Chapter 20
CHARLIE
Olivia had been gone exactly one day, but it felt a lot longer than that.
I’d gotten so used to having her around in the short time she’d been here that when life continued as normal on the ranch as if she’d never been present at all, I felt every minute of her absence more acutely than I’d expected.
While fixing a loose fencepost near the bunkhouse, I wiped sweat off my brow and tried not to think about her. The woman had taken up way too much of my time and my mental real estate recently. I needed to get over this little crush I’d developed on her—and I needed to do it fast.
Before things got out of hand.
“Missing your girlfriend?” Cody joked behind me, catching me staring off into the distance wistfully instead of working—and missing her while I was at it.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I snapped, refocusing and finding all four of my brothers behind me. I sighed and looked at each of them in turn, finding them all staring back at me with smug, teasing grins on their faces. “What’s going on?”
Mason stepped forward. “I really like Olivia. She fit right into life on the ranch and I don’t know what’s going on with them, but I need your help with Nairobi. He’s not letting anyone near him.”
“So you didn’t all come down here together to ambush me?”
He laughed. “Nope, but now that you mention it, maybe we should ambush you. What are you doing about her?”
“Seriously,” Cody agreed, looking as eager as a puppy trying to get a treat. “We like her. We want her to come back.”
I chuckled. “She did not fit right into the ranch life. She struggled with every single task and she filmed her way through it.”
“Yeah, but you had her doing all the hard, manly chores.” Wyatt crossed his arms and shook his head at me. “You could’ve eased her into it a little.”
“She would’ve sliced off my balls if I’d tried. Did you guys even meet her? Have you seen how she reacts if you offer to do something simple like help her onto a horse? That woman does not take well to being handled as if she needs help.”
“Yeah, but even though she comes from the city, personality wise, she’s a good fit here. She has a humility about her that’s perfect for the ranch.” Colt flicked a gaze in the direction of the main gates. “I keep waiting for her to come back.”
“You’re all officially certifiable.” I pulled off my work gloves. “What did the rest of you want, then?”
Cody and Wyatt moved closer together, a united front as always. Wyatt narrowed his eyes at me. “We came here to ambush you. We like her and we miss having her around. Get her back.”
I moved my gaze from Cody’s to Wyatt’s and frowned. “Let’s say that you’re onto something. Even if I did like her and even if she liked me back, it’s not like I can just tell her to move in with us forever. That’s not how it works.”
“Yeah, but you’ve got to start somewhere.” Cody stuck his hands into his pockets. “Don’t wait too long. Girl like that? If you don’t make a move, someone else will. It might even be me.”
I couldn’t tell if he was serious, but the scathing look I gave him sure did its job. He backed away a few paces and jerked his head for Wyatt to follow him. “Fine, it won’t be me, but it will be someone else. Better decide what you’re going to do, Charlie. She won’t be single forever.”
“We don’t even know if she’s single now,” Wyatt said, stopping and turning to me.
I shook my head at them. “Get back to work. Colt, what are you doing down here?”
“Mase and I figured you’d need someone to take over with the fence if you go to help with Nairobi.”
“Right.” I shoved the gloves into my back pocket and arched an eyebrow at him. “Did you want to say something about Liv too, or can I go now?”
He chuckled. “All I’m going to say is that I agree with Cody, which doesn’t happen often. Girl like that who’s new in town? If you do want her, and I’m not saying you do, but if you do, you should let her know.”
I groaned before I turned back to Mason, deciding to take my own orders and get back to work. “Where is he? I’ll go get him.”
My brother motioned vaguely in the direction of the paddocks behind the main house and I followed him when he started walking in that direction. As we went, we passed the spot where I’d kissed her that night in the rain, and immediately, I was back to thinking about her.
It wasn’t much of a surprise that she was still on my mind. The only real surprise was that my brothers were apparently a lot more observant than I had given them credit for.
I could only hope Mom and Dad hadn’t noticed the same things their sons had. Dad had been clear about the boundaries he expected us to respect.
We reached the paddock where Nairobi was staring down one of our wranglers. Mason glanced at me. “That colt is a tricky one. How was he the other day when you took him out with Liv?”
I shrugged. “He seemed to like her.”
“He’s not the only one.” My brother kicked a foot up on the fencepost. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Nairobi or Olivia?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “Both, I suppose, but let’s start with Olivia.”
“I vowed not to get involved with anyone who worked with or for us.” But I was having a hard time sticking to my word, and that was a first for me. “I’ll bring Nairobi in before I head out to the school.”
Mason nodded slowly. “That’s a good plan for the horse. Not much of a plan with the girl. You’re really going to let it go?”
“Let what go?” I ducked under the fence and climbed through the lower posts. “There’s nothing there, man.”
He let out a low, disbelieving chuckle. “Yeah okay, Charlie. Just don’t come crying to me if you see her dancing with some other cowboy next time we’re at Honky Tonks.”
“Like I’ve ever come crying to you.”
He chuckled again. “Don’t go crying to Dallas, then. We all saw it. Whatever there is between you and the city girl, it’s not nothing.”
Since when am I so fucking obvious to them?
I shook my head at my brother and took off. After waving the wrangler away, I took my time with Nairobi, using the connection I’d been forging with the horse to get my mind off that other connection I’d been feeling.
It took a while, but eventually, he allowed me to clip a lead rope onto him and guide him back to the stables. Wyatt was taking him out for the afternoon, but my brother gave me a pained look as I approached.
“Can’t you go instead?” he asked. “I really don’t feel like being bucked off today and that horse doesn’t like me.”
“So just sit tight.” I handed over the rope. “I don’t blame him for not liking you. You’re real nosy these days.”
He snorted back laughter. “Not nosy. Just not blind either. You’re really going to make me take him?”
“I have that talk scheduled at the school over in Seabrook,” I reminded him. “You’re on your own this afternoon, but just mind your manners and I’m sure he won’t hurt you.”
“He always hurts me,” Wyatt complained but then turned to the horse and started talking to him.
I chuckled as I walked away, knowing that my brother would be just fine.
Sometimes, one of us clicked with one of the younger, newer horses, and other times, it didn’t happen right away.
Nairobi in particular was having some trouble making friends with us, but I’d won him over. Wyatt would get there too.
After a morning of chores, I needed to grab a shower before I headed out to give my next talk about the ranch at a local school.
My great-granddaddy had started these when he’d been a teenager, taking it upon himself to teach kids about animals and taking care of them.
He’d given his last talk the week before he’d died, dedicating his life as much to education as to working the ranch.
Our family had continued the tradition ever since.
I had even been to this very school a few times, usually doing the circuit of the schools in the area at least once a year or so.
When I’d been a kid, my dad used to come speak in my class like this—and the information I gave was largely the same as he’d given us back then.
Too many kids thought milk came from a carton and meat came in patty form. This was our way of teaching them that wasn’t true—and of educating them about the right way to do things.
A teacher came to meet me at the front office. Smiling, she held out her hand. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Anderson. We’re so pleased to have you back.”
“Pleased to be here.” I shook with her, then followed her down a corridor to the classroom.
I walked in and smiled at all the eager eyes looking up at me. The introductions were made and I went to perch myself on the edge of her desk, looking out at the sea of unfamiliar but enthusiastic faces. Here and there, one of them looked bored but I knew they wouldn’t be for long.
I tried not to wonder if Olivia would enjoy doing stuff like this as I launched into my talk. Not three minutes in, a little hand shot up. I nodded at the boy. “You have a question about raising cattle?”
“Uh, no,” he said, brow furrowing as if he was confused. “I just wanted to know where your wife is. The farmer who came to talk to us about crops brought his wife with him.”
“Did he?” I asked mildly. Chuckling, I looked back at the little boy. “I’m afraid I’m still working on that, buddy. Now, back to the animals.”
And let’s try not to think about Olivia and whether she’ll ever be my wife while we’re at it.