Page 32 of Here With Me

“Oh, ya know your parents only set that in place because of Wilder sleepin’ with the receptionist and then makin’ Waylon break up with her as him.”

I hold back a laugh as I put on mascara and focus on not smudging it. The memories of my older twin brothers getting into trouble are nothing new. The receptionist was so heartbroken she caused a scene and threw everything she could find around The Lodge. One of the guests filmed it and uploaded it to social media, where it got three million views in a week. I’ve never seen my parents want to kill my brother more. After that, there was a no employees dating employees rule set in place.

“Doesn’t matter, it’s still the rule,” I remind her.

She shrugs with a mischievous glimmer in her eyes. “No one has to know.”

ChapterEight

Fisher

Well, shit. Literally.

I knew she’d be surprised to see me, but I didn’t anticipate her falling into a wheelbarrow of horse shit to avoid me.

Now I’m stuck with Ruby, who’s taking her sweet time showing me every inch of the ranch.

We’ve been inside every barn, storage shed, hay loft, and pasture.

I’ve also pictured a dozen places to sneak around with Noah if she’d give me a chance to explain why I’m here.

Assuming she’ll even want to talk to me.

“If you want the retreat tour, you’ll have to get it from Noah or one of the boys. I’ve gotta get back to stall duty before Ayden covers me in shit next.” She laughs as she drives us back to the stables.

“Does it matter where I start?” I ask as she parks next to my truck.

“You’ll have to ask Noah. She’s kinda the boss when it comes to the schedule.”

I open my door and hop out. “I thought Ayden was the boarding operations manager?”

“He is, but Noah trains most of the boarders, which means the schedule depends on her and what she has to do. No one really understands her madness, so we just roll with it. Best you do, too.”

“Duly noted.”

“You’ll need to back up your truck on the other side of the barn and set up away from this entrance. Noah brings out the horses on this end, and you’ll just be in her way.”

“Alright, sure.” I don’t need to give Noah more reasons to hate me by pissing her off at work.

“She just texted she’s leavin’ her house and should be here in a few minutes. She’ll let ya know where to begin.”

I head to my truck and then drive to the south side. Once I’ve backed in close enough to the concrete block, I unlock the back of my rig where all my tools and machines are kept. Instead of a cub trailer, I opted to get a built-in shoeing rig so I could still pull a trailer when I moved locations. Now it’s a nice convenience to have.

I clip my leather apron into place over my jeans and then grab my hoof stand and tool kit from the back seat of my truck. Mr. Hollis printed out the shoeing cards of each horse from Mr. Ryan’s last visit. It tells me their toe length, angle of the foot, and what size shoe they use. Each horse will vary on their specific activities, but it’s still useful to have ahead of time. Some of the horses are new since the last time Mr. Ryan was here, so I’ll have to spend a bit more time on them.

It’ll take a few weeks to get caught up and then maintain a routine between Noah’s training schedule and the trail horses’ daily riding.

Unsure of where to begin, I fuss with my equipment and supplies while I wait for Noah.

When her truck appears and she parks next to mine, she stares at me through the windshield. With a shake of her head, she opens her door and walks toward me.

My heart falls to the pit of my stomach at being face-to-face again. It’s only been a week since our night together, and I haven’t stopped thinking about her. Even if she left the morning after and hasn’t responded to my calls or messages, I’m still happy to see her.

“You stalkin’ me?” Her voice is coated in irritation.

I ignore her accusation and take a step. “Are you okay?”

“From fallin’ in horse shit or because you miraculously showed up on my ranch?” She crosses her arms.