Sneak Peek Rancher’s Heart Chapter 1
SNEAK PEEK: RANCHER’S HEART CHAPTER 1
GRIFF
Dust hung in the air. The lights from the fair’s midway were still shining in the dark as the screams from the rollercoaster were getting fewer. But the rodeo grounds were crawling with people as I stood behind the bar waiting for the last few customers to grab their last drink before we shut down for the night. A kid ran across the dance floor. It’s three in the morning. Who the fuck is letting a kid run all over the place? I thought to myself. I needed to go home.
“Hey man, that was a great ride. Couldn’t believe someone as big as you could ride that well.” A man in a straw cowboy hat, polo shirt, skinny jeans and tennis shoes leaned on the bar.
“Thanks, what can I get ya?” I asked, brushing off his comment. I’d been hearing it all my life, and I was tired of it. It’s not like I rode pro or anything, but keeping my center of gravity wasn’t that difficult for me.
“Not chatty, are you?” He scowled at me.
“Look man, it’s closer to morning than it is night. I’ve been up since five a.m. I’m just ready to go home. What can I get you?” I grabbed the white rag and wiped down the counter from the shots the barely legal girls spilled only moments ago.
“A beer,” he said as he bobbed his head in time with the cover band that was playing. They assured the committee they sounded like a mix between Alabama and Hootie and the Blow Fish. Even if I had earplugs in, I wouldn’t make that connection, but when most of the people were tipsy, I supposed they didn’t care.
The cold of the bottle seeped through my fingers and as I reached it toward the guy to take it but it slipped from my fingers and shattered when it hit the dirt. “Fuck, sorry man,” I said as I reached with my other hand into the fridge and got him a new one. “There you go.”
“Thanks, see you around.” He slapped his money on the counter and walked off. With any luck, I’d never see that guy again.
“Hey pal, what happened?” I turned to see Ryder, my business partner and best friend, frowning at me as I picked up the glass.
“Nothing, just dropped it.” The glass tinged off the side of the metal garbage can as I threw it away. Standing, I rinsed my now muddy fingers off in the sink and turned to him. “What’s up?”
Ryder was on the security team tonight, so his being at the bar gave me pause. “Nothing, just shutting you down.” He grinned.
“Finally,” I groaned as I pulled off the apron I was wearing and threw it in the rag bin. “Where are the others?” Nodding my head at Lydia, the woman I was working the bar with, I noticed Ryder’s eyes lingering a second too long as he watched her. “Let’s go,” I grumbled as he followed me to the truck.
“Linc snuck out with Kristin. Nash and Fallon have been gone for hours. The babysitter wanted to catch the end of the fair so they went home. Kipp and Nora just headed out.” Ryder tossed me the keys. Reaching out to catch them, they slid right through my hand and landed in a puff of dirt at my feet.
“You dropped a beer, now you’re dropping keys. Everything okay?” Ryder asked as I crouched to pick up the keys so we could leave.
“Yeah, just exhausted.” I brushed him off and climbed into the truck. Thankfully, we were both tired, so talking was at a minimum. I could tell Ryder wasn’t buying the excuse I’d told him about my hand.
We’d both built homes in the last year. The main house had gotten a little crowded, and we were all ready for our own space. It had been great living like we were all in college, but it was time to grow up. “Thanks for the ride.” Ryder tapped on the hood of the truck before he headed inside.
Taking the back road, I drove along the lake, and watched the moon shimmer off the still water. My house faced the water, and as I rounded the end of the lake, my porch light shone, and for the first time I wondered what it would be like to have someone waiting for me.
I hadn’t needed anyone, but seeing my business partners settle down, I wondered if I was missing out on something. There’s nobody nagging you about being out so late. The one side of brain reminded me. The other side always had a rebuttal. There ’s also nobody keeping your bed warm for you either.
Fuck them both. My bed was more than fine, and I hated being nagged. Nora and Fallon provided enough for the rest of my life.
Slamming my truck door, it echoed through the night, and off the mountains. The ducks in the lake splashed around at the intrusive sound, waking them from their sleep.
Squeaks from the screen door were better than an alarm system. No matter what I did, they always made noise from the day I’d hung the door, and I didn’t hardly notice anymore. It was just part of the charm that was my home.
Leaning against the door, I toed off my boots and hung my cowboy hat on the hat holder. Dropping the buckle I’d won on the table, I wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a beer before heading to bed.
What was I taking, a beer to my bed? All I wanted to do was sleep.
Flopping back onto the pillow, I felt the familiar tingling return to the tips of my fingers. Someone might as well have been shoving pins and needles under my fingernails as I clenched and opened my fist. It didn’t help to relieve the feeling.
Nothing did.
I’d tried pills, I’d tried booze, but it was always there.
The last doctor I’d seen told me I need to slow down, and look at having surgery. I was only thirty-six. Slowing down wasn’t an option.
Things on the ranch were busier than ever, and the side business working with horses had taken off. Apparently, I’d proven myself when I’d tamed a few of the wild horses that couldn’t head back into the mountains to fend for themselves anymore.
It wasn’t something I was proud of. Wild horses should stay wild, but I refused to watch them waste away to nothing, so occasionally throughout the year I’d check on them and intervene when their welfare was in question.
Most people see them as a payday, not me. They are majestic creatures who deserve to live free like they have been. The ones I’d broken had gone to suitable homes where they’d lived out the rest of their days as free as possible. You couldn’t ride them, but they wouldn’t get hurt trying to jump over a fence.
Sitting up my arm drew my thoughts from the horses and back to the situation at hand. My fingers were icy and my elbow ached. I wasn’t sure what was worse; it being numb or the feeling returning. At least when I couldn't feel it, it didn't hurt.