Home on the Ranch: Honorable Texas Cowboy by Ali Olson

Author:Ali Olson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-04-09T15:09:28+00:00

Chapter 7

Kate rose even earlier the next morning than she had the one before, practically jumping out of bed. She sneaked down the stairs in the half light, careful not to wake those that were still sleeping.

The one person she wanted to see was already awake, she hoped.

Her stomach jumped when she stepped into the lighted barn and found Diego already brushing one of the mares. She was glad to see him, and not just for his capable horse-grooming skills.

The day before, when they spoke out in the woods, Kate had made a decision: she couldn’t pretend she didn’t like Diego, and she wanted to explore those feelings. Not right away, of course, but she couldn’t just accept that her past with Jose meant she’d never be able to have a future with Diego, even though it felt so right.

“Good morning,” she said, smiling at his back.

“Morning,” he replied, not even turning his head.

She stopped and watched him. From the jerky way he was moving the brush across the animal’s back, it was clear to her that something was wrong. Kate wanted to go up to him and touch his shoulder, perhaps give him a hug. Instead, she grabbed a brush and moved to sweep it over the horse’s neck. “Not able to sleep in, huh?” she asked, trying to get a good look at his face.

Diego shook his head but remained silent. By the circles under his eyes, she wasn’t sure if he’d slept at all. She wanted to pry. Was this all because of her and Jose, or was there something else wrong? She knew she shouldn’t ask, though, so she changed the topic instead.

“I spent some time yesterday thinking about what you said,” she told him as she moved on to another horse.

“About talking to your parents?” he asked, seeming to jolt out of his bad mood a little.

“Yeah,” Kate said. “I took your advice and reached out to my mom yesterday. I can’t promise it’ll go any further than a phone call, but I’m glad I took that step.”

She didn’t add that part of the reason she’d done it was because she’d been feeling so worried she might lose her surrogate family that it convinced her to connect with her real one.

“That’s wonderful, Kate. And brave,” Diego said in such a sincere tone that it went straight to her heart.

She almost said something then, told him how she felt about him, but stopped herself. It was too soon. Kate knew that. If she wanted them to have a chance, she needed to go slow, despite what her heart and body desired.

“Find anything interesting in all your paperwork yesterday?” she asked. She knew she was prying a little bit now, trying to discover reasons for his mood that didn’t have to do with his twin, but she figured that question was safe enough.

Diego shrugged. “Just that Pop is a big softy, but I already knew that.”

Kate smiled to herself. “He really is, and I kind of love that about him,” she said.

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