Page 8 of Unyielding (Poplar Springs #3)

EIGHT

SHANNON

I could understand Zoe’s reluctance to go into town when she’d first arrived back.

For her, it had felt as if all eyes were on her, judging her for being different.

For me, there was only one person I would be happy to avoid, but damn if she didn’t seem to turn up at the worst time.

For someone who claimed to be so damn busy, she sure spent a lot of time around town.

I’d popped into Hastings General Store to grab some groceries while I waited for Mr. Martin to get my order together at the supply store. I breezed through the store, grabbing items for salads and sandwich makings. I’d just rounded the aisle into the butcher section when I heard Becca talking.

“Oh my gosh, it’s like I’m printing money with how well everything is going out at Black Hat,” she declared.

I rolled my eyes as I ducked into the frozen section.

I didn’t know who she was talking to and the murmured response was so low, I couldn’t even tell if the other person was male or female.

“For real. I’m set to blow past all my original projections for this year and it’s not even over.

If you have any questions about building your program up to where it should be, we should get together to talk.

I mean. I know we’re competitors, but this is Poplar Springs. We help each other out, right?”

I snorted at that. Becca was only ever out for Becca. If she was offering help, there was something in it for her.

It took me a moment to realize I was shivering and hiding.

Nope. I wasn’t going to let her get to me.

I pushed my cart out of the frozen foods aisle and rounded the corner into the bakery section only to see that it was Jake Thorne talking to Becca.

Was she serious talking to Jake like he was some greenhorn who needed her advice?

Her back was to me but I caught Jake’s eye and noted that he didn’t look happy to be there.

Becca had her hand on his sleeve and I watched as he shifted his weight, moving his arm out of her reach.

Not to be deterred, she stepped closer to him until Jake was almost backed up against the bread shelves.

“So, what do you say? We could meet in town for dinner to talk or you could come to my place. I could show you my operation and make you dinner. My cacciatore is delicious. You’ll love it,” Becca said. She was reaching her hand up to place on his arm when Jake’s eyes snapped to mine.

“There you are,” I said loud enough for half the store to hear.

“I was just over at the supply store and Mr. Martin said—and I’ll do my best to get it right—‘If you see Thorne in town, tell him to come get his order before I sell it to someone else.’” I grinned at Jake, completely ignoring Becca and watched him sidestep and move around her with a deeply relieved look on his face.

“Damn, I was supposed to be there thirty minutes ago. I’m probably blocking the loading dock. If you’re excuse me.” He tipped his hat toward me. “Thanks for passing along the message, Shannon. Send your family my regards.” Then he headed in the opposite direction toward the registers.

I followed him at a slower pace so Becca wouldn’t think I was running away.

As I walked past her, I leaned toward her and paused.

“Uh, you’re blocking the shelf.” The growl she gave me made it hard not to smile.

I reached across her, grabbed the closest loaf of bread, not bothering to see what type it was, and continued my slow walk to the checkout feeling way too happy about what just happened.

Was I being petty? Yes. One hundred percent.

Did it feel good to see a good-looking, single man noticeably not interested in Becca?

Absolutely. It was great to see that not every male was easily ensnared by her manipulations.

I paid for my groceries, smiling the entire time, then loaded everything up into my truck before driving over to Martin’s Ranch Supply to pick up my order. I backed up to the loading dock and found Jake sitting on the tailgate of his truck drinking what looked like a cup of coffee.

“Howdy, Cafferty. Thanks for the assist in the store.” Jake tipped his hat to me again and I chuckled as I got out of my truck to hand the supply store helper my order number.

“Yeah, I know from experience that Becca can be a bit much,” I said.

“Insulting is more like it,” Jake said. He waved his empty hand.

“The flirting is one thing. Some folks enjoy the attention, some don’t.

I’m in the ‘don’t’ group, myself, but whatever.

I’m not going to snap at a lady for trying to get my attention.

My mama raised me better than that. But I’m damn sick of folks pushing all this technology my way.

I’m old school. I believe the value of our stock comes from how we breed and raise our horses.

When technology overtakes common sense, then you’re doing something wrong.

” He tossed his coffee cup into the nearby bin, pushed his hat back on his head, and rubbed his forehead before reseating his hat.

“Sorry about that,” he said, giving me a sheepish smile. “You don’t need to hear my rants. I’m sure you’ve got your own opinions on things.”

“That’s okay,” I reassured him. “We have similar feelings about horse breeding, even if those opinions aren’t in line with some of the newer breeders and their scaled-up operations.

” I debated asking his advice. The Thornes, along with the Caffertys, were part of the original founders of Poplar Springs.

His family had been breeding horses longer than mine, and they appeared to be doing well. I decided to take a chance.

“Hey, Jake? Do you have time to offer some advice?”

Jake tapped the tailgate next to him and I hopped up.

“Josh wants me to modernize my breeding program. He claims I’m stuck in the past and what worked for my gran and mom isn’t good enough anymore.

I get it. I do. There are things I could be doing to streamline processes and free up my time for the most important things, but if I change too much, I feel like I’d be losing part of what made Lost Valley Ranch so popular. History and the past are important.”

He was nodding along as I talked. Jake knew better than most about the importance of history and heritage.

The Thornes had been hit with their own set of tragedies when Jake’s oldest brother and father were killed in a car accident.

Luke had been married to Amy Thorne, and when he died, he left behind a widow and a young son.

Jake had lost both of his mentors in one fiery crash and just like Josh, had been forced to take over the family business and figure out for himself how to keep the family traditions going.

“I’m the first to say that legacy is important.

That’s pretty much how I’ve been running things since I assumed the position.

” I felt a surge of relief. Jake understood the value of legacy as much as I did.

“However, I will be the first to admit that I could stand to modernize a few things too. Frankly, I really wouldn’t mind getting rid of all that paperwork that seems to stack up.

As my nephew, Henry, keeps reminding me, all of that paper came from trees only to end up in the landfill or incinerator. ”

“Yeah, when you put it that way, I can understand that,” I admitted. “So, can I ask your opinion on AI?”

Jake frowned and adjusted his hat. “Artificial intelligence?”

“I, uh…” Shit. He couldn’t be serious, could he? But then Jake snorted and elbowed my side and I blew out a breath.

“Can’t say I’m fond of artificial insemination for livestock.

That’s where I’m old school. I feel like the best way is using live cover.

Put two animals of the opposite sex out in a pasture and let them figure it out.

” I was nodding my head so hard, my neck was starting to hurt.

“But I also know that Walter Briggs lost two of his cows when Big Willy decided it was mating season. That bull was way too aggressive with the girls and Doc Wilcox wasn’t able to save them.

So, in situations like that, where the health of the females is at risk, then yeah, AI can be a good thing. ”

I cringed and thought about all the nightmares I’d had after Diesel jumped the fence and mounted Belle. I still wasn’t happy that she’d gotten pregnant, but things actually could have gone a lot worse.

“You’re all loaded, Ms. Cafferty,” the young man said as he slammed my tailgate closed.

I slid off where I was sitting and stood up. I held out my hand, and Jake shook it. “Thanks for the chat,” I said. “You gave me something to think about.”

“Anytime you need something, you’ve got my number.”

“Thanks, Jake.”

Driving away, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Jake Thorne said about legacy.

I didn’t know if his desire to maintain things as they were had to do with his own family tragedy or if he was simply as stubborn as I was.

I suspected a bit of both. But he had a fair point when he said that the safety of the horses needed to be kept in consideration when breeding.

As much as I wanted to say that the natural way was the best way one hundred percent of the time, if a temperamental stallion got out of hand while on the back of a mare, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it until they were separated.

“Well, I guess I’m agreeing to give AI a try,” I said out loud and then laughed thinking about Jake’s joke.

I wanted to tell Declan what he’d said, knowing he would get a kick out of it.

There were, I realized, a lot of things I wanted to share with Declan.

But that wouldn’t be appropriate. We weren’t dating.

He was a vet and we were his clients, I reminded myself.

Nothing more.