Page 54 of Thaw My Heart

“You—you can’t do that,” she says, but she’s unsure.

“Yes, I can. I’ve been promoted to Ranch Manager.”

She blinks in surprise, staring at me with new eyes.

My patience is wearing thin. “What’ll it be, Tequila?”

She frowns, grabbing her coat from the coat rack. “You can be such a pain in the ass.”

“Likewise,” I mutter, and she follows me towards my truck, grumbling under her breath.

Two and a half hours later, we’re sitting in the doctor’s office awaiting her results. Neither of us has said a word since we left the ranch. Every time I think of something to say, it dies on my lips when I meet her big brown eyes. Eyes that only held hatred and annoyance for me. It should be what I want… but her glares feel like pinpricks to my heart.

Piercing tiny holes in the soft flesh.

After a while, the doctor comes in and tells us the X-ray looks good, but he’s not happy she was out drinking last night, considering the incident.

Something I also feel strongly about.

“A girl’s gotta have a little fun,” she smiles playfully.

The Doctor frowns at her, and I do the same. “Take it easy next week. Come back if anything changes.” He hands the paperwork to me and leaves the room.

We hop into my truck, and as soon as I start the engine, she finally speaks, breaking our silence. “Well, are you satisfied?” she asks, crossing her arms.

“I wouldn’t call today satisfying.” I put my truck into drive, heading onto Hollow Boulevard. Sleet falls from the sky, making the roads slick as we curve around heading North.

“Well, what would a satisfying day look like for you, Cowboy?” I glance over, noticing the smirk on her face, a smirk that would normally affect me in unspoken ways. But instead of giving in to her charms, I focus back on the road, choosing to ignore her games.

She made her choice, and it wasn’t me.

It was never going to be me.

“So, you’re just going to ignore me now, is that it?” she asks after a moment.

I don’t respond. There’s nothing to say anyway.

The darkness of the forest envelops us, wrapping us in shadows with tall trees swallowing up the light. Icy sleet mixes with the snow, continuing to fall from the grey sky.

She sighs, turning her gaze to the window. “I really don’t understand you.”

That feeling is mutual.

Heavy sleet from last night’s snowstorm caused damage to several ranch buildings, leaving roofs sagging and beams strained under the pressure. Thank goodness I encouraged Cole to upgrade the main barn to a steel roof last year. An expensive investment at the time, but an important one in the long run.

However, if I knew about the debt that Lone Pine was in, I never would’ve persuaded Cole to put in skylights.

The first few hours of my morning were spent familiarizing myself with the financial situation of Lone Pine with Annie. And seeing negative numbers on the bank statements felt like a punch to the chest.

Another stressor on my shoulders I didn’t want.

The grass-fed beef market is still on the rise—thank God—but the rising feed costs and strange weather patterns have been causing periods of drought and costly damage. Racking up a bit of debt in the last five years, as well as debt from Cash’s failed business attempts and gambling debt that Cole took care of.

At least, fixing the storm damage part of things is something I’m good at. I can’t do a damn thing about the drought that’s been occurring in the summertime, nor could I erase Cash’s burden on the family, but I could make sure we were better prepared for the next season.

After dealing with the finances, I spend most of the day on the roof of a feed barn. Quite nice for a change of pace. Especially since I was able to rope in Hudson Cade to help me. He’s quite handy and exactly the kind of person I need today. Someone quiet who will just get shit done, no questions asked. Several other teams were currently out doing similar things, reinforcing and preparing for the next snowstorm.

My arms and back are good and tired by the time we finish up, heading back to the main barn, carrying our tool bags.