Page 17 of Rancher’s Strength (Flying Diamond 5, #4)

Chapter Fourteen

LEXIE

A fter Ryder and Linc got the horses brought in for the kids, the four of them spent the morning wandering through the options.

Every time I looked out at the corral, I couldn’t help but smile.

Ryder was so good with both of them. He was meant to be a dad.

A pang of guilt washed over me, and I had to push it from my mind.

His words fluttered through my brain. It doesn’t matter how it happened, but we have a family now .

He was right; I never wanted a family this way, but I was glad we’d been able to work together to make it happen.

“Lex, we should go look at that building,” Ryder called from the porch. “We can get the kids a doughnut from Fred and take a look at it.” The kids cheered, and I knew I didn’t even have an argument to stay home. We were going to town.

Walking around the small building, I admired the dark wooden trim and the large windows along the street as I wrapped my arms around myself.

The view from these windows looked out onto the vacant lot where my father’s law office used to stand.

A sudden guilt surged in my heart for not being willing to come back here to practice when I was done school.

“So, what do you think? Could you be comfortable working in this building?” Turning, I looked at Ryder. The heavy footsteps of the kids in the room above us made me smile.

“I think it would work just fine. Having two offices means I’ll be able to keep clients private. The reception area looks great. Not that I have anyone that I can get to do that.”

“What happened to Faith?” he asked, glancing at the ceiling. I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was. How long would it be until one of them came running down the stairs complaining about the other one not playing fair?

“She’s still with the office in Bozeman. I wish I could open this office with her.”

“Call her, see if she’d be willing to come here.” He shrugged as if it were the easiest decision in the world.

“I can’t ask her to relocate.” I shook my head and turned my back on him as I wandered around the large conference table.

“Why not? You two are a great team. Is she seeing anyone? Or married?” I’d almost forgotten he hadn’t seen Faith for three years.

She’d been a huge part of our lives when I went back and forth to Bozeman weekly.

Faith had kept me organized and made sure Ryder knew what my schedule was and when I needed him to show up out of the blue.

It had taken me a while to catch on, but once I did, I didn’t let her know I’d figured out her plan.

“No, she’s single. Her family’s still in North Dakota.”

“Call her, " he encouraged. Reaching into my purse, I fumbled around for my phone. After dialing her number, I waited.

“Hi, Lexie.” Faith’s chipper voice made me smile. No matter how bad my day was, Faith knew how to fix it—sometimes before I realized I needed help.

“Hi. So, this is going to seem like it is out of the blue, and please know you can absolutely say no, but… I was wondering if you’d come here and help me open a practice.” I spoke so fast I wasn’t sure she would understand me, stumbling over my words in a rush to get them out.

“Okay, back up a sec. You’re starting your own firm?” She sounded surprised—but not shocked, which honestly felt like a win.

“I have to be here for the foreseeable future, and the partners aren’t exactly thrilled about it… so I’m quitting. Ryder found me a building that will work perfectly for an office.”

“Wait, I think I need to sit down. Ryder helped you? As in, you let Ryder help you?” Now she sounded actually shocked.

“I just saw you a week ago.” Her voice was incredulous, the memory fresh—she'd been in the office when the call about the accident came in.

“Yeah, well… we’re kind of re-married.” Would it ever get easier to explain this to people who knew us?

“Kind of, Alexandra? You’re either married, or you’re not, so which is it? Never mind. I’ll be there in two days, and you can tell me then.”

The line went dead, and I lowered the phone from my ear, staring at it.

“Well?”

“She’ll be here in two days.” I smiled as I glanced at my phone.

“Told you, all you had to do was ask. And when did you decide to quit your firm?”

“As I said it.” I shrugged. “If we’re going to raise these kids together, I can’t have one foot in Bozeman and one foot here. They deserve better than that. And I want to be here for them.”

“I’m glad. So, you want me to buy this building?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against one of the doorframes.

“I don’t need you to buy things for me.”

“Yeah, I know. But I can, so I will. There’s no point in you starting with a mountain of debt.

Who knows how many people you’ll actually see at first?

Please let me do this for you.” He stepped closer and placed a gentle hand on my back.

“There’s an apartment upstairs that Faith can use free of charge.

Please, Lex.” I nodded, and he kissed the side of my head as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

He wandered into one of the office spaces, and I could hear him talking, but I didn’t pay much attention.

“Fine.” I huffed and moved out of his embrace.

“Good, because I’ve already done it.” He grinned, and I shook my head, turning my back to him.

“Wait, what do you mean you already did it?” Spinning on my heel, I frowned as I looked at him.

“While you were on the phone, I was too. I’ll have my attorney look over the contract before I sign it, but other than that, this place is yours.” He winked.

“And just who is this attorney?” I asked, crossing my arms, ready to argue with him about why he needed a better lawyer.

“She’s five foot seven. She has dark brown hair and eyes that are usually black because she’s mad at someone.

Quite often, it’s me, and I get to sleep with her.

If she’d just let me sleep with her, life would be perfect.

” His boyish smirk was almost enough to do me in.

So many things were my undoing with him, but this air of knowing he outdid himself was kryptonite.

“What about school for the kids?” I asked, purposely changing the subject. I should have said thank you, but this was overwhelming and a lot of change for me in a short time. The last time I made decisions this fast, I’d left him, and look how that turned out.

“I don’t think that’s all that complicated.” He shrugged. “Probably just forms to fill out. You could call Elle; she’ll be the one to know since she enrolled Parker when they came here.”

“That’s a good idea. And a therapist.” Just then, the kids came thundering down the stairs and made laps around the table and us before heading to the other office. It might have been a bad idea to have the treats from Fred’s before we looked at the office.

“Jake’s the one to talk to for that. They’ll need a family doctor, so it won’t hurt to talk to him.”

“Do you have an answer for everything?” I crossed my arms and turned as I took the first step to the second floor of the building.

This rise was enough to look him in the eyes.

His dark eyes, which had drawn me in from the first time I’d seen him, put me under a spell and bewitched me.

Call it what you will, but I think he knew he had magical powers over me, and he’d always used them to his advantage.

“Well, I don’t know if I have an answer for everything, just most things.” He smirked. I watched his tongue glide across his lower lip. “See something you want to taste?” His voice is husky. He’d taken a step closer to me, so there was only a breath between us.

“Asshole,” I whispered before I turned and walked up the stairs.

Was there something I wanted to taste? Hell yes.

Kissing Ryder had always been earth-shattering.

The quick kiss on our wedding day had ignited something I’d pushed to the back of my mind.

But there was nobody here to impress or fool, so it was a line I couldn’t and wouldn’t cross.

No matter how much my body was begging me to.

We quickly surveyed the apartment. It was in decent shape but needed a deep clean and some furniture.

There wasn’t enough time to move my things from Bozeman, so I’d have to start fresh for now and deal with the rest later.

Either way, I had a lot of work to do if I wanted this place to be livable in two days.

“I’ll call in the troops, and we can get this cleaned up tomorrow.”

“And just who are the troops?” I called as I walked into the apartment's kitchen.

“Julie, Gwen, and the girls. I bet if I called your mom, she’d come too.”

“Leave my mother out of this.”

“Lexie, she deserves to know you’re back for good. You can’t hide from her and Lydia forever.”

“I’m not hiding,” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“No? You only saw your mom because she was at the wedding. If Lydia hadn’t barged through the front door of the house, I’m not sure you’d have seen her at all. What’s the deal?”

“There’s no deal, and I just don’t feel the need to include them in every moment of my life.”

“That’s not it at all. You can lie to some people, but not to me. But keep your secrets, I won’t pry them out of you.” He held up his hands and moved down to the main floor.

Of course, he wouldn’t pry. He never did.

Chasing after him, I ran face-first into his chest as I turned the corner, going back into the office area.

“I can’t stand the way they look at me, okay.

It’s like, there goes poor Lexie; she can’t have kids.

Look, there’s my faulty daughter Lexie, and there are no grandchildren from her.

Then there’s Lydia, who can have kids but doesn’t want them, ever.

” I couldn’t fight the emotions bubbling through me, and tears ran down my cheeks before I could stop them.

“Most days, I don’t even feel like a whole woman.” I sobbed as Ryder pulled me into his arms. He didn’t say anything. He just stood strong like he always had. Ryder held onto me tightly with one arm and brushed his big hand over the back of my head until my crying stopped.

I looked up at him, my eyes still flooded with tears, but his soft face told me everything I needed to know.

It was all I ever needed to know and the reason I’d left.

He didn’t care that I couldn’t have kids.

On more than one occasion, and probably more like a hundred occasions, he told me it didn’t matter in the slightest to him.

He’d always been supportive, and I’d loved him for it, and I’d let him go for the same reason.

“I think you need to talk to someone who can help you with this. You don’t need to get over it.

I get it. It’s unfair, but it cripples you, and I don’t think it has to.

You’re the most amazing woman I know, and that has nothing to do with being able to carry children or not.

” A slight smile crossed his face as he gazed down at me.

“There is nothing wrong with you… you’re perfect in every way that matters to me. ”

“Kids, let’s go,” he called, and they ran out of the other meeting room. Ryder locked it up again and handed me the key. Staring down at the silver, jagged piece of metal, I had to smile. This was mine.

Sawyer grabbed my hand while gripping Ruby’s, who was holding Ryder’s hand, as he walked us down the street. Ryder stayed close to the curb, and I glanced over the kids to him. He turned and winked at me.