Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“I’m working on it, Joey.”
He gives me a tight grin and I know he has something on his mind. Like I said, he’s been working on this ranch long before I could even walk. I know him as well as I know my horses and he’s got something to say.
“What is it?” I ask, leaning against the wooden fence that separates us from the fields where the horses roam and graze.
He clears his throat and gazes at the ground briefly before meeting my eyes. “I don’t want to get into your personal business, but I’m just wondering if you’ve figured out what you’re going to do about finding a husband.”
I shake my head, rolling my eyes up toward the sky. I know my father is looking down thinking the exact same thing Joey just asked.
“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do,” I admit, feeling defeated.
He nods a few times before letting out a soft sigh. “I’m an old man, Violet. Most of us here are. We’ve been with your father for a long time. I don’t want to add pressure or fuel to the fire, but I’m just worried about telling the guys that we no longer have a ranch to work at.”
It feels like knives digging into my heart listening to him. He’s right, it’s not just me who loses the ranch. Joey and all the guys that have worked so hard to make this place what it is, will be jobless.
The pressure of figuring out what to do piles heavier on my shoulders as I stare into his clear blue eyes, surrounded by wrinkles.
“If you and the guys weren’t already married I’d ask one of you.” I laugh, but I’m also sort of serious.
Joey’s eyes light up and a smile splits his face in two. “We’d all say yes to help you out. I wish we knew somebody.”
“I’m going to figure it out, Joey. No one is losing this ranch. That I can promise you,” I say, wishing I felt the conviction of my words.
He smiles and nods as he says, “I have complete faith in you, Violet. Your Daddy didn’t raise no fool.”
With that he walks into the barn and I feel like my knees are going to buckle.
My dad definitely didn’t raise no fool, but he sure as shit put me in the worst situation ever. It’s a race against the clock and it feels like I have cement on my feet.
I walk toward the barn where we keep all the hay and feed, needing a minute to myself. The stress and pressure I’m feeling right now have me feeling like I might lose it. I won’t, but I feel like I could.
As I step into the barn, the familiar scents hit me in a way they never have before. It’s like for a moment my dad is standing next to me telling me to get the hay for the horses. It never mattered if I was struggling or having a bad moment, he always said, “Cowgirls don’t cry.”
The words echo in my ears as I stare at the empty barn. I’ve lost my mother, my father, and now I risk losing my ranch. Everything I love seems to disappear and I don’t know how the hell to stop it from happening again.
Suddenly, I feel something wet hit my face and I look up. “What the hell?” Again it happens and I quickly wipe it off my face. “Is there a damn leak?” I turn around but see nothing but sunshine, although my face is still getting wet.
That’s when I realized, it’s not a leak, it’s me.
“Well Dad, I guess sometimes cowgirls do cry,” I shout.
The tears are unstoppable now. I can’t fight the overwhelming sadness and devastation I’m feeling. I haven’t cried in so long that I truly believed I was not capable of it, but that’s proving to be untrue.
I sit down on a bale of hay and drop my face into my hands. The fear of losing this ranch and of Joey and the others losing their jobs is just too much to handle. I’ve met my breaking point and it’s a horrible feeling.
“Hey, you okay?”
I snap my head up and see Callum Atwood standing at the barn door, holding a bag of grain on his massive shoulder.
Humiliation takes over as I quickly stand, turning my back to him as I wipe my eyes on my shirt. “I’m fine, what are you doing here?”
I know why he’s here, but I’m trying to stall until I feel like my face doesn’t look like I’ve been crying like a girl.
“I’m dropping off the spent grain for you. Joey called, saying his truck broke down,” he explains.
“Oh right,” I say, spinning around to face him, but keeping my eyes cast down. “I appreciate that. You can just drop it there.”