Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“Okay.”
“Yeah?” Zach asked, pulling back to look at my face.
“Fuck yeah,” I replied, grinning at him. “Life’s too short, right?”
“It is,” he agreed hoarsely, smiling at me. “You know, I went into the stable when I got back to check on your girl, and she bit me.”
I snorted. “Well, c’mon, we all know she’s got a thing for Holloway men.”
He shrugged and then smirked at me. “Except Dad.”
“Oh, ain’t that the truth,” I agreed. “She hates him.”
“Hates him?” Rand asked, appearing bemused, smiling at both of us. “Do horses hate?”
Zach and I both nodded.
“She used to steal all his stuff,” Zach explained. “Hammers, rope, hat—whatever he left around for more than a minute.”
“Horses do that?” Stef asked Zach.
“Glenn’s ornery mare does.”
Stef laughed. “I love that.”
“The best was when she kicked his golf cart and it rolled into the pond,” I said, smiling at Rand. “Oh, he was pissed.”
“It was funny seeing it sink slowly, and then it took hours to pull it out,” Zach said, cackling. “You know what, I forgive her for the bite now. That was too good.”
“She’s a funny one. Loves kids, loves dogs, hates horses and most people.”
“She loves kids?” Stef asked.
I nodded. “She does.”
Stef turned to Rand. “Maybe Wyatt could learn to ride her first instead of Nightmare.”
Rand growled and squinted at his husband. “You do realize that my stallion has a name, and it’s not anything bad.”
“Yes, I know,” he said, smiling. “It’s Mephistopheles.”
“Stef!”
He was laughing, clearly enjoying winding Rand up.
“What is it really?” I asked Zach.
“Oh, I have no idea.”
“It’s Noche,” Stef barely got out, laughing.
“Really?” I asked Rand. “That’s sort of a letdown, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“Beelzebub would’ve been better.”
He shook his head at me.
I turned to Zach then. “Thank you again for making sure my girl was all right. That horse means the world to me.”
“We all know it,” Rand said. “And I’d like her to stay where she is.”
I didn’t say anything, just looked at him, checking, trying to read him.
“I’d like to take care of both of you,” he declared, and I could hear his heart in the words. “Please let me.”
“Rand… You don’t need to feel like you owe—”
“I don’t. I wanted this before and you know it. I want Zuzu—”
“Juju,” Zach and I both corrected him.
“Juju on my ranch, and I want you on my ranch,” Rand said flatly so there could be no question. “Did you hear me that time?”
“Yeah, but—”
“I don’t expect you to cowboy anymore or be a rancher,” he said solemnly. “I know that ain’t your dream. And if something happens with the resort, it would be Stef’s and my honor and privilege to relocate the Bronc onto the ranch, but, Glenn, more than all that, I want you on the ranch just like I want Zach.”
“Why?”
“’Cause y’all are my family,” he said like I was stupid, which was par for the course with Rand. “I want you with us.”
I would never make him say it again.
We were all quiet, and it got awkward fast. I had to fix it. “I won’t live in the house with you and Stef,” I baited him to get us back on an even keel.
“That’s right, you won’t,” he agreed with a grimace, like that was the worst thing he could think of. “And I expect someone else might have something to say about where you’ll be hanging your hat.”
“I hope so,” I said softly.
“Well, he was right behind us when we got back, but he wanted to get cleaned up before he saw you, and he had something to get from his house as well. He’ll be here soon.”
I nodded.
“I know he was eager to come check on you, and he already told me he’s taking the day off tomorrow to spend time with you. Other things were said as well, but I’ll be honest and tell you I stopped listening once we got home ’cause I had to get here.”
Of course he did. He needed to see his family.
My throat went dry just thinking about seeing Mac.
“And so you know,” Zach said brightly, “so you can tell the folks that work for you when they visit”—he glanced at Stef—“the ranch is gonna be real secure from now on.”
Stef flipped him off, and I chuckled.
“We’re getting a closed-circuit, state-of-the-art television system put in.”
“It’s better than I thought,” I teased Stef, waggling my eyebrows at him.
He groaned.
“Aw, c’mon. It’s not a small ranch, Stef, and you and Rand are not just everyday people living your lives. You have money, and as such, you have to take care. You can’t fuss at Rand for wanting you and your son safe.”
“No,” he agreed, flicking his gaze to the man in question. “I can’t.”
When Rand lifted his arm for Stef to join him, Stef looked at him like he was insane.
“What?” Rand asked.