He was still thinking of the dating/marriage thing when he drove onto Sage Ranch and climbed from his truck. He gave a look around before he headed to fix the fencing he’d been meaning to get to for a few weeks. His other intention had been to hire new hands to take up some of the slack around the property.
The sun beat down hot. He dragged off his shirt and hung it on the post as he worked to pound the post into the ground. A hard day’s job always did his body good.
Thirsty, he dropped the hammer, grabbed a water bottle and drank the cool liquid, then wiped is hand across his face.
Picking the hammer back up, he started hammering, but the hair on his neck lifted. He got that queasy feeling that he was being watched. Jerking a gaze around, he spotted the silver BMW sitting on the lane, but he didn’t see anyone behind the wheel.
Squinting, he wondered who in the hell came around these parts in a luxury car?
Shrugging, he went back to work and once he finished, he strolled back to the barn where he found Bo finishing his chores.
“Evenin’, Bo.”
“Good to see you, Creed. Any luck finding hands?”
“No, but I have a few ideas. How are you, buddy?”
“Fine. I’ll miss this place but I’m getting old. Time to close the curtain.”
“Never old, my friend, just finely seasoned. Were you able to switch out the grain for the cattle?”
The other man blinked. “No, I didn’t. I forgot. I’ll do that.” He took the saddle he was polishing and laid it aside.
Creed didn’t want to make it his business to remind someone that they were slacking but he’d noticed Bo seemed preoccupied lately. “Don’t worry. The feed store will put the new grain on the next delivery. Are you sure all is okay?”
There was a long thoughtful hesitation. “I haven’t told anyone but Rusty, but our oldest son, Gavin, has been having some trouble finding a job. May’s been sick with worry over him, you know, since he came back from Iraq. Now is probably the best time for me to retire and take care of my family business.”
“Have Gavin call me. He’s a good guy and I need a few good men around here that I can rely on.”
Bo’s eyes widened. “Really? That would be very generous.”
“You’re a good man, Bo. Rusty and I both appreciate all the years you’ve dedicated to Sage Ranch. Helping your son out is the least we can do.”
“Thank you. I’ll tell him to call you.”
“I see Rusty has a visitor.”
“You didn’t know?” Bo’s tan faded.
“Know what?”
“I guess I assumed you knew.” Bo swiped a hand over his thin jaw. “Remember a few years back, we were at that welcome home party for Adam Case? We were sitting around the fire, drank a little too much whiskey, and I asked you what your biggest regret was in life?”
Yeah, he remembered the party. His old buddy Adam had come back from his military contract early, injured when an IED exploded and left him without a leg. Adam had a wife and kid and although they were happy to have him home, he sensed there was a lot of concern. A man never knew what life would be like when he came back from across the pond, but losing a limb had its own barrel of issues. “Hell, beats me. I was pretty upset to see my buddy hurt.”
“You said you regretted not chasing after her.” The corner of Bo’s mouth twitched.
“Her?” Creed didn’t need to search his memory. He could play dumb, but the man’s gaze nailed him in accusation. That could be a problem with drinking, loose lipped confessions never helped anyone.
“Do you need to clean out the cobwebs?”
No denying, he’d been hurt when she left but, in his gut, he’d known it had been the best thing for all of them. “A lapse of reasoning on my part.”
“Oh? What if I told you she was back in Cooper’s Hawk?”
Creed chuckled and swiped a hand down his whiskered jaw. He looked across the hay strewn floor of the barn and caught the grave expression on Bo’s face.
Huh?
Creed was ready to throttle the man if he was lying.
“Nothin’ to joke about.” Creed muttered the words.
“She’s been back a few days. The BMW is hers.”
The loud mooing of a cow right outside the barn mingled with the heavy beating of Creed’s heart in his ears. A vivid image developed inside his head of her, his first love. His first kiss. His first…everything. At ten she’d been his best friend. At sixteen she’d become a woman overnight and stole his heart. At eighteen he’d finally worked up the nerve to make a move, but instead of treading slowly, he’d jumped off the proverbial cliff and wound up making an effing mess of things. Big time.
He never understood why he’d become the tongue-tied, wet-behind-the ears, foolish idiot when it had come to talking about his feelings for her. For a long time she’d been one of the boys, until she woke up one day and had blossomed in all the right places then she’d been the target of all the boys’ interest. She’d always been beautiful, but she’d grown curves. Breasts. And she’d learned to work magic with her dark eyes.
At eighteen, and not nearly as mature as he thought he’d been at the time, he’d been embarrassed at the strong reaction of his body each time she was near. If the wind caught her scent, he grew hard. If she brushed against him, he would lose his head.
He shoved his shaking hands in his front pockets. Even now, he lost himself thinking about her. “If
