Chapter 17
Riley
Did I sleep last night? No. Do I care? Also no. I’m giddy. Bustling with excitement. Ready to see what Lilly thinks about this.
I march my happy butt up the stairs to her office. She’s talking with someone on the phone, her usual MO, since she hates texts, and she waves me in when she sees me.
She hangs up, sliding the phone away. “Good morning, Riley.”
“Lilly,” I reply, unable to control my smile.
“You’re unusually chirpy today.”
“I have things to show you,” I gush.
“Ok, sit. Show me.”
I drop the stack of papers I’ve been carrying with me.
“I took inventory.” I hand her the piece of paper with all the numbers and details.
I was able to create a spreadsheet, color-coded, of course, just like she prefers, and it’s beautiful, so I had to print it too.
“I also emailed it to you and gave you access so you can modify anything at any time.”
“This is great. Thanks. I’ll use it to order the supplies.”
I all but squeal. “No need! I already did. They will be here next week. Perfect timing for when the counselors start coming in.”
“Really?”
“Yup! I also emailed you the receipt. I used the card on file. I hope that was okay.”
“That works. Thank you.”
Thank you? She’s thanking me? It’s already going better than expected, and she hasn’t even seen it.
“What is this then?” she asks.
“This is what I wanted to show you! Open it, open it!” I clap, and she laughs. Okay, Lils, I see you. We’re in a good mood today.
She takes her time, perusing through names, dates, and times as the pages pull her in, line by line, her eyes tracking from left to right, top to bottom, before turning the page.
I hold my breath, following along and praying what she sees is something she likes.
I grip my thumb between my fingers, but I refuse to utter a word.
The room blurs at the edges as my heart hammers against my ribs, waiting for her reply.
“Riley, this is—” Her words float between us, drastically tugging at my heartstrings in the hope this unusual tone is positive. “When did you do this?”
“Last night.” I shrug, careful not to show a reaction. I don’t want her to tell me she likes it just because I’m excited. I want the truth.
“It must have taken you all night.”
Yes. “Not that long,” I lie.
Please tell me you like it.
Please tell me it was worth it.
Please tell me you can use this.
Her shoulders drop as she lets out a breath. “This just took so much off of my plate, you have no idea.”
“Really?”
“Yes. This is perfect and so creative.”
I thought so too, but the fact she thinks it is makes my heart fill with pride.
“Thank you. This is really good.” She frowns.
Oh no. No, no, no. Go back to Happy Lilly. Why are you upset? What did I fuck up?
“How did you know?” she asks.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry, I didn’t ask if I could do the scheduling.
I just overheard you the other night, and it sounded like you had a lot going on.
Then Willa had said before that the ranch and the camp were struggling, and I thought that maybe if we had something different to offer this year, we could revamp marketing a bit to make it better and more enticing, and that way, we can try to increase the enrollment.
I know if enrollment is low, then we can’t pay for things, and I know there’s not much I can do, but I can do this, I can help this way, or so I thought. I did it, but if you hate—”
“Riley!” she snaps.
“What?”
“Get out of your head! You’re fine. It’s great. I think this might help a lot. More than you think. Thank you for taking the initiative.”
“You’re not mad then?”
She shakes her head. “No, this is truly incredible. Brilliant.”
Brilliant?
She walks around her desk and opens her arms to me as she gets closer with each step.
Is she?
Lilly wraps me in her arms, making me melt into them immediately. I want to cry. This is how good a hug this is. And Lilly initiated it? She must sense how much I needed it, how much I needed to know she was happy with the results.
With what I did.
“I know how much work this was. I’m proud of you, Riley,” she says. Her praise is worth more than any medal. Any award. Who needs to be valedictorian when I can have my oldest sister be proud of me for once?
Proud.
She’s proud.
I sniffle.
“Okay, this is when I’m done,” Lilly adds, holding my shoulders and smiling down at me.
We might be the same height, but I feel tiny next to her.
I may complain that she’s overbearing and overall too strict, and she might be after all, but she’s also so strong and awe-inspiring.
She does so much for this place and our family, and I could never carry it all as effortlessly as she does. I just wish she was happier.
“I have to get back to work.”
I nod, walking backwards with a smile that will be impossible to erase once I get out of here. Lilly is proud of me.
“And Riley?” Her voice whips my eyes to her immediately.
“Yes?”
“Thanks again!”
I hum in agreement, skipping out, feeling like I’m ten feet tall. All I want to do is run and tell Dom, because he might be the grump next door, but he’s also the one person I have here I can talk to.
I think of all the times I relied on someone else, mostly Saylor, the former best friend, but talking to Saylor would mean asking her about racing, and that’s a sore subject in all senses of the word, opening the door to more hurt from both sides.
Only the white light of the moon beaming through my window and the growl of my stomach are indicators of how long I’ve been here painting.
It’s a little past nine, and I haven’t stopped since this morning.
Looking for Dom ended up being a crapshoot.
He wasn’t anywhere I thought I could find him, so I’ve been waiting for him to show back up so I can tell him about today.
Now, I’m hangry, so I’m calling it quits on the painting, satisfied with my progress today. When the idea sparked of painting the ranch, I knew it was going to take time, not realizing it would take me a whole day just on the sky.
It’s alright, though. I have all summer. The great thing about making a giant pot of soup is that there’s plenty left over. I grab my bowl and a spoon and sit in the rocking chair, taking the night in. I don’t know how I ever got bored in this place when there’s always so much to see.
I’m lost in thought and my soup when high beam truck lights interrupt me. Dom’s back. It’s so late, even for him, so I hope everything’s fine.
I’m sure it is. It’s not like he owes an explanation or anything. And, oh my God, maybe he has a girlfriend in town or something, and that’s why he was out late the night I came back and ran out of gas.
You silly girl, Riley. You thought he might be interested? As if. He probably has some thirty-year-old woman with their shit together and a regular job who keeps him warm on nights like this.
His job is tedious and long, so no wonder he doesn’t see this mystery girl often, but I’m sure he has one. I’m positive.
He’s walking as if the world is heavy on his shoulders, though, eyes droopy, with dark circles under them.
“Well hello, cowboy!” I startle him, but he smiles lazily at me. I’ll take it.
“Riley.”
Don’t ask him about where he was.
Don’t ask him about where he was.
“Why are you back so late?”
Damn it, Riley. He doesn’t owe you anything.
“I had a long day.”
“Dooooing?”
For the love of everything that is pink, Riley, shut up.
“Miss me?” he asks. Who is this man, and what did he do with the grump?
“Are you? Teasing me, Dominic?”
He shakes his head. “Trying and failing, apparently.”
My laugh dies in my throat when intense-as-the-night eyes meet mine. Just tell me you were with a woman so I can erase this stupid girl next door crush I have and take my dignity back to my cabin.
“It’s really none of my business, actually, so never mind,” I say. That didn’t sound petty at all.
“There’s a new mama in town,” he says.
Oh.
He had a baby?
He’s a dad?
Images of Dom with a baby cradled to his chest invade my brain, along with an overwhelming mix of feelings—joy, excitement, jealousy.
“Congratulations! I’m sure Lilly would understand if you have to stay the night with your wife.”
He shakes his head. “Wife?”
“Or girlfriend, whatever. Your baby mama?”
He laughs.
Oh my God.
A full-blown belly laugh. It reverberates in the space, taking over my skin with bumps, my stomach with a knot, my brain short-circuiting. He’s delirious with lack of sleep; that’s what it is, because this isn’t normal.
This man doesn’t laugh. And he definitely doesn’t laugh like this.
“My…baby mama?” he says in a fit of laughter.
“Um? Yeah?”
He shakes his head. “A heifer.”
Now he’s pissing me off. “Do not call the mother of your child a heifer.” I roll my eyes. This is not even any of my business. I’m about to go inside and just deal with his ass tomorrow.
“Riley, no!” He laughs again.
I cannot with him.
“A cow delivered earlier today, so technically—”
A cow?
“—she’s not a heifer anymore either, just hard to remember. I was keeping an eye on her because it was her first time, and she didn’t look too good.”
Oh my God.
A cow?
I cover my face with my hands.
“Please ignore me. I would love the Earth to swallow me whole now. Have a good night. Congratulations on your baby cow and all.”
“Calf,” he mutters.
“Same, same!”
Quick steps approach me as strong, golden brown hands wrap around my arm. “It was a misunderstanding, that’s all. I don’t have a baby mama, or wife, or girlfriend, and I definitely don’t have a baby.”
“That’s your business, Dom. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to intrude,” I whisper. But if it’s his business, why can I breathe easier now?
“I didn’t mean to laugh at you,” he says. “I was just taken aback. I’m tired. It’s been a long day, and it’s the first time I’m keeping watch over them myself. Last calving season, Arnie did it all.”
I don’t even know why I’m upset. It’s not like I have a right to his privacy or to his life.
I turn to face him. He’s so close to me that even with the musk of the day coating him, I can still smell his soap underneath. And pasture, because who am I kidding?
“I was just worried about you,” I say. There. I fixed it.
“Worried about me?” He sounds surprised, but in the best way.
“I haven’t seen you all day.” Might as well continue with the honesty.
A side smirk flashes over his face, making me shiver. “Missed me much, Riles?”
Who is this flirty man? I don’t have time to overthink this interaction at all, or whatever is going on with him.
“Nope, more like I needed to reach something way up high, and my favorite cowboy wasn’t there to rescue me from my own height again.” I try to shrug it off.
His features change from what I thought was flirty to a solemn look again. This man is harder to read than a picture book, I swear.
“I got it, though, so no need to worry.”
He hums. “And that’s all?”
“Yup. You can go now. Go to sleep. I’m sure that mama cow and her baby will need you bright and alert.”
He nods, challenging me to keep my lie, but I don’t fall for the trap. I already revealed too much. It’s obvious I’m attracted to him, and if it wasn’t, my little outburst of jealousy made it clear.
He drops my arms but doesn’t leave my space. What is it with him today?
His eyes drop to my lips—my chest rapidly rises—then back to my eyes. I can’t take it. It’s all too much, and he’s too close, and I might do something stupid, like kissing those perfect, full lips behind his luscious beard if he doesn’t take a step back.
But he’s not.
So, I do the mature thing and open the door behind me.
“Goodnight, Dom.”
And then I shut it on his face.
Even more mature.