on a horse.

My eyes trailed over her form, the way she gave the horse the lead but still held him under control. And maybe my appreciation went up a notch. It had to be why a smile tugged at my lips and not how damn good she looked sitting in the saddle.

“Vicky,” I drawled, crossing my arms and leaning against a fence post. I’ll ask how the hell she got on my land soon enough.

“Jose,” she called, pulling the horse to a stop before me.

“Dare I even ask how you got here?”

“Horse,” she said, patting the beautiful brown neck.

“I mean, who let you on my land?”

“Some hands were leaving and pointed me in the direction that you were.”

“You know, getting information out of you is like pulling teeth, fucking hard. What do you want?”

She beamed at me, as if she was only out here to bug the shit out of me and was doing a good job of it.

“Summer is rolling in,” she announced, as if I couldn’t feel the change of temperature. I was older, but not dumb or senile.

“Your point?” I prodded, making her get on with it. Usually, people backed away from my grouchiness, saying I was too much of a dick to deal with, but not Vicky.

“There’s going to be more tourists than ever. The storms are supposed to be amping up like crazy this year and it wouldn’t hurt to have a few more locals around to offer up some stories, some legends.”

“You mean, raz and daz the tourists? Barking up the wrong tree, Feliz.”

The name should have been a cut down, but it wasn’t. Because it suited her. This woman was far too cheerful for my nature.

“What have you got to lose? Red Mesa has been around for ages, and it’s always supported the community. You get your hands on it and it’s like no one hears from you. Why is that? Why can’t you be part of the area like your Abuelito was? Now that was a good man who had friends and helped out.”

“What do you know about my ranch, little girl? Or my family? You think you can come riding into this town, knowing anything about Sierra Rose Ridge, but you don’t know anything.

So, stop pretending that everything you read in a book is going to be the truth out here.

Right now, you’re just playing cowgirl to a world you know nothing about. ”

Her eyes narrowed and I fought my triumphal grin.

“I know far more than you will ever think, Jose. And that’s pretty sad. This ranch has been passed down to every male in the family, and yet, your dumbass is going to die alone because you refuse to let anyone in and you’ll have no male heirs to pass it on to.”

With that, she called to her horse, turning right around, and riding off, her shirt billowing behind her, and holy shit, watching her storm away was a sight to behold.