Chapter 2
Chapter Two
WYATT
The November air still has a bite to it, the kind that reminds you winter is just around the corner.
But the sun is strong enough this afternoon to melt the frost off the fence rails and make me shrug out of my thick jacket.
I toss it over the top rail of the fence as I watch Travis Dean tighten the last stretch of wire on the fence he’s repairing.
Just like I have, he’s been at it since sunrise. Humming under his breath, his beat-up black hat tipped low on his brow as he moves with the easy confidence of a man who’s been doing ranch work his whole damn life.
Specifically, ranch work on Rock Creek Ranch.
One of the best parts of coming back to this place is seeing Trav again. Hell, maybe it was the only good part.
Travis was the son of my father’s long-time ranch manager. He’d grown up on this land, just as I had. For years, he’d felt like one of my brothers.
That is, until our mother died, our father remarried, and his new family was born. That’s when everything went to hell.
As soon as we were old enough, my brothers and I—my full brothers—escaped this place.
To my surprise, Travis had stayed. I guess Bill Thorne wasn’t quite such a tyrannical asshole to anyone who wasn’t his son. Either that, or Travis was just better at shutting it out than the rest of us.
“You going to stand there and watch me all day, boss?
Travis calls without looking up.
I chuckle and shake my head. “Someone has to make sure you’re doing it right,” I shoot back.
He snorts. “Pretty sure I know more about this particular line of fence than you do these days.”
“You’re not wrong.”
That earns a grin from my old friend. “You’ve been gone a long time, Wyatt. It’s good to have you back.”
I shake my head, not entirely sure how good it is at all.
For a few quiet moments, we both lean on the rail and look out across the pasture. The ground’s gone brittle and pale. I could blame it on the season and the recent frosts, but I know it’s more than that.
In the distance, the once bright barn sits dull, paint peeling, with the roof rusting in the sun.
I blow out a breath and shake my head at the way my father let this place fall into disrepair.
“It’s pretty hard to believe,” Travis says quietly, reading my mind. “Used to be you couldn’t throw a rope without hitting one of your mama’s horses out here in this paddock.”
“And she would’ve whipped your ass if you had.” I huff out a laugh, the first one that’s come easily in a while. But we both know Mama wouldn’t have done any such thing.
My chest tightens. “Yeah,” I say after a moment. “She’d lose her mind if she saw what this place had become.”
“I need you to know that I did my best, Wyatt.” Travis doesn’t look at me when he speaks. “And my dad, too. He worked overtime until the day he died trying to keep this place running. But your—”
“You don’t have to say it,” I stop him. “My ol’ man ran this place into the ground,” I finish for him. “He ran us all off one by one to make room for his new family. I guess they weren’t enough to keep him happy here.”
My old friend turns and assesses me with a quiet gaze for a few moments before he says. “He ran them off, too, ya know? After Peggy died. It wasn’t just you.”
That doesn’t surprise me. I assumed something must have happened with his new sons, my half-brothers. If he’d been happy with them, wouldn’t they have inherited the ranch instead of the five of us?
I shake my head, dismissing the thought. It’s not my problem. My problem is right in front of me.
The silence that follows is heavy with memories. There was a time this place was a young boy’s paradise.
Laughter, freedom, horses and hay bales. The sound of my mother’s voice calling us in for a piece of pie.
“She solved this place,” Travis says after a beat. “Hell, we all did. Feels so wrong seeing it this way. I guess I didn’t realize how bad it was until I saw it through your eyes. Being here all the time, it’s harder to notice the big decline, I guess.”
“I could see that.” I shrug and shake it off. “But that’s why I’m here, I guess. To get this place back into shape. I appreciate your help with that, man.”
“Of course.” Trav gives me a sidelong glance. “What exactly are you getting it back into shape for?”
I hesitate, jaw tight. It’s not something I’ve mentioned to him yet. And I’m pretty sure I know how it will be received. In the same way, my brother Colton took it. He’s got a young boy of his own now. Might have some crazy notion of raising him on the land.
Travis arches a brow. “You thinking about selling?”
I drag a hand over my neck. “Doesn’t make sense to hang onto it, does it? It’s not like it means anything to any of us after…well, after everything. My brothers will be here soon. We’ll talk it through.”
More like, I’d do the talking and they’d do the protesting.
Even after leaving Rock Creek, we’d all stayed in the ranching life in some capacity.
I knew there was nothing like working your own land.
It was Rex’s main argument. And the ranch was left to all five of us.
But as the oldest, I knew my opinion held the most weight. ”
Travis whistles low. “Can’t say I like that idea.”
“Didn’t ask you what you thought.” The words came out sharper than intended. “Sorry, man. That’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you meant. “He nods slowly. “But you know as well as I do, this place ain’t just land. You know what it meant to your mama. If you—”
“I know.”
And I don’t want to hear it.
Fortunately, the crunch of tires on gravel interrupts us before I need to shut things down further.
We both look up to see the shiny white truck pulling into the yard.
Travis grins and rubs his chin. “Well, if it isn’t that hot little vet that moved into town. A massive upgrade from old Doc McKinney.”
I glare at him. “Don’t start.”
“What?” He chuckles. “She’s a hot little piece of—”
“Enough,” I growl. My teeth are clenched. I know Travis’s reputation as well as anyone. As one of the major players on the rodeo circuit, he’s had his fair share of buckle bunnies. And Anna Milligan doesn’t have any place on his conquest list.
“Oh, I see how it is.”
“You don’t see anything.”
He only grins and lets out a low laugh. “Well, if there’s nothing to see, you won’t mind me asking her out for a—”
“Travis.” My tone drops low enough to cut through the air. “Back. Off.”
He freezes, his grin still in place. There’s a beat of silence before he laughs under his breath. “Well, damn. Grumpy ol’ Wyatt Thorne has a thing for the cute little vet.”
“Not a thing.” I push off the fence. “I just don’t need you bothering the girl while she’s here to work. Doc McKinney refuses to come out anymore, and if I’m going to make sure the animals are worth anything at all, I’m going to need her.”
My own choice of words stops me. Based on the dream that’s been waking me up at night, my hard cock fisted in my hand, I need her for more than that.
But before I can dwell on that particular thought any longer, the truck door swings open, and Anna steps out into the sunlight, that same bright smile that’s been featuring in my dreams, shining bright.
I clench my fists and draw in a sharp breath. Whatever this woman stirs up in me, it has no place here.
Still, when she waves and starts walking toward me, all sunshine and easy confidence, her sweater hugging her perfect, perky tits, her jeans wrapped around the luscious ass that I’ve pictured bending over the fence rail every time I close my eyes, I know it’s not just Travis that needs to back off.
But Lord help me, I don’t know if I can.
ANNA
The second I step out of the truck, the crisp air hits me.
Even with the warm afternoon sun, it’s easy to feel that winter is on the way.
I’ve spent most of my life in the city, only visiting Uncle Randy in the summer months.
I’m not a stranger to winter, but something tells me that winter in the mountains will be a little different.
Wyatt Thorne’s already striding toward me, all broad shoulders, thick thighs and the kind of muscle that wasn’t made in the gym but out working on the land.
Like a man.
A real man.
My body trembles thinking about exactly what those muscles would look like without the cover of denim and flannel, but I immediately dismiss the thought and force myself to focus. I have no business thinking of this rough cowboy that way.
He’s at least twenty years older than me. Never mind the fact that he’s currently a client.
And he clearly has a chip on his shoulder about, well…everything from what I can tell.
I give my head a quick shake and focus on the task at hand. “Afternoon,” I call out with a wave, forcing an extra dose of brightness in my voice.
“Wasn’t expecting you,” he says when he gets close enough.
“I was in the area and thought I’d come check on Oatmeal.”
He cocks a brow. “You were in the area, were you?”
I nod and point vaguely behind me. “Just down the road, in fact, at the Reynolds’ place.”
Wyatt nods once but doesn’t say more about where I’ve been. “Oatmeal’s fine.”
“Glad to hear it.” I’m not going to let his grumpiness get to me. “Still, I’d like to have a look. She’s an older mare; the risks are higher.”
He grunts. Clearly, his version of do whatever you want. I take it as permission.
“Did I catch you in the middle of something?” I gesture with my head toward the fence that the ranch hand, Travis, is working on.
“Always something to fix around here,” he says.
“That’s what I hear.”
His head jerks up. “What have you heard?”
I blink. Something about the way he’s looking at me, sending shocks through my body. “Nothing,” I say quickly. “It’s just that people talk, you know?”
“People in town, I suppose?”
He shakes his head, but I nod, because yes. It has been people in town talking about Rock Creek Ranch and the Thorne family.
“Figures,” he grunts and kicks at the dirt. “People around here always did have too much time on their hands. Can’t imagine that’s changed much.”
“It’s not that they—”
“Save it,” he stops me.
Smooth, Anna. Real smooth.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” I say quickly, suddenly desperate to make things better. “It’s just that people like to talk…you know? I didn’t mean it as an insult,” I add when he still doesn’t say anything. It’s just that— “
“You don’t know this place,” he says finally. His eyes are dark, unreadable.
“No,” I admit. “But I’d like to.”
I don’t know where that came from, but as soon as it’s out of my mouth, I know it’s not a lie. I would like to know this place.
My admission earns me a look I can’t quite decipher. Something flickers behind his eyes. But just as quickly, it’s gone.
“Are you here to gossip or work?”
The words sting more than I expect. “Work,” I say tightly.
Before he can say anything else, I turn toward the barn. My heart’s still pounding harder than it should be as I slip into the warm, hay-scented space.
Familiar. Safe.
It’s easier to breathe in here. And much easier to remember why I came to Rock Creek in the first place.
The horses greet me with gentle neighing as I make my way to the back. Horses—all animals really—are so much easier to understand than people. Especially grumpy cowboys.
And that’s why I’m so far from home in this tiny mountain town in the middle of nowhere. The animals.
I need to remember that. I can’t lose focus. Uncle Randy needs to see that I can handle this place. And that I can handle people like Wyatt Thorne.
And just like that, he’s back in the forefront of my mind.
He shouldn’t affect me like this. Not at all, really.
Men have never been much more than a distraction to me.
I’d managed to avoid dating for the most part all through school, focusing on my studies instead.
It seemed easier than navigating the whole messy dating world.
Besides, there’d never been anyone worth making time for.
Maybe I just haven’t met the right man until now.
The thought makes me laugh. There’s no way this cowboy is the right man.
Rough around the edges doesn’t even begin to describe him. He probably doesn’t even know how to smile without grunting first. His only mood seems to be annoyed and angry.
Still…
“Focus,” I mutter under my breath as I reach Oatmeal’s stall. “Hey, girl.” The horse leans in to nuzzle me as I scratch her nose. “How are you feeling today?”
This is why I’m here. This. Right here.
Not for a grumpy cowboy. Even one as sinfully sexy as Wyatt Thorne.
But even as I run my hands over the mare’s swollen belly and speak soothing words to her, I know there’s more to it than that.
The horse nudges my shoulder as if she can sense my distraction. “It’s okay,” I tell her, rubbing the spot between her eyes. “I know I’m supposed to be the calm one here.”
Her big brown eyes blink slowly. Something in my chest unclenches.
I check her vitals again and make a few notes in my notebook, letting the rhythm of the work settle me. The horse’s steady breathing, the creak of the old barn, the faint whistle of the wind outside. All of it reminds me of what’s important and why I need to make things work in Rock Creek.
Taking over Uncle Randy’s practice would be a dream come true. I’m here to build something for myself and my future.
I can’t let myself get distracted.
And I won’t.
Yet…when I hear the sound of heavy boots somewhere behind me, my pulse jumps before I can stop it.
I glance over my shoulder, but no one’s there. He’s not there.
“Get a grip, Anna.”
I laugh at myself before giving Oatmeal a gentle pat. “Soon, girl. You’re almost there.”
Once Oatmeal has her foal, I won’t have any reason to visit the Rock Creek Ranch again, and I’ll finally be able to get Wyatt Thorne out of my head for good.