Page 16 of Take My Name

“Yeah, a bit in shock, but overall, she’s fine.”

“What happened after?”

“We finished eatin’, but later when I went into the barn, she stopped to thank me.”

“Oh, did she?” I taunt.

“She attempted to anyway…” He cackles. “But I made her say what she was thankin’ me for since she was actin’ so weird about sayin’ the words. That earned me an eye roll.”

“Gee…I wonder why she hates you,” I deadpan.

“Mhm. Well, I didn’t want her thinkin’ she was special or anythin’ since she loves to tear me down, so I told her it was my oath to help anyone in need because of my EMS trainin’. Couldn’t let her know I was panickin’ about her chokin’ to death.”

“Of course not ’cause that’s not manly at all,” I drawl, amused at Landen’s definition offlirting.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. After thankin’ me, she let it be known she still didn’t like me.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, but then I responded with how I didn’t like her either.”

“Which was obviously a lie…”

“Obviously.”

“So what’s your next step in makin’ her fall for you?” I ask, leaning back on my couch and propping my feet up on the coffee table.

I’d rather hear about his shitty love life than thinkabout mine.

“The northeast pasture still needs the fence fixed,” I tell Bodie, looking through my checklist the next morning. It’s not one we use very often, so we’ve been putting it off, but whenever there’s time in our schedules to work on it, the sky opens up and downpours. The metal posts along the property line are rusty and need to be replaced up there as well, but that’s an even bigger job.

“I’ll put it on my list for next week,” he tells me the same thing he said last Friday.

“Don’t forget,” I say firmly.

The one time we’re going to need it is when it won’t be fixed and then we’ll be screwed.

“I’ll ride out there today and check what we need so I can make sure we have the supplies.” It’s off-road, so it’s easier to horseback up there versus driving. I could take the four-wheeler, but riding helps me clear my head.

“You want me to go with you? It might be a swamp and a little dangerous.”

“Aw…you worried about me?”

I huff a laugh when he rolls his eyes.

“Nothin’ I haven’t done before,” I reassure him.

Since Bodie and I work on the ranch side, we look out for each other, but with him being younger, it’s usually me keeping an eye on him.

“Can you grab me some horse tack while I get Priest out?” I ask him.

He’s one of the best trail horses we have at the stables, but I often use him for riding when I need to go farther up the mountains. So even if the conditions of the pasture aren’t ideal, he won’t be fazed by it.

The Willow Peak Stables are between The Branch Haven and the Willow Chalet. There’s a corral in the front of the barn and an area behind it with horse rails for the guests to saddle up before they go riding. They’re required to go with a tour guide, so there’s always staff and ranch hands walking around the area, but guests are free to ride whenever they want within riding hours.

The other horse barn is on the ranch side where we board other people’s horses. Some are for racing or show, but the majority are personal horses for people who live in the city or don’t have land to keep them.

It brings in a good chunk of extra income but can be a pain in my ass in terms of paperwork and sending invoices.