But Dallas wasn’t close to Blue Falls, so it was a waste of time to play that what-if game.
“Come on, Cattle Whisperer,” he said as he pulled the roll of barbed wire out of the back of the truck. As he got a new strand of wire in place and started to use the stretcher, he motioned Ella back several steps. “You don’t want to be too close if it pops loose. That could ruin your day.”
“Safety advice from the guy who headbutted a rain gutter.”
“In my defense, I’d never worked on gutters before. Fencing, that I’ve done.”
He used the fence stretcher to pull the wire tight. “Come here and lean against this while I nail.”
She moved into position against the stretcher, and he was half-surprised she had enough body weight to hold the wire tight. He pulled the U-shaped fence staples from his pocket and made quick work of securing the new wire. They moved on down the fence, working well together. He faltered only when he looked up and saw Ella watching not the cows, not the surrounding landscape, not even the fence, but him. Her gaze was fixed somewhere around his biceps, at least until she realized he was looking at her.
For a brief moment, their gazes locked and he’d swear he saw the same raw interest in her eyes that he’d been feeling toward her the past several days. That look could spell trouble for both of them.
Ella finally broke eye contact, and damn if he didn’t want it back. That and more.
* * *
ELLA WAS PRETTY sure the heat flooding her had nothing to do with the sun beating down on them and everything to do with how good Austin looked doing manual labor. There was just something about a man’s well-defined biceps that got to her. If she’d been able to see his chest as well, she’d have been a goner and probably would have launched herself at him, knocking him down and collapsing on top of him, heedless of the rocks and all manner of things that could poke and scratch their skin.
So she didn’t act on those impulses, instead looking down and fixing her gaze on the large gloves she was wearing and frantically searching for a topic of conversation that had nothing to do with pure animal attraction.
“How old were you when you first did this?”
The amount of time it took Austin to answer had Ella wondering if he might be feeling as knocked off-kilter as she was at the moment.
“Can’t remember. Had to be in elementary school, though I was working on the ranch as far back as I can remember.”
“Born rancher, eh?”
Austin moved on to the next section of fencing and stretched the wire like a pro. “Almost. I was actually born in Houston, but I was still a baby when I came to live here.”
“That’s when...your mom passed?”
He nodded. “She’d dropped me off with a babysitter and was on her way to work. A guy ran a red light and T-boned her. I choose to think she never saw it coming and didn’t know it happened.”
Before she thought about it, Ella reached out and placed her gloved hand against his forearm. “I’m sorry. At least I got several years with my dad, got to know him.”
“I’m not sure your experience isn’t worse. I mean, there’s a love there for my mom because she was my mom, but it’s a distant sort of thing since I don’t remember her. To love someone until you’re almost an adult only to have them ripped away, that seems way worse.”
Maybe he was right. Neither experience was enviable.
“So did you have a favorite part of growing up on a ranch?”
“Just being outside, riding out to the far edges of the property.”
She leaned against the stretching tool again as he hammered the nails into the post to secure the new wire. “Do you still get to ride?”
He rested his forearm atop the fence post. “Before the other day, I hadn’t been on a horse in several years.”
“Must be like riding a bike, then, because you seemed right at home in the saddle.”
He stared into the distance without speaking for several long seconds. “It felt good to do it again.”
She wanted to ask him why he would leave this place and way of life a second time when it was so obvious that he loved it. Could the memories of the strain and disagreement between him and his grandparents be so strong that they overshadowed the good parts? Or was it that he was too entrenched in his life to contemplate making a change? But she didn’t ask those questions. With how she was feeling toward him, the last thing she needed to do was delve deeper into his feelings, ones that were so deeply rooted that it didn’t make sense to share them with someone you’d known only a few days. Plus, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted him to stay, for him or for her.
After a few minutes of quiet, she steered the conversation toward less emotionally wrought topics. “Since you’re in town, you going to the rodeo tomorrow night?”
“Didn’t even know about it.”
“You should go. I bet you could catch up with some old friends, get away from work for a few hours.”
He smiled a little. “This your way of getting a night off?”
“Hardly. I’m working my booth.” At his questioning look, she continued. “We always have a sort of flea market/bazaar deal at the fairgrounds the nights of the rodeo. It’s a good way to get my work in front of new people.”
“Tourists? They come to the rodeos?”
“They do. They go shopping or boating on the lake or on one of the wildflower tours during the day, then hit the rodeo at night. The attendance has been growing a lot in the past year. And the proceeds after expenses always go to a good cause.” She reached up and shoved some loose tendrils of hair out of her eyes. “This time it’s actually going to build more grandstands and bathroom facilities at the fairgrounds to accommodate the larger crowds.”
“I don’t think I have time to waste going to socialize with people I haven’t hung out with in years. I have to get back to my real job soon, and the hours are ticking away.”
Something that felt too much like dread twisted inside Ella. In such a short time, she’d gotten used to seeing Austin every day, eating lunch with him, chatting about so many different topics she’d lost count. She realized that since he’d called her to come clean out his grandparents’ belongings, she’d not done anything with her friends. When she wasn’t home unloading, sleeping or getting ready to head to the ranch, she was here with Austin. Each morning, anticipation sizzled inside her as she drew closer to the ranch and seeing Austin again.
She knew the best thing was for him to go back to Dallas before she really allowed her infatuation to run away with itself, but she didn’t want him to.
“Speaking of time ticking away, I really need to get back to work so I can go home and finish prepping for the rodeo market.” Oh, and complete the tractor wheel table. She’d never been late on a project delivery date before, not even when she had the flu, and she didn’t intend to start now.
They made quick work of the final three stretches of wire, then tossed the leftover wire and the tools in the back of the truck. As Austin drove them back toward the main part of the ranch, Ella watched out her window and wondered what it was like to own this much land. She knew this ranch was small potatoes compared with some in Texas, but it still seemed enormous and wonderful to someone who had yet to own any real estate of her own. Or even live on a slice that was bigger than a postage stamp.
“Will you be here tomorrow?” Austin asked as he parked next to her truck.
“In the morning, unless I’m running out of time here. Then I’ll make it work to be here longer.” Somehow. She tried not to think about how at some point she was going to hit the wall and not be able to keep going on determination alone.
Austin stared out the windshield for a long moment. “I’ve got to be done with everything by the end of next week. I can’t put off going back to work any longer than that.”
A week? He’d be gone in a week, and she very likely wouldn’t ever see him again. If he no longer had family or property in Blue Falls, he had no reason to come back. Certainly not to see someone he’d simply worked in close proximity to for a couple of weeks.
Don’t focus on him. Focus on the job.
After all, that was why she was here, not to appreciate the physical attributes of one Austin Bryant.
“Okay.” For some reason, she couldn’t say anything more than that single-word acknowledgment.
On her drive home, she turned the radio up loud and sang along to the rock songs to try to stop thinking about how much she’d miss seeing Austin every day. What the heck was wrong with her? Wasn’t she too old to get burning-hot crushes like this?
Even the double scoop of chocolate brownie ice cream she stopped to get in town didn’t take her mind off its fixation. Neither did pouring all her energy into working on the tractor wheel table.
As daylight started to fade, she sank onto the edge of her back porch, totally spent. She’d give a fortune if she had it to be able to curl up in bed and sleep for three days straight. Instead, she stared at the still-loaded truck and thought about everything that was still at the Bryant ranch. Where in the world was she going to put it? Maybe she could get a decent deal on a storage unit. She needed more space in the worst sort of way. If she just knew that business would continue to build, she’d have no qualms about forking over enough to pay for storage. But she’d seen the consequences of overestimating one’s future success, and she didn’t want to make that same mistake. She had to remember the old adage that slow and steady was the way to win the race.
But those were hard words to live by when she had such big dreams, so many ideas that her head could barely contain them all.
Just like it was hard to remember that having the serious hots for a guy passing through her life wasn’t her best idea either.
* * *
AUSTIN MADE HIS way to a table next to the wall in the Primrose Café. He hadn’t eaten dinner the night before, too tired and his head filled with too much confusion to even think about food. Consequently, he was starving this morning.
The waitress arrived with a pot of coffee and took his order for pancakes with a side of bacon. Someone patted him on the back before sliding into the chair opposite him.
Austin huffed out a laugh at the sight of Simon Teague in a sheriff’s department uniform. “Even though I’d heard you were sheriff, this,” he said, motioning toward Simon’s attire, “still doesn’t compute.”
Simon smiled. “Yeah, I get that a lot. So, how go things out at the ranch? I heard Ella Garcia is helping you clear the place out.”
That’s right, Simon would know about the hoarding. He’d been called out to the ranch a couple of years ago when someone had tried to steal his grandfather’s truck. At least until his grandfather probably made the guy soil his drawers with a well-placed shot that took out one of his own tires. It cost him a tire, but got rid of the thief lickety-split.
“Yeah. She says she can use all the stuff my grandparents accumulated, and I’m just glad to get rid of it.”
“From what I hear, she’s building a following. I know Keri and her friends like Ella’s work.”
Austin still couldn’t picture it, but to each his—or her—own.
“How long you in town for?” Simon asked.
“Just a few more days, enough time to get the place in decent enough shape to sell.”
“So you’re not staying?”
Austin shook his head, a little surprised by how hard it was to do so. After the initial resistance to being back in the spot that had caused strife between him and the two people he’d loved most in the world, he’d fallen back into the rhythm of ranch life with such ease it had scared him a little. He was still drawn to it, but that life was in his past. A person didn’t just walk away from everything he’d worked hard for in order to try to recapture a long-ago dream. And that’s all it was, a dream. Ranching had changed so much since he was a kid. Each year it became harder to make it as a small operation.
“So life is treating you well in Dallas?”
Was there a hint of disbelief in Simon’s voice? No, Austin had to be imagining it.
“Yeah. Can’t complain.”
“That’s good. Though if you ever change your mind, Blue Falls would always welcome you back.”
Austin placed his coffee cup back on the table after taking a drink. “You’re just wanting to increase the number of law-abiding citizens.”
Simon chuckled. “There is that. Though can’t say we’re overrun with crime here, which makes my job a lot more pleasant than my comrades’ in bigger cities.”
For some reason, Austin thought about the previous fall, when a vandal had been going around keying the paint on parked cars in Austin’s neighborhood. Unfortunately, his car had been one of the victims. He couldn’t imagine that happening in Blue Falls.
He had to stop comparing the two. This wasn’t some mushy movie about going home again and recapturing the past. Maybe that happened occasionally in real life, but it was way more prevalent in nostalgic fiction.
“I heard from my grandfather that you married Keri Mehler. Didn’t see that coming either.”
“Me neither, but sometimes that kind of thing sneaks up on you when you’re least expecting it.”
An image of Ella spreading out his grandmother’s quilt on the ground for one of their lunches had him gripping his cup a bit harder. He consciously released it but then saw a look on Simon’s face that reminded him a little too much of the glee on Verona’s face as she’d left them with the picnic lunch. That reminded him that he needed to give someone here at the Primrose his review.
When the waitress returned with his breakfast, he shared with her how much he’d liked the picnic fixings.
She looked at him with confusion. “I’d not heard we were doing anything like that.”
“Verona Charles said she was trying to help out the owners by getting some feedback.”
Simon started laughing at the same time the waitress smiled and touched Austin’s forearm.
“I think that basket had more to do with Verona’s goals than anyone’s here,” the waitress said.
When she walked away, Simon was bringing his laughter under control. Barely. “Keri was right. Verona has you in her matchmaking crosshairs, you and Ella. Welcome back to Blue Falls and its main peril.”
Austin cut into his pancakes. “Gotta say it doesn’t make much sense to try to fix up someone who doesn’t live here.”
“Oh, you don’t know Verona well. She’s convinced her powers of matchmaking are so good that a little thing like not living here won’t be a problem for long. And based on what I’ve seen, she’s not wrong.”
Austin looked across the table. “You know, meddling neighbors isn’t exactly a selling point for trying to get people to move here.”
“What? It’s quaint. People love quaint.”
Austin snorted.
As Austin ate and Simon drank a cup of coffee, they talked about their high school days, what former classmates were up to now. Austin noted how the majority of them were married and had kids. Well, except for local mechanic Greg Bozeman. But that wasn’t surprising for someone who’d been a colossal flirt since he’d hit puberty.
“You should come out to the rodeo tonight,” Simon said. “The whole Teague gang will be there. I guarantee you’ll know a lot of other people, too. Catch up before you head back to the big city.”
“You sound like Ella.”
“Really? She invited you to the rodeo? Maybe Verona is right.”
“She was just being friendly.” But he wondered. He’d replayed that moment out by the fence too many times to count. That look in her dark eyes had caused a jolt of adrenaline to rush through h
im.
“Uh-huh. You could do worse, you know. She’s a nice person, and pretty.”
“Keri know you go around praising other women’s looks?”
“My wife would say the same thing.”
Austin rolled his eyes, thinking Verona must be rubbing off on the other residents.
“Plus I heard they were looking for someone to fill in as another pickup cowboy tonight, too,” Simon said. “One of the normal guys can’t be here. His wife just had a baby last night.”
“It’s been forever since I did anything like that. Heck, this past week was the first time I’d been on a horse in forever.”
“Pfftt, it’s like riding a bike.”
Austin opened his mouth, about to say Simon sounded like Ella again, but then thought better of it. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it.”
“Suit yourself.” Simon stood. “Well, got to go ride herd on the criminal element.”
Austin smiled at the thought of Blue Falls having much of a “criminal element.”
As he drove out toward the ranch after finishing his breakfast, he took his time. Though he knew he couldn’t actually do it, he wondered what it would be like to live in Blue Falls again. He’d liked growing up here, would have probably stayed if not for the ugly scene with his grandparents that first Christmas break from college.
No, he didn’t want to think about that. He waved at Jasper Clark, who was riding an ATV along the edge of his property. When Austin reached the point in the road about a mile from where he’d turn into the ranch, a spot that afforded an unobstructed view to the west, he pulled over on the edge of the road. Texas didn’t get any prettier than this, in his opinion. Yes, he’d be going back home in a few days, resuming his regular life, and he had a ton to do before then, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to enjoy some of his time here. Maybe he would go to the rodeo tonight. He’d catch up with old friends, soak up some of the country life, watch a good, old-fashioned rodeo.
Home on the Ranch Page 8
