Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
WYATT
It’s been four days since the storm cleared.
Four days since Anna drove away.
And four days since I haven’t slept. Have hardly eaten. And have done every chore on the ranch that I can think of.
Work is easier than thinking.
And it’s a fuck of a lot easier than feeling.
Ever since Anna’s truck drove away. The crunch of her tires on the gravel and snow fading away down the road, the ranch has been quiet.
Too quiet.
Everywhere I look, I can see her. She’s everywhere.
Her hand on the mare’s flank. Her laugh cutting through the wind. Her bare legs dangling when she sits on the counter, wearing only my flannel.
I need to lose myself in some physical labor if I have any hope in hell in making it through another day without her.
The ranch is lonely now with just me and Travis. It’s as if Anna breathed fresh life into the place just by being…just by being herself.
And now that she’s gone—
Fuck it.
She’d just walked away. She’d climbed into her truck and driven away as if our time together hadn’t meant anything.
As if I meant nothing to her.
And maybe I don’t.
I’m just a grumpy old cowboy. What would a vibrant young woman want with a man like me?
Either way, I need to get over it.
I’m out in the yard, loading hay bales, when Travis, who’s been avoiding me for the last few days, catches up with me.
He’s humming some godawful country song about a cowboy losing the love of his life as he joins me, grabbing a bale.
“Can you shut the hell up?”
My old friend looks over with a grin. “I see you’re still not over it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I know I shouldn’t say anything. He’s only trying to get a rise out of me. And I know from experience that I’m not going to like whatever he has to say.
“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I heft another bale of hay onto the sled, forcing the muscles in my shoulders to burn, just to feel something besides the emptiness in my chest.
“There’s obviously something between the two of you,” he says when I don’t rise to his bait. “I thought maybe it was just a way to keep warm for a few days, but after watching the way you’ve been bashing around here for the last few days, it’s obvious to me that she’s more than just a warm—”
“Careful.” I spin, my hands already in fists, daring him to finish what he was about to say.
Travis only laughs. “Exactly,” he says with a shake of his head.
“The only thing I can’t figure out is if she’s got you this twisted up, grumpier than I’ve ever seen you.
Which is sayin’ something by the way, then why the hell are you still up here on the ranch moping around instead of going after her? ”
“Drop it.” I reach for another bale. “It was nothing.”
“Ah, so it was something then?” He leans on the rail, grinning obnoxiously. “I suppose you’re going to tell me she was just doing her job, or some other bullshit then.”
I shoot him a glare that should be enough warning to shut him up.
It isn’t.
“She’s good for this place,” he says after a moment, his tone shifting.
The laughter is gone, replaced by a soft seriousness.
“And you know it. From the moment she set foot on the ranch, things changed. You changed. You can deny it all you want, but whatever happened between the two of you during that storm, well…if you do keep denying it. You’re a bigger damn fool than I thought. ”
I don’t say anything because the truth of what he said hits hard.
He’s not wrong.
Things had changed when Anna got here. And it wasn’t just the ranch and the horses. It was the way she made me feel, too. The way she smiled at me, even when I was being a grouchy asshole. It was the way she opened up to me. The way she made me want to open up to her.
And those few days with her here, despite the storm clouds and the feet of snow piling up all around us, it felt lighter with Anna. The barns didn’t look so run-down. I hardly noticed that the house needed a coat of paint. The horses were calmer. Even the air felt more alive.
Just like the old days.
When everything was still good here. When Mama was alive.
Anna has the same energy. She brings the same life to the ranch. And me.
And now she’s gone.
“Wyatt?”
I blink, realizing that Travis is still talking, but whatever he’s saying gets cut off by the sound of tires crunching up the driveway on the gravel and ice.
We both stop, turn and stare at the unfamiliar truck that pulls into the yard. We don’t get many visitors, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish it were Anna coming to check on the horses. Or, more specifically, me.
We wait, and a moment later, two of my brothers, Rex first, followed by Cash, step out of the truck.
“Well, well.” Travis lets out a low whistle. “Were you expecting them today?”
I shrug noncommittally. There’s been some text messages, but truthfully, I haven’t been paying attention. I’ve been completely consumed with Anna. And her absence.
Travis shakes his head in a combination of disgust and amusement and moves to greet my brothers since I’m still frozen in place.
After a moment, my feet move and I, too, join them.
“Hey man,” Cash pulls me into a back-slapping hug. “Long time no see.”
My younger brother Cash was one of the most sought-after horse trainers in the West. It was impressive he’d found any time at all to come back to the ranch. Now that he was standing in front of me, I was glad to see him.
“Good to see you, Cash,” I say honestly.
“Wouldn’t know it from this reception,” Rex says, coming around the truck with a grin on his face that told me he was joking. “It’s been too long.”
“It has.” I give him a hug, too and step back.
“Wow.” Cash looks around at the ranch that he’s been away from almost as long as I have. “Things sure look—”
“Like they need some work,” I finish for him.
“Exactly,” Rex says. “Thanks for getting out here and handling things until we could get here.”
“No problem.” Rex was a successful bronc rider who spent most of his time on the circuit.
“It’s been great to have Trav here, too.
He never left.” Trav lifts his brow at my compliment, but I only shake my head.
“What?” I glare at him. “Just because you’re getting on my last nerve right now doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your ass. ”
My brothers laugh. “Sounds like a story,” Rex says.
“Maybe he’ll fill you in,” Travis says.
I end that idea with a grunt and start walking toward the barn. Together, we all move as one, and Travis starts pointing out some of the things that we’ve been working on before starting on the even longer list of items we still have to do.
“Sounds like a lot,” Cash says with a shake of his head. “What are you thinking?”
Travis blows out a breath. “I think Wyatt wants to—”
“We’re keeping the ranch,” I say quickly, not even sure of when I made my decision.
“Come again.” Travis stares at me. “I thought—”
“This was Mama’s place. I know we had some bad memories here, but…we owe it to her to get it back on track. It can be great again.” As I speak, I believe it.
Especially because with every word I see Anna here, too. I hear her laughter. I see her with the horses.
I see the two of us. Together. Happy.
Maybe some kids.
Could it even be possible?
I don’t know. But I do know I have to try.
My brothers are both talking and asking questions, but I’m not listening. The only thing I can think of is my girl.
For the first time in a long time, I can see a future at Rock Creek Ranch, and it has everything to do with her.
“Wyatt?”
I don’t even realize I’m walking away, moving toward my truck, until I hear my name called. I wave behind me. “I’ll be back. I have something to take care of.”
ANNA
The clinic smells like a mixture of disinfectant and animals. It’s familiar, even a little comforting, and most importantly, it’s nothing like him.
Wyatt smells like coffee, wood smoke and something else I can’t quite define or get out of my head. It’s a scent I haven’t been able to wash off, no matter how many showers I’ve taken since I left the ranch.
And him.
I’ve been keeping busy. The last few days have been filled with appointments, a few house calls and of course, paperwork.
Whenever I am in the little office I’ve been sharing with Uncle Bill, time seems to slow.
I pretend that I’m not glancing at the clock every few minutes, wondering with every chime of the bells over the door if it’s the big, broad-shouldered cowboy coming to find me.
It never is.
I haven’t so much as received an email or a phone call since I drove away.
It’s like I was never there.
As if those few days stranded by the snowstorm had never happened.
But they had.
I can’t stop thinking about them.
Finishing up the file notes on the retriever I just examined with a limp; I push through the door that leads to the waiting room.
Suzanne, our receptionist, looks up when she sees me.
“Have we heard from Wy—Mr. Thorne up at Rock Creek Ranch?” I try to sound more casual than I feel. “I was wondering if he’d called to schedule his next appointment?”
“No.” Suzanne shakes her head. “Nothing—”
“Terrible shame about that place,” Mrs. Rumpel’s voice interrupts the receptionist as she sets her cat carrier on the counter. “All that beautiful land up there, and it’s just been run into the ground.” She clucks her tongue. I try not to bristle.
“Wyatt’s making big changes up there,” I say, forcing a smile.
“I don’t know about that,” Mrs. Rumpel waves a dismissive hand. “Folks say he’s just like his father was. And I’ve been around here long enough to know what a piece of work he was. There’s a reason those boys all left as soon as they could. And you know, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“That’s not true.”
She lifts her brows. “And you’d know?”
I swallow the lump rising in my throat. “He’s doing his best up there with what his father left,” I say. “He’s a good man.”