Page 49 of A Rancher's Heart

“I’ve been chasing runaways for the past twelve hours, and everything I own is wet or muddy, including me, but if you’d like to continue this conversation, by all means. I’m naked, so you go ahead and strip down as well, and we can get in the shower together.”

Dead silence.

Ha. So that’s what it took to make her go tongue-tied.

Tamara straightened her spine. “Oh.”

He still wanted answers. “Go put on the kettle,” he ordered. “I need a shower before we can talk.”

Caleb released her then turned, headed silently for the bathroom. Wondering if she would stand there motionless until she heard the door safely close.

Only this wasTamara. A quick glance over his shoulder proved she’d turned as well, and even in the shadowy darkness of the hallway, he could tell her eyes were taking him in from top to bottom. Some devilry tempted him to pause and let her gawk. See if she could maintain a straight face, or if she’d be blushing before they were done.

Because as cold as he was, it was amazing how quickly his body had hardened. There was no mistaking his response.

A soft noise escaped her before she scurried from sight into the living room.

He kept the shower short, and a few minutes later met Tamara in the kitchen. Steaming hot chocolate waited for him, and he took it gratefully, drinking deeply before putting the cup back on the table.

She wouldn’t meet his eyes, and a small note of satisfaction rose in his belly. Maybe the unflappable Ms. Coleman wasn’t so unflappable after all.

“Did you find the horses?” she asked quietly.

“Not all of them. Couple of trees came down and took out a section of fencing. We didn’t find out until it was too late. I think the horses headed to the neighbours’ land.” He glanced at her. “I was damn grateful to know you’d be here for the girls. I’m sorry I didn’t call—we kept going in and out of reception areas—but I did think about that.”

Tamara nodded but didn’t speak.

For once it was him who fought to fill the quietness. He couldn’t seem to stop, even getting hazy with exhaustion. Truthfully, something inside him wanted her to know he hadn’t just been out for all hours without a good reason.

“Hopefully we can find them over the next few days because the weather is supposed to turn for the worse, and a couple of them have foals.” He took a long drink before continuing. “Of course,thathappened after the morning call out to deal with a transport trailer that went off the road not even fifteen minutes after leaving the ranch.”

“Kelli said the driver was okay, but she didn’t know much more than that,” Tamara told him.

“Thankfully, he was just shook up. It was a steep section of road, and could have been worse.” Caleb paused. “I had to put one of the horses down.”

His attempt to keep his regret from showing was a failure because she wore an all-too-knowing look. “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “Part of the job. Now, what happened with the girls?”

Tamara tilted her head. “You lost track of what day it is?”

Between his frustrations last night and the whole shitstorm of today, Caleb was half-asleep on his feet. “I’m too tired to play games. Just tell me.”

“October thirty-first.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Oh, excuse me. We’re after midnight, so it’s now officially into November, but weweren’ta few hours ago.”

A sick sensation stole through his exhaustion. Halloween. The girls. “Ah,fuck.”

“They still got to go trick-or-treating but it wasn’t quite the same as going with you. They were excited enough to be out they didn’t realize how disappointed they were until bedtime. Thus, the tears.”

Nothing he could do to change the past. “I’ll apologize in the morning.”

Tamara shook her head. “Good start, not enough.”

If he hadn’t been so bone-weary, he would’ve reached across the table and shaken her. “Remember that part about I’mtoo tired for games?”

“They were really upset—”

“Yeah, I got that. Thanks for making it abundantly clear that I’m a shitty dad. Enough with the guilt. I’m going to bed.”