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His father was quiet for a bit. When he did speak, all the color had drained from his face. “The ranch has been having some problems. Problems I’m not convinced the boys will be able to handle. Not without your help.”
“Financial problems?”
“Are there any other kind?”
Fuck.
So much for a nice and relaxing weekend. This was a shitshow of epic proportions. The ranch was in trouble. The ranch his whole family’s livelihoods depended on. And despite him not working there since he was a teenager, somehow he’d been tasked with being their saviour.
Fuck.
***
“Everything okay? You’ve been really quiet ever since we left your parents’ place.” Libby’s sweet voice reverberated around the car.
That was true. Zach had been quiet. He figured quiet was much better than a public breakdown. Today hadn’t exactly gone to plan. To think, this morning his biggest problem had been resisting Libby. But now, things were different. The fate of his family and their ranch was in his hands. Considering he hadn’t had anything to do with the ranch since he turned eighteen, it was safe to say, he had no idea what to do or where to start.
To say his father was disappointed when he’d become a firefighter was an understatement. Ranching was in his blood. Apparently. But despite his dad’s displeasure, he’d never once asked him to quit. Not until today, that is.
What the hell am I gonna do?
“Yeah. I just— You know what? It doesn’t matter. Remind me again, where exactly are we going next Saturday?”
A musical giggle drowned out the radio and Zach couldn’t help but sneak a peek at the plump pink lips it was coming from. Seeing her laugh settled something inside him. There was no way he could explain what or why, but the feeling was there. Like everything was going to be okay.
God, I hope that’s true.
“You were a little distracted when you agreed to that, huh?”
“You know full well I was.”
“Well,” she started, “your brother mentioned that he had a thing for bull riding. And he was telling me all about the rodeos y’all went to as kids ...”
Zach could see where this was going. “Let me guess, he wants to take us to a rodeo next weekend?”
“Would that be so bad?”
Zach took his eyes off the road just long enough to catch a glimpse of the excitement on Libby’s face. “You really wanna go?”
“Yeah, I’d love to!” she exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to go to a real-life rodeo. No one’s ever ... I mean, I’ve never had anyone to go with before. And it’s not the kind of thing I’d go to on my own. But if you really don’t want to go, I ...” she trailed off.
Zach placed his hand over hers, and gave it a quick squeeze before returning his palm to the steering wheel. “Princess, if you want to go to the rodeo, then I’ll take you to the rodeo. Whatever you want.”
“Yeah?”
He didn’t need to turn and look at her again to know she was giving him that sparkling smile. “Believe it or not, I like making you happy. So yeah, next weekend we’ll go to the rodeo.”
Her hand was on his thigh again. Only this time he could tell it wasn’t there to tease him. Or torture him. Yet, it was this seemingly innocent gesture that inflicted the most torment upon him.
