He doesn’t smile or say thank you, or really do anything other than give me a clipped nod before spinning on his heel and heading toward the bathroom. Jogging down the front steps, I hurry over to my car and make my way down the gravel road as he instructed. The house is easy enough to find, and while it’s not nearly as big as the other house, it’s certainly just as nice.
I let myself wonder what it would be like to live here. To wake up and do yoga outside every morning as the sun rises. It would be so peaceful and relaxing. Huffing out a laugh, I just as quickly shove that to the back of my mind because,yeah right. After how I humiliated myself earlier when I got here, and the way Finn clearly wasn’t pleased with interviewing me, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be getting this job.
Which honestly sucks, because I think I’d be a great fit, and it would be something I could enjoy.
After I grab a change of clothes, I head back to the main house, dropping them off in front of the closed bathroom door. From the inside, I can hear Tucker rambling on about something to his dad. He’s talking so dang fast, I doubt Finn can get a word in edgewise. Smiling to myself, I set them down and make my way back to my car.
Guess I’ll just wait and see, and cross my fingers that this ranch will be the answer to all—or at least most—of my problems.
Chapter 5
Finn
“So, how’d it go, brother?” Hollis asks as he places a bowl of sliced cantaloupe on the table.
“It was a shitshow,” I grumble. “First, the guy got here, spilled hot tea all over himself, then he stripped in the driveway.”
“Sounds hot,” my brother quips.
“What?” Strolling into the dining room, my father looks at me with furrowed brows. “Who the hell stripped in the driveway?”
“Finn’s new manny,” Hollis offers, chuckling as I glower at him.
“He’snotmy new nanny,” I correct as I fix Tucker’s plate.
Every Wednesday, me, Tucker, Hollis, and my cousin, August, come to my dad’s house for dinner. It’s something we’ve done for as long as I can remember. A way to come together and catch each other up on our lives. At least, that’s what my father says. Despite all working on the same ranch, it canbe surprisingly easy to go days without having a meaningful conversation with them because of how busy we are.
“That boy is going to be my new nanny?” Tucker asks, eyes wide and grin wider. Ash was all he could talk about in the bath. Question after question, then he told me how his “floppy hair”—his words, not mine—and his nose ring wereso cool.
“No,” I say at the same time my dad asks, “What boy?”
“Where did ya find him anyway?” Hollis asks, pushing the subject and grating my nerves.
“What boy?” my father grits out, harsher this time.
“A guy I interviewed for the nanny position,” I breathe out, fixing my gaze on my nosy fucking brother. “He was recommended to me by somebody.”
Hollis’s lips kick up on one side, and I heave a sigh, knowing what’s coming. “Pray tell, Finny. Recommended by who, exactly?”
“Just this woman I’ve been seein’.”
I grit my teeth, knowing the line of questions is coming. I’ve purposely kept my relationship with Violet a secret. I’ve always been a private person in general, so I didn’t see the need to make a big deal out of something that didn’t need to be. Besides, Hollis and August are two of the nosiest fuckers I’ve ever met. The more I can keep them out of my business, the better.
“Wait…what?” Hollis asks cheekily. “Who is this woman, and why is this the first we’re hearin’ about it?”
I look from my brother to my son sitting beside me, silently telling him to shut the hell up. It’s a no-brainer to keep my dating life away from Tucker. His life is hard enough as it is not having a mother figure around; I don’t need him getting confused by a revolving door of women who come and go.
Not that I have women coming and going all the time.
Riley, Tucker’s mom, was the last serious relationship I had been in. She was my wife up until she packed her things and leftwhen Tuck was a baby. I made a promise to myself—and to my son—that I would never be careless when it came to introducing him to partners. It’s been an easy promise to keep, not only because he’s my son and his wellbeing is the most important thing to me, but also because staying single is pretty easy when you’re a cattle rancher workaholic.
“Her name is Violet, and it’s really not that serious.” Meeting my brother’s gaze, I tip my head toward Tucker and add, “Now, drop it.”
I never anticipated this…thing with Violet to bloom into anything more than casual nights here and there. Although, if I’m being honest, I’ve considered ending it more than once. Not because I don’t like her and enjoy our time together, but because I worry that this means more to her than it does to me. I don’t have any concrete evidence of that suspicion, but it’s in the little things.
Interviewing her brother was more to appease her because I felt bad telling her no, which is clearly a me issue that I need to get over. I can’t keep appeasing her at the expense of my own sanity.
Digging into our food, we eat mostly in silence, save for the occasional back-and-forth between my brother and cousin. The two of them are very much alike, and the closest out of the three of us. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that I take after my father in the personality department, which is just a nice way of saying I’m grumpy and closed off. Although, Gentry Moore is one of the hardest working men I’ve ever met, so saying I’m like him is about the furthest thing away from an insult, even though those who often say it are meaning it as such.
