Wild Hearts: A second chance, small town, single dad romance by Kacey Shea

Author:Kacey Shea [Shea, Kacey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kacey Shea Books LLC
Published: 2022-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

20

VAL

I step out of the shower and wrap myself in a towel before checking the time. I breathe a sigh of relief. Good. I still have another fifteen or twenty minutes before my charges return from school. Most days I’m ready and waiting with an afterschool snack, but today when I took Gentry out I went a little further than planned and now I’m running behind.

My daily rides have become one of my favorite things about being here on the ranch. I’m rediscovering the things I once loved. Horseback riding is healing. At least to me, and it’s a gift Ryan makes me feel I deserve.

Ryan. That man. I don’t even try to rein in the smile that brightens my face as I stand in front of the mirror and brush through my tangled hair. I had zero expectations of rekindling anything between us when I accepted this job. But somehow, it feels like fate. I’m confident and bold when we’re together. We’re adventurous. We have fun and I’m reclaiming a power I thought I’d lost. I think I’m helping him do the same.

The dogs start barking in the kitchen, a sure sign someone is coming up the drive. Shit. I pull on my bra, then shimmy into a pair of jeans. I pick out a clean shirt and glance at the clock, frowning when I read the time. The kids won’t be home yet and Ryan won’t be back for another two hours. Who the hell is here?

Not bothering to put on socks and shoes, I quickly hang up my towel and jog to the kitchen windows. It’s a car I don’t recognize and a woman exits the driver’s seat. Do I know her? I catalog her features, and while she seems familiar, I can’t recall who she is. The slam of her car door sets the dogs off again.

That’s when she turns toward the house.

That’s when I see her face.

That’s when everything clicks into place.

It’s Emma.

Fuck.

I slink back from the window as she approaches the house. Shit. What do I do? The kids get home in the next fifteen minutes! There’s no way they’re expecting to see her; Ryan would have told me.

Emma was never a fan of mine. I remember her from high school. A year below us, she came to Wilder Valley to live with relatives at the start of our sophomore year. I can’t remember why, or if there was any drama. I just remember her face when Ryan introduced me as his girlfriend.

I don’t think she’s gonna be happy to see me. Hell, I don’t even know if she’s been informed that Ryan hired me to nanny for him.

A pound at the door startles me from my thoughts.

Fucking hell. I really don’t want to open the door.

Maybe I’ll pretend I didn’t hear her? Let her wait on the front porch until the kids return from school.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Fuck.” I muster up the courage to do the right thing here. This woman has hurt her children with her absence.

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