She flipped him off with both hands even though she knew he wasn’t looking, and then she went inside and slammed the door behind her. She stood there in the familiar kitchen, shaking with frustration and muttering about ‘pig-headed men always trying to be the boss’ but the funny thing was she knew it wasn’t Sam she was mad at.
It was far too early to be dealing with strong emotions, and she was still exhausted from the night before. Even in his arms the storm had made her restless. He kept the nightmares away, but they’d been lurking in the dark long after the thunder stopped, making her afraid to sleep. She’d finally gotten up and gone home to keep from disturbing him with the tossing and turning. Of course, once she was back in her own room, she started overthinking what had happened.
Her body ached in all the right places and she felt a bone-deep contentment that had been lacking in her life for the past two years. Part of her was already thinking about the next time. How could it have been a mistake when everything had felt so perfect?
Then reality set in and she had to remind herself there were reasons to keep her distance. Their break-up had been her fault and she knew that, but it didn’t change the current reality. She didn’t want to be forced into a relationship with a man she would have no choice but to submit to. It was just ironic that it wasn’t Sam forcing that on her. It was her own body that craved the dominance so much, but her father setting up this whole shared inheritance thing wasn’t helping either.
She sighed and let her head thump softly against the door frame as she wondered why life was never simple. Stuck with too many choices and not enough energy to make any decisions, she went back to bed and slept until the sun was high in the sky. It was a guilty luxury on a ranch, where everyone was up and working before the sun rose, but she felt like she deserved the extra rest.
When she did crawl out of bed, she was faced with the harsh reality of having nothing to do. Her school requirements were finished, and it had been a long time since she had chores here at home. On her visits she’d pitched in, like everyone did, as needed, but things had moved on without her and she was no longer part of the process.
Now she wasn’t sure if she’d be welcome, but she also didn’t know if she wanted to go down and be bossed around by Sam. As the foreman that was basically his job, and she knew if she presented herself ready to work he’d probably hand her a job to do, but after their little blow up she wasn’t sure that would be a smart idea.
It took her a couple of hours pacing around the house before she realized she was going to go crazy if she didn’t find something to keep her occupied. There were too many memories of her father’s larger than life personality filling every room. She changed into work overalls, pulled her dark hair into a ponytail, and headed down to the main barn.
Sam gave her a look when she demanded something to do, one eyebrow going up like he wanted to tell her off but then he shrugged. “You want something to do? Fine. You can help Mike; he’s in the equipment garage and he’ll probably have you running around fetching tools. Haying starts next week and he’s trying to get things running.”
She frowned, but the irritated response died on her lips when she saw the way he was looking at her. It was a test, she realized. She’d asked for work and he was waiting to see if she was going to throw a fit over being assigned something she didn’t like—because they both knew machinery wasn’t something she was interested in. She wouldn’t mind seeing Mike though.
She forced a smile on her face, “Sure, no problem,” she replied. She tossed him a sarcastic salute, turned on her heel, and headed for the giant garage that held all the other machinery that a busy ranch needed.
She walked between the two tractors, and when she got to the haybine she gave up looking and shouted, “Mike? Where are you?”
There was a muffled, “Charlie? That you?” and then a familiar man with skin the color of old leather slid out from underneath a small loader. He smiled wide as he got to his feet and wiped greasy hands on an old rag before he approached her with his arms out.
“Hey Mike, long time no see,” she said, grinning as she ducked in for a hug.
“Been a while eh? Sorry I missed your dad’s funeral. I know I shoulda gone I just…” he trailed off looking guilty, but she understood. Mike and Jimmy had been friends going way back before she was born, and the only reason Mike wasn’t in charge of the ranch now is that he didn’t like running things. Machinery was his Zen, not people.
She gave him a tight squeeze. “It’s okay honestly. Wasn’t much of a party. He’d have hated it.”
“He would have. His last day he was saying it was too busy a time for people to be fussing over his cor—” He cut himself off there with a wince. “Sorry, Charlie-girl. Anyway, I figured the best way to honor him would be to stay here and get some work done. Most of the guys thought the same.”
Corpse. That was what he was about to say, and the word sent a shock of pain through her. That was what her father had been reduced to now, and it was such a cold, harsh word. She ignored the prickling at the back of her eyes and shook her head. “That sounds like something he’d say.” Clearing her throat and forcing a brighter tone, “Thebosssent me over to help.”
Mike had pure white eyebrows and both of them flew up high on his forehead. “Really? Didn’t think you cared much for mechanics,” he said.
She shrugged, “He sent me over so… what do you want me to do?”
Either Mike saw nothing strange about it or he simply wasn’t willing to comment on the foreman’s choices. Instead he put her straight to work helping him check the fuel lines for corrosion.
She found the work boring, especially since Mike felt the need to explain what he was doing, and he insisted she get hands-on when it came to changing filters and oil with him when she wasn’t running around fetching parts and tools. “It’s good to know how to do these things, Charlie. I won’t be around forever you know.”
Maybe her dad’s passing had him considering his own mortality, but it made her cringe. The last thing she wanted to think about was losing anyone else. But the next few hours weren’t as bad as they could have been. Mike was fun to work with and practically like an uncle to her; they spent the time chatting and catching each other up on life stuff as they worked.
She was kept too busy to think much about Sam or their situation, and while she may have ended the day covered head to foot in grease, she also went home with a sense of accomplishment. It came at the price of being tired and sore, but a long hot shower eased those problems and when she finally emerged, she headed to the kitchen to take care of the next problem.
She was starving. The fridge was close to empty of the staples but there was plenty of food in the cabinets and as always, the freezer was full of meat. She just had to work up the energy to cook, and after a thoughtful pause of about one minute she decided that wasn’t going to happen which left her with only one alternative.
Being so far from town there was only one place that delivered, and it was never fast. An hour and a half was a long time to wait with a grumbling stomach and when the car rolled up front she couldn’t get to the door fast enough. She was paying off the driver for her large pepperoni with extra cheese when she saw Sam heading for the back door.
He caught sight of her at almost the same time and changed course to go around front and she muttered a curse under her breath. She really just wanted to gorge on the pizza, and he had on his serious face which meant he was probably coming to talk. “I’m just about to eat, Sam,” she said, cutting him off as he approached.
“We need to talk.”
“No,youneed to talk. I need to eat, and I’m not interested in talking about anything more personal than the weather or ranch business.”
His deep blue eyes narrowed, pinning her with one of his stern Dom looks and it made her mad that it still caused that ‘uh-oh!’ feeling. “Charlie…”
