Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
She looked into the box on the railing and frowned. “You like glazed cake the best?”
“I like these, and old-fashioned the best,” I admitted. “I’ll eat regular glazed, but it’s not nearly as good to me.”
“These are my favorite, too.” She plucked one out of the box and immediately brought it up to her mouth to take a huge bite. “Unless it’s cake covered in cinnamon sugar. That’s where it’s at.”
She walked toward the stairs. “Do you want any milk?”
I hesitated, wanting to say yes, but not wanting to invade her personal space.
“Sure,” I eventually said.
She gestured toward the stairs and I hiked up them, feeling all of a sudden nervous.
I was a grown-ass man of nearly forty years old, and here I was getting nervous climbing a set of stairs to an apartment that I owned.
“Come on in,” she said as she left the door open for me to enter. “I also have chocolate milk.”
“What kind?” I asked.
She held up the glass jug and said, “Voleman’s.”
I gave her a thumbs-up. “The only one that tastes good. I’ll take some of that.”
Just as she poured the milk into the glass, a bellow from one of my ranch hands had me sighing. “I’ll bring the cup back.”
Holly smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
When I got downstairs, I grabbed two more donuts for the road, then went to tackle the next disaster.
That disaster being a downed fence with cows out on the road.
“Goddammit.”
That one fucking mistake had us moving the whole damn herd out of the east pasture closest to the ranch house and almost all the way into town.
“You need help?” Major asked as he watched us run the herd right through the middle of town.
“No,” I grumbled.
I was starving, and I hadn’t had a chance to eat in hours.
The donuts, like always, didn’t have enough substance in them to hold me over for long.
And let me tell you something, ranch work was a tough business.
Even at forty years old, I burned a ton of calories being outside and moving.
“You get anything to eat lately?” he asked.
I shook my head.
He sighed. “I’d take over for Sorcha so she could come cook, but none of those damn babies will even look at me when they’re sick. I’ll go saddle up a horse and come help.”
“Thanks,” I muttered darkly.
“This would be a hell of a lot easier if we had Coty and Brodie.”
I gritted my teeth.
Coty and Brodie were Heelers.
They worked cows like a dream.
The only problem was Juliana had taken them with her in the divorce.
Not because she wanted or needed them, but because she wanted things to be even.
I.e., she left Gibson and Greta to me, then took Brodie and Coty for herself.
Honestly, I kind of got a kick out of it each time the girls came home and told me what the dogs chewed up that day.
They were not meant to be idle.
Their passion was ranch work, and they were probably slowly dying inside without it.
“I’m going to get them,” DeeDee growled as her horse lurched left to keep a yearling in line.
Before I could tell her not to, she took off.
I would’ve called her back, but the cows were now lining up outside The Mercantile and trying to get inside.
There was also a little kid at the door looking like he was about to open it for them.
“No!” I growled.
The kid reared back in shock and started to cry.
I got the damn cows off the sidewalk leading up to the store and hurried them along.
The excited yips were back within ten minutes.
“Mom’s going to freakin’ kill us,” Catalina whispered. “But this is a pain in the ass without them.”
The yips got closer and closer, and then there they were, having the time of their lives and getting the cows in line.
They worked together like a team, and I thought about just stealing them.
It wasn’t like she really had any reason to keep them.
I would just have to figure out a way to make it sound like it was her idea…
NINE
Eat whatever you want. And if someone tries to lecture you about your weight, eat them, too.
—Holly’s secret thoughts
HOLLY
They’d been gone for hours, and the ranch was quiet except for a few workers here and there getting the fence repaired.
It was a hard repair, too.
“This looks like someone cut the damn wire.” The ranch hand by the name of Judson showed his friend. “Doesn’t it?”
Crest, who looked to be the youngest in the group, said, “It sure does.”
I walked closer to get a better look.
“You should call the sheriff,” I found myself saying.
“Why?” Crest asked.
“Because if someone did this purposely,” I pointed out, “then they could’ve caused a lot of damage. If a person had hit any of those cows, they would’ve likely had to hit them going pretty fast. It’s a blind curve. Not to mention you can’t really go left or right because of the mountain.”