Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
I woke up at four in the morning, made love to her on the sofa because I literally couldn’t stop myself, then carried her to my bed, where she quickly fell asleep again.
A couple hours later, I’d crept out of bed so I wouldn’t wake her up. I needed to get out and check on things; see if the ranch hands had gotten out on the plows. So there was no sense in not letting her get more rest.
Returning several hours later, I took off my coat, scarf, and gloves and headed into the kitchen. “Lilibeth?”
“In here!” she called from the living room.
I headed to the living room—and came to an abrupt halt. I ignored the way my heart felt like it tripped over itself at the sight before me. Lilibeth looked up from a book she was reading and smiled.
“I didn’t know you had a cat. The poor thing was at your back door, meowing to get in.”
What was it about her lounging on my sofa, a blanket over her lap, a book in her hand, and a gray and white cat lying on her legs that seemed so…perfect?
I grinned. “I don’t have a cat.”
Her eyes went wide. “This isn’t your cat?”
Laughing, I walked over and scratched the cat on the head. He…or she…was clearly friendly and didn’t look very old at all. Maybe just two months. “Never saw this cat before in my life.”
Lilibeth looked down at the animal, then back up to me. “Oh my gosh! The cat distribution system brought you a cat, Caden!”
“You mean it brought you a cat, Lilibeth?”
She smiled. “She’s at your house.”
I laughed again. “But she came while I was gone, therefore, she belongs to you. Finders keepers and all.”
“She was at your back door; the distribution system brought her to you.”
With a frown, I held up my hands. “Oh no. I don’t have time for a cat.”
“Caden, cats pretty much take care of themselves. All you have to do is feed her. You could even get her one of those timed feeders. The poor thing. She’s so young, and she was out in the storm.” Now she held up the white-and-gray cat. “Look at this face! You can’t put her back out in the cold, and this is clearly her home, so I can’t take her away from the ranch. She has mice and birds and other creatures here to hunt.”
“I’ve heard this crazy rumor that there are mice in the city,” I stated, sitting down on the sofa. The kitten immediately made her way to me.
“This is the only place she’s ever known. She can’t be very old—and look at that! She loves you already.”
I rolled my eyes, but picked her up and held her in front of me. She was cute, I couldn’t deny that. “She has a sweet face.” When Lilibeth didn’t say anything, I looked over at her. “What?”
A soft smile appeared. “You surprise me, that’s all.”
“Because I like cats?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Because there’s this other side to you that I would’ve never guessed was there.”
I sighed. “I wasn’t always like this.”
“You mean you haven’t always been a grumpy-bug?”
I chuckled. “No, I haven’t.”
“I don’t want to push or anything, but do you want to talk about it?”
For a moment, I thought about fleeing. Saying something that would piss Lilibeth off so I could get away from the memories and the way she made me want to tell her everything. But no. I wasn’t going to run. If this thing with Lilibeth was temporary, she at least deserved to know why. And it honestly felt right to share with her.
“How much has my sister told you about Rachel?”
“Your ex? Not much. I don’t think she thought it was her story to tell.”
The cat made a few rounds in my lap, then settled in for a nap. Looked like she was ready for a story, too.
I sighed, dreading what I was about to say, but knowing I needed to say it.
“Rachel and I had been dating since high school before things ended a few years ago. I thought she was going to be the woman I married and had kids with. We dated for sixteen years; anytime I mentioned marriage, she’d put me off. Say she wasn’t ready, we weren’t prepared for that step. We were too young, or certain things had to happen before she could marry.”
“Things? What kind of things?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Apparently, anytime I ever spoke about the ranch, it went in one ear and out the other with Rachel. She thought the ranch brought in millions, and that once my grandfather…well, once he died, it would pass to me. But my two uncles are still very much a part of running the ranch. Something she should have known after so many years together.”