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CHAPTER 1

Reba

“Reeeba!”

My shoulders slumped as the voice of the one man I thoroughly hated rang through the arena, loud enough to set the horses shifting in their stalls. Though I was currently working at the community barn and arena up on Rawhide Ridge and wasn’t actually on the Ranch property itself, the last thing I’d expected when I’d accepted Mac’s offer to spend some time at Rawhide was to be face to face with Johnny… or as I liked to consider him, the devil himself

“Is that man calling to you?” a young girl training next to me asked as I secured the saddle on the horse I was working with.

“Yeah, just ignore it.”

“ Reba ! Don’t tell me you can’t hear me,” Johnny shouted again, but this time, the best sound in the world followed his bellow—the infectious laughter of a little boy who I adored more than anything. My chest softened even as my nerves tensed.

Jax.

I turned and held out my arms just in time for the boy to crash into me, giggling wildly.

“Ms. Reeeeba!” he yelled as I scooped him up and spun him in a circle, relishing the moment despite the irritation still prickling my skin.

How in the world a man who had to have been created from the devil’s spawn could make a little boy as perfect as Jax, I’d never know.

“What’s up, little man?”

“Papa said you were mad at him again.”

“Your papa is usually wrong about everything, but this time he got it right.”

Jax giggled, and I turned to grab a helmet, blatantly ignoring the towering presence behind me. Johnny stepped in closer, his heat pressing into my back. My pulse betrayed me, quickening against my will.

“You can’t ignore me forever, sweetheart,” Johnny murmured, his voice a slow, teasing drawl. “Didn’t work before. Won’t work now.”

I turned, a helmet for Jax in my hand, and met his gaze head-on. My body lit up against my better judgment, that damn cocky smirk of his stirring something deep and unwelcome.

“Try me.”

His eyes darkened, but before he could push further, I turned my back to him and secured the helmet on Jax’s head. “Wanna ride my horse with me, little man?”

Jax nodded so I set him back on his feet and turned to get a helmet for myself since I was riding with my little buddy, ignoring Johnny in the process.

“As I said, you can’t ignore me forever. It didn’t work before, it won’t work now.”

“And as I said, try me.”

Johnny crowded me and my body immediately jumped to life. The physical reaction to him was one of the million things I hated about him.

“What are you doing here, Johnny?”

“Keeping you from stealing my boy.”

“I mean at Rawhide.”

“I’m up looking at some horses. Mac wants to expand the ranch’s breeding program. He emailed you, didn’t you get it?”

“He told me Rooster had contacted him about some wild horses that had been saved from stampeding over a cliff, and that Jagger then took them in. However, it appears Mac failed to mention you were the one coming up.”

“I volunteered,” he said with a wink that made me want to smack him. “Heard you were up here, so I figured it would be a great time to see each other.”

“Sorry, I’m busy.” I lifted Jax onto Black Beauty, making sure he was settled, before swinging up behind him.

Johnny folded his arms over his chest. “So that’s how it is?”

I shot him a smirk. “We’ll be back by dinner.”

Jax whooped with joy as we galloped out of the barn and into the open fields. The rush of the ride pushed back the weight of Johnny’s presence. But it never quite disappeared.

“Ms. Reba, you are the best,” Jax’s little voice shouted, his words interrupted by the bumps of my galloping girl and the wind surrounding us.

When we stopped down by the water, I hopped off and helped a laughing Jax down.

“You go so much faster than my papa.”

“Let’s not tell him that,” I said with a wink, right before the annoying man came up over the ridge on a horse of his own.

“I told you not to steal my kid.”

“Since when do I listen to you?”

“Yeah, Papa, since when?” Jax’s mimic was accentuated by a hand on his hip.

I couldn’t help but laugh. This kid always cracked me up. Johnny and Trina had him after a brief and difficult relationship. As far as I knew, even before Trina moved out of town, she barely saw either one of them. She’s been long gone for a few years now, and I honestly thought Jax was better off with his dad and the guys from the ranch. Ranch life in New York is just like it is here—a family affair. It may be a family you choose or one you are born into, but either way, you had people around who were there for you from the start. I’d spent a lot of years at Mac’s ranch when I didn’t know where to go or what to do with my life and I would always be grateful for the time I spent there but it had been time to move on so that’s what I’d done.

“Is she yours?” he asked, pointing to Black Beauty.

“No, she just retired, and I’m getting her ready for some ranch work around here.”

“Never in one place long are you, Reba?” Johnny sighed as we watched Jax stuff his face with the dark purple berries he found on a nearby bush.

“Not if I can help it.”

His voice dropped lower. “Scared to settle down?”

I exhaled sharply, the weight of the question hitting deeper than I cared to admit. “When I find what I want, I’ll stop.”

Johnny’s gaze sharpened. “And what is it you want?”

Before I could answer or lie, Jax ran up, hands full of berries. “Ms. Reba, try these!”

Saved by the kid. I met Jax halfway, avoiding Johnny’s intense stare. It was always like this. A game of cat and mouse, me dodging, him pushing. But he didn’t need to know what I wanted. Because he wasn’t the one I wanted to give it to me, at least not anymore. I tried to ignore him, focusing on Jax.

“I’ll ride back and grab us some lunch,” Johnny said, his voice tinged with something unreadable. “Stay here, and we’ll eat together.”

I rolled my eyes, but Jax cheered and then laughed as berries spewed out of his mouth and all over the place. That laugh... I’d do anything to keep hearing that laugh.

“Race you to the top of the hill?” I challenged.

He nodded like a madman and took off with me not far behind.

Johnny’s laughter was almost as sweet as his son’s, which was yet another thing that annoyed me about him. By the time I got to the top of the hill, I collapsed next to Jax, and we watched as Johnny rode back toward the Ranch.

“I’m not even hungry,” Jax said, tearing at the grass and throwing it up in the air. “Ms. Reba, why are you always mad at my papa?”

“Oh, little man, that’s grown up stuff.”

“So. I can be a grownup. The guys tell me all the time I’m a man.”

“I guess you are, aren't you? Take’s a man to do man’s work and that’s what you’ve been up to, huh?”

“Yeah, that and school. Which stinks, it’s boring, but the ranch has been boring lately too. Why don’t you come visit anymore?”

“I have to go where my work takes me. Mac doesn’t need much help with his horses because he has your papa and the guys.”

“Maybe, but Papa needs help sometimes. Lady help.”

Jax’s little eyebrows rose and came back down as he concentrated more on the facial expression than what he was saying.

I chuckled. “What do you know about lady help?”

“Not much, but I hear Mr. Mac and Ms. Athena tell Papa all the time that he needs a lady. I just figured he needs help with something.”

“Maybe he does, buddy, but I’m probably not the lady he needs to be helping him.”

“Maybe Beauty can help?” he said, pointing at my horse, who was happy in her own world grazing on the grass.

“You know what? I think you’re right in a way. He can’t have my Beauty because she belongs to Mr. Hawkins’ ranch, but we can make sure he gets some nice lady horses. Deal?”

“Deal!”

I lay in the grass while Jax ran around, being the little boy I always knew him to be. When I’d been barrel racing and traveling the rodeo circuit, I’d seen him more. Johnny had still been bull riding and a bunch of the guys would compete. I hadn’t minded watching Jax when his grandmother couldn’t make the trip. He’d been a sweet baby and a hilarious kid as he grew up. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss him. But the closer I’d gotten to him, the more I wanted something I could never have, so distance was best. Distance gave me a peace of mind I didn’t have when Johnny was close.

A little while later, Johnny returned with a packed lunch from the Ranch. He tossed a sandwich at me before sitting on the grass beside Jax, who was already tearing into his meal. For a kid who wasn’t hungry, he certainly didn’t waste any time.

“Brought extra,” Johnny said, setting out some fruit and chips. “Figured you might still be living off coffee and stubbornness.”

I huffed. “I see you’re still as smug as ever.”

Jax munched happily between us, oblivious to the tension thrumming under the surface. “Papa makes the best sandwiches,” he said proudly. “He always puts extra cheese on it.”

“Glad to know you’ve got standards, buddy.” I smirked at Johnny before taking a bite, begrudgingly admitting to myself that it was good. Extra cheese was always good. It was just Johnny’s smirk telling me he knew it, that wasn’t good. It was annoying as hell. Especially when I was willing to bet the only part he had in making the sandwiches was to ask Chef Connor or one of his kitchen staff to prepare them for him.

For a few minutes, silence settled between us, surprisingly comfortable. Jax rambled about school and ranch life, filling in the gaps as Johnny and I exchanged wary glances. The past sat between us, heavy and unspoken, but for now, with Jax’s laughter echoing through the air, we let it be. There was something special about Jax. Since there weren’t many kids on Mac’s ranch, he spent a lot of time with adults. He knew how to handle himself when he needed to but watching him just be a kid and enjoy everything around him was special in ways nothing else was.

When the food was gone, Johnny stood, dusting himself off. “Time to head back?”

Jax groaned and looked up at me rather than his father. “Do we have to?”

“Afraid so, buddy. I can’t have anyone thinking I ran off with Black Beauty.”

Johnny raised a brow. “Wouldn’t be the first time you ran from something.”

I stiffened, but before I could snap back, Jax tugged my hand. “Can we race again?”

I forced a smile and nodded. Jax cheered, taking off toward Beauty and hollering. “I’m riding back with Ms. Reba!”

I followed, feeling Johnny’s gaze on my back the whole way. Whatever this was between us, it wasn’t over. He may be right. I ran because of the feeling that we had unsettled business. It made me uneasy, and I hated everything about that. Now faced with the reality of needing to work beside him for the next week or so, my anxiety spiked. The only thing calming me was my horse and the kid who had his arms raised for me to boost him onto her back.

“Ready?”

“Yeah!”

I lifted him up before hoisting myself into the saddle, taking off back the way we came, leaving Johnny to clean up lunch and to trail behind us. I had work to get done this afternoon and if Jax wanted to hang out, I’d need to find a way to ditch Johnny. I hated the feeling of failure I had whenever he was around, so I texted Jagger and set up a time for Johnny to be there. By the time he rode in behind us, he was already late.

“Jagger’s waiting on you.”

“We weren’t supposed to meet until the morning.”

I held my phone up with a laugh as Jax chatted with some of the other kids in the barn. “Not anymore.”

“You are evil, Reba, you know that?” I laughed again as he turned to Jax. “Come on buddy, let’s cool down the horses and head to Jagger’s.”

“Aww, do I have to? Can’t I just stay with Ms. Reba?”

I smiled wide, knowing my plan was working perfectly. Johnny’s gaze narrowed in my direction.

“Sure, bud. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Jax jumped up and ran to give his dad a quick hug before turning to me. “Can I go play with the kids?”

“Yeah, I’ll come check on you once I have my horse in her stall.”

Back at the barn, I loosened Black Beauty’s saddle straps, my fingers working methodically to free her from the weight. Jax had run off to play, leaving me alone with Johnny. Again.

“That kid never misses a beat with you,” Johnny said, as he worked to cool down and put up his own horse.

“He’s pretty amazing.”

“Thanks.”

I shot him a look. “Not what I meant.”

He smirked, stepping closer. “I know. Just taking the credit anyway, it’s rare you give me a compliment.”

I rolled my eyes, focusing on Black Beauty. “So, these wild horses Jagger has. What’s the deal?”

Johnny ran a hand over his horse’s flank, his gaze assessing. “Rooster told Mac Jagger’s chosen four young mares from the thirteen mustangs they saved. The horses are tough, but trainable. Rooster thought they might suit Mac’s program. Figured you’d have insight.”

“You want my help?”

“I want your opinion, you’re one of the best.” He leaned against the stall, eyes warm with something unreadable. “And maybe a little more than just that.”

Heat flared in my chest. “Not happening.”

Johnny chuckled, stepping even closer. “We’ll see.”

His confidence and his damn charm all made me itch to either punch him or pull him in closer. I turned back to my horse, hoping Johnny didn’t see the flush rising to my cheeks. This man was going to be the death of me.

“You’ve never needed my help before.”

“That’s not true. I always need you.”

“Again, not what I meant.”

“Maybe I just want to spend time with you, like we used to back in the day.”

I raised my eyes to his. “Those days are over, Johnny. We are grown adults now, riddled by the bad decisions of our past.”

“It doesn’t need to be that way, you know.”

“Yeah, it does.”

Without another look in his direction, I finished up with Black Beauty and left the barn. He could deal with Jagger and the horses on his own. He didn’t need me. He knew it, Mac knew it and I knew it. Rather than dealing with him and our past, I sought out Jax and spent the rest of the afternoon watching him play with the other Rawhide Ridge kids. This was a much better plan than dealing with his annoying father.