For the next hour, he tried to make heads and tails of his father’s office. His mother had been the tidy one in the relationship.
There were scraps of paper, notes, messages, and receipts all over the desk. By the time he walked outside, he had most of it in organized piles.
All eight of the employees were standing around chatting when he stepped outside. Their chatter stopped when they noticed him.
“Good afternoon. Thanks for carving out a few minutes of your workday,” Nick said, stepping beside Daryl.
“Wow, are you okay, boss?” Daryl asked, motioning to his face.
Nick touched his lip and winced. “Yeah, I got this the same way you got yours.” He motioned to Daryl’s eye. “Which is why I’ve called this meeting. Until further notice, neither my uncle Wilbert nor my cousin Willy are allowed anywhere on this property. According to the law, until my father’s will has been read, I am in charge of the ranch along with my father’s lawyer, Stephen McKinney. I know there are rumors going around…” At this point, several people mumbled, and Nick held up his hands to stop them. “Let me assure you, they are just rumors. I don’t know my father’s intent for pushing the reading out for so long, but I’ll do what I always have done. I’ll follow his wishes. Until then, we run the ranch like we did under him. Nothing changes. Got that?” He waited until everyone nodded. “Good. Now, if you see either my uncle or cousin on the property, feel free to call the police or me. Do not try to approach them yourself.” He motioned to Daryl and then himself. “They haven’t stopped at physical violence yet, and I wouldn’t put it past them to step up their game.” He waited a beat. “Thanks, that’s all for now.”
Everyone turned and disappeared except Daryl.
“We were just about to take the east heard out to pasture. Want to ride with us?”
Nick thought about how relaxing the hour-long ride would be, but then remembered he needed to stick close to the property just in case his uncle or cousin came back. “No, thanks. I want to, but… I’d better stick close to the house.”
“Gotcha.” Daryl nodded. “If you need us…”
“Thanks.” Nick nodded and watched three of the men jump on the horses already saddled up. With the exception of Thunder, Lightning, Bolt, and Crash, there were half a dozen other work horses that were kept at the barn near the ranch houses.
Daryl and the hands were in charge of caring for those animals. Occasionally, they would need a new horse or a trip to the vet.
Every month a farrier would come out and shoe all the horses that needed attention, and their vet, Dr. Roselyn Stein, would check on all of their animals. Dr. Rose, as Nick had always called her, was one of the nicest people in Cedar. The woman knew everyone and every animal.
She came around more often in the spring when it was calving season. After the crew left, he saw Dr. Rose drive up and park just outside the barn.
“Hey, Dr. Rose.” He smiled at the older woman, then noticed the younger woman with her.
“Nick.” Dr. Rose smiled as she shut her door. “This is my granddaughter, Emma. Emma, Nick Howe.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said. Emma was roughly his age. He turned to Dr. Rose. “You’re far too young to have a granddaughter.”
Dr. Rose’s smile grew. “Flatterer. Just like your father.” Dr. Rose waved him off. “Emma is going to be shadowing me. Someday, she’ll take over my practice.”
“Well, then, welcome.” He waved them towards the barn. “Let me know if you need anything. Dr. Rose pretty much knows her way around the place.”
“Thanks.” Emma smiled as her eyes ran over him.
Dr. Rose was already heading inside the barn with her bag and hadn’t seen the interest in her granddaughter’s eyes.
“Maybe we could hang out sometime? You could show me around town?” Emma practically purred.
She was cute, and normally he would have enjoyed flirting with her, but images and thoughts of Kara kept filling his mind instead.
“Thanks, but I’m… pretty busy.” He turned when he heard Kara’s truck heading up the driveway. She parked next to his truck and got out, her eyes going between him and Emma.
“I saw the police cars earlier. I would have come then but I was out riding and then Bella got spooked and dumped me in the stream,” Kara said, her eyes still going between the two of them. “Who’s this?”
“This is Emma, Dr. Rose’s granddaughter,” Nick said. “Emma, Kara Montgomery. She lives just…” He motioned to Kara’s place.
“Oh, right, we’re going to be heading there later this week,” Emma said. Just then her grandmother called her into the barn. “It was nice meeting you,” Emma said to Kara. “Later,” she said to Nick.
Kara stopped beside him. “She likes you.” She nudged his shoulder.
He glanced over at her, and she gasped. “What happened to your face?” She took his face in her hands and scanned it. “Who did this to you?”
“Who else.” He moaned.
“Your lip is bleeding.” She dabbed it with her fingers.
He touched the spot with his tongue. “Yup.”
“Come inside, I’ll clean you up.” Kara practically dragged him into the house. Instantly, his mind went to her dragging him other places and what he would do to her. How he would please her. How she would please him.
Chapter Eleven
Nick was very quiet as she cleaned him up. She asked him what had happened and after several short sentences, she figured the rest of the story out. She surmised that he didn’t want to say much since she was cleaning up his bloody lip.
But when she was done, he sat there on the edge of the countertop just looking at her.
“What are you doing here?” he finally asked.
“I told you. I saw the police cruiser,” she answered, feeling stupid. She’d been so concerned, she’d pushed Bella into heading that way. The horse hadn’t wanted to cross the creek and that was how Kara had ended up soaking wet. She’d had to return home, shower, and change before she could come over and see what had happened.
Thankfully, at that time, the trucks and police cruiser had disappeared.
“You could have called or texted me,” he pointed out.
“My phone is sitting in a bag of rice,” she explained. “It ended up in the creek with me.”
He smiled slightly. “You really did end up in the creek?”
She chuckled. “Yes, although at the time, I wasn’t laughing about it. It was freezing.” She rubbed her hands together, remembering how cold the ride back to the barn was. “Poor Bella, I left her in the stall without brushing her. She didn’t end up in the water, just standing over me looking as if I deserved it.” She smiled.
“She’ll survive,” he said, taking her hands in his. Then he pulled her close. Before she had time to respond, he was kissing her, her body plastered against his, their mouths fused as his hands roamed over her.
“After the day I’ve had,” he said between kisses, “I just needed a little sunshine.”
She held onto him and felt the tension release even more.