Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
I stepped aside and let the driver unload, watching the lumber stack higher, the weight of everything settling deeper in my chest. The tax receipt, the window repair, and now this. Ryder hadn’t started taking care of this place when my father died. He hadn’t started when I came home. He’d been doing it long before either of those things happened.
He had simply refused to let the ranch die.
By late afternoon, I couldn’t sit still. Every room I walked through carried pieces of him. The smooth-closing window, the faucet that no longer leaked, and the back door that locked without a fight. I had spent so long looking at this house and only seeing my father’s damage. Ryder had looked at the same place and saw something worth saving.
And now, I was slowly starting to see it the same way because I knew Ryder had been saving it for me.
The thought lodged deep and wouldn’t let go. Ryder didn’t know if I’d ever come back, but I knew he’d been fixing things silently just in case.
He’d held on when I couldn’t.
By the time the sun began sinking toward the mountains, I was done waiting. I showered, changed into clean jeans and a soft black shirt, and stood in front of the mirror for a long moment. I looked tired and uncertain because I didn’t know exactly what I was walking into.
I only knew I couldn’t spend another night staring toward the Kane Ranch unable to stop thinking about him.
Ryder.
I grabbed my keys and drove the short distance next door.
10
The Kane Ranch came into view beneath the fading light, the red-roofed barns turning dark against the orange sky.
Ryder’s truck was parked beside the house, and I saw Kash first, his head lifting and his ears perking up as I came to a stop in front of the porch steps.
I climbed from my car, and his tail started wagging hard enough to wiggle his entire body.
“Hey, handsome,” I murmured as I climbed the handful of steps to the porch and bent down to rub both hands over his head. Before I could straighten, the front door opened and Ryder stepped outside.
A black shirt stretched across his broad chest with the sleeves pushed to his forearms. His dark hair looked damp as if he had recently showered, and he was barefoot. A man’s feet shouldn’t have been as attractive as Ryder’s were, but somehow, even those did something to me.
He stared at me before his gaze moved over my face then lower before returning to my eyes. The air shifted in an instant, carrying the memory of our kiss and everything we had avoided saying afterward.
“You didn’t come over today,” I said, my cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment that I couldn’t filter my words or control myself around him.
His expression didn’t change as he crossed his arms and leaned a shoulder against the doorframe. “Figured you needed room.”
“Did I ask for room?”
“No.”
“Then why did you decide I needed it?”
His jaw flexed. “We kissed when you were hurting.”
The words struck so suddenly and hard that the air in my lungs rushed out. “You think I didn’t know what I was doing?” I could hear the incredulous tone in my voice.
“I think you found things yesterday that tore you apart.” His voice remained low and controlled but gentler than before. “I didn’t want to take advantage of that, and kissing you… made me feel like I was.”
“You didn’t take advantage of me. I kissed you.”
Ryder held my gaze. “Wasn’t sure you’d feel the same this morning.”
I stepped closer to the front door. “I wish you would have just asked me, but instead, you acted like nothing happened between us.”
We now only stood a few feet apart. “You left after we kissed. You decided I needed space without asking me. You disappeared. That’s what this is about.”
“I didn’t disappear. I was right next door.”
A long silence stretched between us. Kash settled near the porch rail, resting his head on his front paws as if he sensed neither of us would be moving for a while.
Ryder finally looked toward the pasture. “Figured you needed time to decide whether you still wanted anything to do with me.”
“I didn’t need time. I needed you to stay.” I felt my eyes widen as the truth came out before I could stop it.
His gaze came back to mine, dark and steady. “I’m here now.”
I studied him for a moment then let out a quiet breath. “You paid the taxes for years. You kept the ranch from falling apart.”
He didn’t look away. “County would’ve taken the land.”
“So you did it for the ranch?”
“No.” The answer came without hesitation.
“Then why?”
His gaze held mine. “You already know.”
“I think I do,” I said. “But I want to hear you say it.”
Ryder looked away again, but this time there was something different in the movement. It wasn’t avoidance exactly but more like a man trying to find words he had spent most of his life refusing to use.