The Rancher Next Door by Betsy St. Amant

Author:Betsy St. Amant
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Tags: Religious, Fiction
ISBN: 9781460310670
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

She’d made it home safely last night—he knew because he stayed up watching until her truck headlights beamed down her driveway at 11:32 p.m.

Brady yawned, almost covering his mouth with his gloved hand before remembering what he’d been doing for the past twenty minutes—mucking out stalls. He’d spent the first half of the night worrying about her, and the second half reliving their argument in her kitchen. He’d been about half a second from telling her the truth about Jessica, from opening up and sharing details he hadn’t shared with anyone other than Max, until that pager chimed. Those simple, high-pitched tones managed to serve as a timely reminder that he had no business sharing anything with Caley. Not when she was bound to leave eventually. Not when her career choice might as well stand as an impenetrable wall between them. Not when he needed the exact opposite in a future wife and stepmother for his daughter.

He stabbed the pile of hay harder with his pitchfork. The phrase life wasn’t fair was perhaps the understatement of the century. What were the odds of him falling for a woman as complicated as Caley Foster after all these years? If only she could have been what she’d seemed when she first moved into the rental house. Sweet. Responsible. Mature.

To be honest, she was all of those things.

She was just also so much more.

“For someone who’s so attracted to his nanny, you sure don’t spend much time inside the house.” Max’s head popped over the top of the stall next door, where he’d been repairing a loose board.

Brady stopped shoveling and narrowed his eyes. “For someone who’s paid to work, you sure don’t seem to remember who cuts your check.”

“Ouch. Touch a nerve, much?” Max hung his arms over the top of the stall. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he swiped at it with one sleeve, grinning.

“You know how I feel about Caley—and her career. Subject closed.” Too bad he couldn’t convince himself of the same. But it had to be this way. He wouldn’t put himself into a relationship with that level of risk to his—or Ava’s—heart again. Nor could he start a relationship where he wanted to change the other person from the get-go. He and Jessica were proof enough of how that method never worked. Opposites might attract initially, but they didn’t make for an easy marriage. He wouldn’t go that route again.

No, if he ever remarried—and that was a Texas-sized if—it’d be to someone who would understand his desires to raise Ava a certain way and not push him to change his opinions. Someone who wouldn’t try to force him to explain him choices, but rather step back and respect them.

Now if he could just get Caley’s energy, zest and bright-eyed smile out of his head...

Max held up both hands in exaggerated surrender, the hammer tucked between his thumb and forefinger. “Whatever you say. You’re the boss.”

He went back to whistling under his breath, and Brady had half a mind to switch chores with him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.