Page 66 of Finding His Redemption

“Good. He’s in the back room with Tate. He got a new dinosaur coloring book, so he’s in heaven. He asks me every day when you’re coming back to fix something else.”

“Do you need something fixed?”

She laughed. “Better question is, what don’t I need fixed? I have a to-do list five miles long.”

The knot of apprehension in his stomach loosened. A purpose. A reason to be here that didn’t involve the near-obsessive need to be close to her or the hollow ache that had driven him from his bunk at dawn.

“What’s at the top of the list?”

She considered it, head tilted slightly. “The espresso machine’s been making a grinding noise for weeks. Sounds like it’s dying a slow, painful death. And the walk-in cooler door no longer seals properly.”

“I can take a look.”

“You don’t have to?—”

“I want to.”

She studied him for a moment, then tapped her finger on the counter beside his mug. “Finish your coffee first. You look tired.”

He almost laughed. Tired didn’t begin to cover it.

“Rough morning at the ranch?”

“Something like that.” He didn’t elaborate, didn’t tell her about the nightmare, the memories of blood and screaming that had followed him into consciousness. Or how he’d spent the restof the night sitting by the pond, watching the stars fade and craving her voice, soft and sexy in his ear, like an addict craved his next hit.

“I’m fine,” he added, the lie automatic.

Nessie’s eyebrows shot up. “Liar.”

This time he did laugh, a short, rusty sound that felt foreign in his throat. “That obvious?”

“To me? Yes.” To his surprise, she pulled up a stool and sat down across from him. “So what really brings you to town? Because I don’t think it’s my coffee, good as it is.”

The truth hovered on his lips—I needed to see you—but he swallowed it back. “Just needed to get away from the ranch for a while.”

“Is Echo okay?”

Some of the tension bled out of his shoulders, and he smiled as he thought of his brave girl. “She’s amazing. Getting braver by the day. She actually wagged her tail yesterday when I showed up. First time since I’ve been working with her.”

“That’s wonderful.” Nessie’s eyes lit up with genuine warmth. “You must be proud.”

“I am.” The admission surprised him. When was the last time he’d felt proud of anything? “She’s teaching me as much as I’m teaching her.”

“How so?”

He considered the question, turning his coffee mug in his hands. “Trust, I guess. How to earn it. How to give it.” He met her eyes. “How to stay still when everything in you wants to run.”

“That’s a hard lesson,” Nessie said softly, and he got the feeling she knew exactly what that felt like.

He still didn’t know her story. After how scared she was the other night, Ghost had offered to dig into it, but he’d refused. Whatever secrets Nessie carried, he wanted her to trust him enough to share them herself.

“The hardest,” he agreed.

Their eyes held for a moment, and he felt that familiar electric charge. Relief raced through him. He hadn’t wanted to admit he’d been worried that the phone sex the other night was a fluke, just a convenient release valve for her tension. But the heat in her gaze now told him it was more than that. Much more.

“Well,” she said on a short exhale and stepped back from the counter, putting distance between them. “When Echo’s ready, you should bring her here. Let her get used to the sights and sounds outside the ranch. Oliver will adore her.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.” He didn’t want her to back away, didn’t want to lose this tiny, fragile, precious connection—the first he’d had with another human being in more than a decade.