“There’s probably a third category of people who don’t like horses at all.”
“We don’t talk about them.”
She laughed, banishing the bleak mood that had settled over me. After a pause, I said, “He didn’t like that I went into Ranch Management in college.”
“You have a degree?” Her eyes grew wide, as if hearing the insult too late. “I mean, in ranching?”
“Yes, I have a degree. It’s not the Old West anymore. You can’t just walk onto a ranch and get a job.”
She twisted her lips together, clearly regretting her remark. She hadn’t offended me—people were always amazed a Ranch Management degree even existed. Anybody who didn’t work with horses thought of it as a hobby, not a career people hung their whole lives on. But it had always been the only career for me, and now, my whole life hung on this ranch.
“So your dad doesn’t approve of your career choice?” she prompted.
Bonanza loped through the pasture, searching for longer grass. I’d never gone this long without riding him before, and we both missed our old routine.
“I don’t think Dad sees it as a career. To hear him tell it, I’m just running around like a kid playing cowboy, wasting time until I get a real job.”
“Your Gram must not have agreed.”
I smiled at that. “In a twisted way, I lucked out when Gram left Bret and me this old place. Dad didn’t like that so well, either, but it was out of his hands.”
“Wait. The ranch belongs to youandBret?”
“He never told you?”
Her gaze darkened. “There were a lot of things he didn’t bother telling me.”
If Bret had suddenly materialized in front of me, I would have endured any amount of pain to punch that fool in the face. “Gram left the ranch to both of us, but Bret never wanted it. I’ve been buying him out the last four years.”
Her eyebrows popped up. “The property must be worth a lot.”
Inheriting Victory Ranch from my grandparents had been the luckiest break I would ever get in a career like mine. Most guys couldn’t afford their own acreage and barn for years down the road, if ever. I’d spent the first eight years after college working as a trainer at the same big outfit Aaron worked for now, establishing my reputation and improving my technique. Five years ago, my Gram had passed and left the ranch to me. I’d worked doubly hard to earn my reputation since going out on my own, so no one could ever say I’d had my business handed to me. The land and the buildings, maybe, but I’d put plenty of work into those, too.
“I should have Bret paid off in another year. It will be a relief. Every time he gets ticked off with me, he’ll say maybe he wants to share the ranch, after all. Starts talking about turning it into a dude ranch.”
I shuddered to think of strangers crawling all over this land I loved. Those threats spurred me to buy Bret out faster than I needed to, paying as much as I could each month toward his share. I didn’t like having that question mark hanging over me, that worry ofWhat if Bret changes his mind?I would rest easier once the ranch was mine outright.
“I’m sure that’s just talk. Bret would never give up his lifestyle in the city to live out here.”
“He could still make things tough for me if he ever wanted to.”
Like if he knew how I feel about you.Neither of them could know that, for too many reasons to count.
“That’s another way you two are different,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Bret’s job is all about finding out information and turning it to his advantage. That’s who he is. But you aren’t like that.”
No, I wasn’t. But sometimes, I sure wished like hell I was.
FOURTEEN
june
Pop and Jedfound me in the kitchen when they came in from the orchards. Hot and sweaty, neither one seemed to mind the trail of dirt they left from the back door to the kitchen sink.
“You’re leaving footprints.”
