I sank into the couch. “I don’t think so. I could bring some saddles in to clean, and we could watch a movie while we work.”
He shrugged. “Maybe this evening. I don’t want to watch movies all day. I’ll go bonkers. What do the other girls do on days like this?”
I frowned. “What other girls?”
“You know, your friends. They probably don’t work on hot rods or clean their tack in the house.”
“I don’t know. I’m sure Kelli’s getting cozy with a cowboy, and Morgan… well, same thing, probably. I haven’t seen Britney for a while, and Nikki just had a kid.”
“Is that all?”
“Around here, yeah. Most of my friends left town as soon as possible and never came back.” It would get even more lonely if Kelli took up with Marshall Walker. I’d been the popular girl in high school, with more friends than I knew what to do with. But now, it was hard to find anyone to hang out with at all.
Maybe Audrey, Kat Tracy’s sister. I liked spending time with her, but she was always so busy helping Kat and Lizzy that I’d never gotten a chance to know her well. There just really wasn’t anyone who could fill that gap.
Dad looked down into his coffee cup, gave it a swirl, and drained the rest. “Well, think I’ll go shovel the walk.”
I watched him go, then tucked my feet on the couch and gave the cushion beside me a pat. Dakota hopped up and snuggled against my leg, laying his head on my knee and staring at me with his mismatched eyes full of anticipation.
“You wanna go play in the snow?” I asked, tugging on his silky ear. His muscles tensed, but he didn’t move.
“Let me finish my coffee, then we’ll feed Nash, and I’ll throw the ball for you.”
That did it. He dashed down from the couch, ran to the door, and returned with the ball and the thrower in his mouth. His whole body was alive with wiggles, and he whined in excitement.
“Okay, okay! Maybe we can set your agility course up in the yard this afternoon. That will be fun to play in the snow, huh? Go get my boots.”
Dakota dropped the ball thrower and ran to the mud room to pack my boots, one at a time. He even went back a third time to drag my heavy chore coat off the hook and through the house. Then I had to carry them all back to the door to put them on, but it didn’t matter. This was our game, and he loved to show off what he could do.
That was what I’d do today—teach Dakota a new trick. I’d just have to think of one because he knew everything I’d dreamed up so far. But when he was the best company around, what else was I supposed to do? We’d play for a while, and then I’d curl up in front of the fire with him next to me. I’d get a big furry blanket and a hot tea and bury my nose in a book about romantic heroes and the kind of love stories that span the ages.
I could think of worse ways to spend my day.
Chapter 4
Dusty
Monday morning, we were snowed in. We could’ve gotten to town if we’d really needed to—we all had chains, and Luke could drive through anything with that souped-up truck of his. But we had our hands full just taking care of stock after a hard snow, and there was no shortage of problems that came with the weather. Like the door of my work truck being frozen shut at five in the morning, and all the water troughs having six inches of ice floating on top.
Evan took a tractor out to scrape the driveway. Then he putted down the road to help some neighbors. There was one older couple who couldn’t get out to feed their goats when it snowed like this, so he went and checked on them while Luke and I covered his chores. He was out most of the morning, clearing what he could and making sure the folks who lived around us were okay.
By about nine, some of our ranch help who lived nearby were able to get through on their ATVs. We’d have asked a couple of the guys to stay in Cody’s old bunkhouse last night, but Marshall had already claimed it for Kelli. So, we just had to make do, short-handed and overworked, until the county got our road plowed in the early afternoon.
By the time I finally got up to my office in the barn, it was too late to start on any real paperwork. I’d just have to put it away in a few minutes, but I could update the ranch’s webpage, check on a few neighbors, and purge my emails. First, though, I scrolled down to that one fromStockman’s Magazine.It was still real.
Had Jess found the poem I slipped in her pocket? The longer I thought about it, the more I cringed. That had been a stupid idea. What would she say if she found out it was me? She’d think I was a creep or something. I should have just waited for a better opportunity. How could I explain that one? “Gee, sorry, I didn’t realize that wasyourcoat. I thought it was Luke’s.” Stupid.
But I still wanted her to know it was me. That maybe we shared something she didn’t even realize, and that could be everything. And I wanted more than anything to talk to her about… well, all of it. Life and feelings—not even romance, really, just how to roll along in the world, always trying to reach something exquisite and wondering if there was more. The things you can talk about with someone who has a soul like your own.
And I’d gone and stuffed a poem in her pocket like a fifth-grader. I was an idiot.
But it didn’t matter anyway. She was seeing Luke for now, and I could never—wouldnever, even if I could—step in and mess that up for him. I might wring his neck, but I wouldn’t try to steal his girl.Mygirl.
I scowled and gave my mouse wheel a quick flip, just checking one last time for new messages before I closed it down to head out to feed. Just as I was reaching for the off button, a message came from Austen Conrad.
Hey, Dusty,
I forgot to get your text number the other night. You said you handle all the ranch emails, so I figured you’d get this.