Chapter Four

Colton closed the door behind him after watching Gus’s truck disappear down the dirt road.

It shouldn’t bother him that she had a date. They hadn’t been together in over a decade; they knew it was over when he had left.

They had both moved on. He had dated. There was no doubt someone as beautiful as Gus dated.

So why the hell did it bother him so much?

The door opened and closed, and Ty came into the kitchen, peeling gloves off his hands.

“How are the cows?” Colton asked, more to try to connect with Ty than anything else.

“Calves look good. We have a cow that looks like she may have a new calf soon, so we should keep an eye on her.” He looked around. “Where’s Jace?”

Hailey had left two nights ago for Houston to take care of some business, and Jace had barely shown his face since. Colton couldn’t shake the feeling that Jace was keeping a low profile now that Hailey was gone.

“I don’t know. Lazing about?”

“Must be a city thing,” Ty grumped. “We need to move hay to the horses.”

“I know.” Colton glared at his brother. “I was going to do it after moving the wheel line, but Gus came by. You aren’t the only one working this ranch.”

“But I’m the only one who cares. You move a wheel line and then head back into the house and call it a day. You and I both know ranching is full time.” Ty shot him an even darker look. “And what about Jace? He’s been holed up in the office since Hailey left.”

He got where his brother’s mind was going. Since arriving, Jace had barely helped with the ranch. He probably didn’t know what to do or where to start. Or maybe he just wasn’t committed to the place.

And if Jace wasn’t committed to the ranch, what was to stop him from heading back to Houston with Hailey?

“I’ve got it.” Colton headed up the stairs to the top level of the two-story home. The addition and second story were added several decades ago before his father had taken over the ranch.

He knocked once and opened the door. Jace stirred, the cotton sheet covering him up to his chest. “Wha—?”

“Get up.” Colton grabbed Jace’s jeans and threw them on the bed.

Jace squinted at his phone. “What time is it? It’s Saturday. Saturday is for sleeping in.”

“Not here. Ranching life starts at six on the Rocking H. We’ve let you sleep in. Get up. We need to buck bales.”

“Buck what?” Jace rolled out of bed and pulled on his jeans and grabbed a shirt from the stack next to his bed.

“Be downstairs in five. After we move hay, we check fence line.” Colton headed back down the stairs and went in search of some leather gloves. He really needed to buy a new pair but kept putting it off. Buying new gloves felt like he was committing to the ranch life—like he was actually going to take the time to break them in.

Jace came down, rubbing his hand over his face as he fought to wake up. “Coffee?”

“To-go mugs are in the cabinet above the pot. Coffee was made half an hour ago.” Colton grabbed two pairs of gloves and handed one set to Jace. “Let’s go.”

They headed down the porch, and Colton veered toward the old blue pickup parked at the side of the barn. The perfect beater truck for around the ranch. It was one of his dad’s favorites.

He hesitated, hovering his hand over the handle.

“Just do it,” he muttered to himself. He yanked the door open, and the old hinges squealed in protest.

“Is this truck going to make it to the haystack?” Jace asked, jumping into the other side.

“It better.” The truck started immediately, and they headed down the road to the giant haystack. “We need to move hay from this main stack, to where we feed the horses and cows.”

Jace nodded. “And that’s bucking bales?”

“That’s bucking bales.” Colton showed the other man how to grab the bale with hooks, and then with a lift of his knees, toss the bale into place on the bed of the truck.

To his surprise, Jace picked up the rhythm rather quickly, and before he knew it, they were heading down the road, making the first trip to drop hay off at the feeders for the cows.

The radio had broken in the truck ages ago, so they drove in silence. Jace stared out the window as they drove along.

Colton cleared his voice. “Did Hailey make it to Houston okay?”

Jace didn’t turn. “Yep. She’ll be there for a while.”

More silence.

Okay. Colton always thought he was a man of few words, but Jace appeared to be a man of fewer.

He tried again. “Did you get your work sorted?”

“Yeah,” Jace said.

Colton parked, and they got out to unload the hay. Colton tossed a few flakes to the cows, showing Jace the amount of hay and the size of flakes they normally tossed in the feeders.

“Okay, that seems manageable,” Jace said, and Colton felt a swell of success. He wanted to make ranch life seem manageable to Jace. If the other man could handle the day-to-day, he would likely stick around for the year.

They headed back to the stack, and Jace was out of the truck the second Colton parked. He jumped into the back, ready to start stacking bales.

“Did you get everything squared away with your company?” Jace huffed as he grabbed the bales Colton dropped into the bed of the truck from the main haystack and pulled them into place.

He wiped at the sweat forming on his forehead. “It went better than expected.”

Jordan had taken the news in stride. While his partner thought the numbers were improving this month, he also said the sooner Colton returned the better. Like Colton, he thought the strength of their business was their in-person networking with the farmers and ranchers.

But something about how easily Jordan took it in stride threw him off. Like his business partner had almost taken it too well. The past couple of months had been a financial struggle, where it felt like the company was losing more and more money.

Colton tossed down another bale. “Do you do the books for your company?”

Jace grabbed the bale and pulled it into place. “Yep. Why do you ask?”

Colton shook his head. “Just wondering. Math has never been my strong suit. I was going to hire an accountant, but my business partner took it on.”

Jordan was a good guy. His family helped him out during college and had even helped fund Farm to You when it was a start-up.

He forced his shoulders away from his ears. If Jordan said this month was a good month, Colton trusted him.

“Sounds like a good business partner,” Jace stated as they pulled up to the pen.

The horses nickered excitedly at the giant stack of food in front of their pen. They leaned against the wire, stretching their necks out to steal a nip of hay. Colton strategically parked just far enough away to keep the horses from taking mouthfuls of the stack.

Once, a long time ago, he loved horses. Wanted to train them for a living. They were the one thing that made sense on the ranch when his father was convinced he was never good enough to take on the legacy. They made the ranch worth it.

Which was why he did as little as possible now to be involved with the horses. He didn’t need a reason to stay here. He would feed them, and that was it.

Colton talked Jace through feeding the horses after they finished unloading the hay.

As they headed back to the truck, Jace pulled off his gloves.

“Stick them in your back pocket,” Colton told him. “That way you have them whenever you need them.”

They started down the road, Colton keeping his eye on the fence to note areas that needed to be fixed. Some posts looked like they needed to be replaced eventually. “How’s it going after your first week here?” he asked.

“You mean besides discovering my father lived in Montana and I had two brothers that I knew nothing about?”

Colton’s stomach turned. “Yeah,” he offered lamely.

Jace sighed. “Fine. All this feels foreign, and it’s not my thing. Hailey seems to like it, but she’s gone, and now it’s just me, in the middle of nowhere, with no one I know.”

Right. And that was what concerned Colton. Without anything to tie him to the ranch, Jace was more likely to give in before a year was up, and the ranch would be forfeited to a university. Colton didn’t want that for Ty. He may not be sticking around forever, but he could at least stick around for the year.

“Want to grab a beer tonight?” The words were out before he could stop them. There were a million reasons why tonight probably wasn’t a good idea. Number one being that Gus was likely going to be on a date, and since the number of date spots were limited in Garnet Valley, the chances of them ending up at the same place were pretty good.

“Sure,” Jace said.

Colton turned to stare at his brother. “Sure?”

Jace shrugged. “If it’s cool, I can show Hailey when she gets back. She’ll like that.”

If it’s cool. Which was how Colton found himself at the Last Saloon, the most popular bar in town. At least it was the most popular bar in town when he was growing up.

Judging by the crowd outside, nothing had changed.

Turning off the truck, Colton shoved the keys in his pocket. At the last minute, he grabbed an old black cowboy hat out of the back of the truck and pulled it on low over his head.

“Colton is designated driver,” Ty said, slamming the backseat door behind him.

“Fine.” He walked into the bar and was met with a blast of country music. A waitress Colton didn’t recognize greeted them immediately.

“Ty, are these your brothers?” she asked with a broad smile.

“Could we get a table in the back?” Colton asked without waiting for Ty to reply.

Her blond eyebrows lifted, but she didn’t break her smile as she showed them to a spot in the back, away from the crowd, where they could watch the dance floor.

There was no way anyone could recognize him there, which was exactly what he wanted.

The wood floors were polished smooth after years of use, and the walls were covered with photos of Montana cowboys and cowgirls in action shots on the ranch, at rodeos.

Colton looked at the menu and ordered an orange soda. Jace and Ty ordered beers.

“Isn’t that our contractor?” Jace asked after the waitress delivered the beers. She shot Ty an extra-wide smile before leaving.

Colton snapped his head in the direction Ty indicated, and sure enough, out on the dance floor, was Gus, her boots dancing up a storm, a gorgeous smile on her face as she held the hand of a blond guy that he didn’t recognize.

He didn’t care. Not at all. Not one iota.

And it wasn’t why he was clenching his jaw so hard he thought his teeth would crack. “I need a beer.”

“You’re DD,” Ty stated, taking a long drink of his beer. “And Gus looks good out there. That woman could always move.”

It was true. Gus was one of the best around, and a popular partner for community dances thanks to her swing dance skills and a natural sense of rhythm.

He used to love dancing with her. His dad always thought dancing was for “fools who didn’t have anything better to do”—his words. His mom always said it was because his dad couldn’t dance to save his life.

“What’s up between you two?” Jace asked, looking between him and Gus.

“Nothing.” He tore his eyes away from the dance floor, clenching his fist tightly around the glass in front of him.

“They dated in high school, and it ended when he left,” Ty supplied, a bitter edge to his voice.

“Ah. But it’s over?” Jace took a sip of his beer. For having so little to say, the man was certainly perceptive.

“Not even a chance in hell,” Colton said, more to drive the point home to himself than anything else. Gus had been crystal clear this morning—they were professionals only, and that was it.

Besides he wasn’t going to stick around for longer than a year. It was hard enough the first time he left her. There was no way he could put her through that again.

The song ended, and he could hear her laughter ring out above the din. The guy pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her as a slow song began.

Every instinct in his body told him to get up, cut in, and take her away, remind her what they once had.

But it made no sense. He wasn’t going to stick around. She wasn’t going to leave.

After another half hour of torturing himself, it was time to go. Ty had an early day, and Colton wanted out of there. He hadn’t been spotted by Gus or anyone they knew. Jace claimed he liked the place.

It was good enough for him.

They paid for their beers and stood to leave.

“Colton?” Gus’s voice was behind him.

Caught.

He turned to see her at the edge of the dance floor. Her hair was up in a bun with loose strands of hair framing her face. She wore light makeup, and her skin was flushed from dancing. She wore a fitted red shirt that showed off her curves in a way that he knew her date had to appreciate.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I’m getting out of here,” he said bluntly, unsure of what else to say. He didn’t dare move closer. Some inner caveman in him wanted to shove her date out of the bar and take her home.

“Okay,” she dragged out before waving at Jace. “I hope you had a good evening.”

The blond guy came up behind her and dropped a possessive hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Gus. Is this someone you know?”

Gus’s dark eyes flickered over him, a wash of emotion on her face. “This is Colton. He’s a client. I was just saying hi to him.”

Just a client. He was once more to her than just a client.

But this was what he wanted, right?

That’s what he kept repeating to himself as he nodded goodbye and headed out of the bar.

He was nothing more than a client.

“Well, this isn’t good.” Gus stared up into the open ceiling in one of the upstairs bedrooms in the Rocking H ranch house. She brushed the flecks of wood off her shoulder as she took another step up the ladder and peered into the dark rafter space with a flashlight.

Even from where she was standing, the roof framing looked soft. She could see a portion sagging.

Great.

“One minute,” Colton said before he spoke into the Bluetooth speaker in his ear. Colton had insisted on helping her work this morning, telling her that if she needed extra hands to get the work done on time, he’d help out. At the same time that he handed her tools, held the ladder, and provided the heavy lifting, he had also taken multiple calls and coordinated with clients, employees, farmers, and potential clients. It was a level of multitasking even she was impressed with.

“What?” Colton asked as he ended the call.

“The roof rafters are rotted.” She made her way down the ladder as Colton held it. Her legs brushed against his as she moved to the bottom rung, and she jumped away like she’d been shocked. Her skin tingled in anticipation at his nearness.

Ever since seeing Colton at the Last Saloon the other night, crammed in the corner like he didn’t want anyone to find him, all she could do was notice him.

He knew she had a date, and while he may have just been out with his brothers, the look he gave her when he saw her on the dance floor had electrified her. And she hadn’t stopped thinking about it since.

It made her wish he had stayed at Rocking H, so that she could enjoy her date in peace. Instead she had given her date a half-hearted peck on the cheek at the end of the night and went inside to dream about Colton.

She was fairly positive that the burn ceremony may have failed, but there was no way she could tell Steph.

“How did we not suspect this?” Colton’s low growl seemed to go over and through her.

“The room is at the back of this place, and it’s hard to get a view of the roof outside with the trees in the way.” She pointed out the blue curtain-framed window toward the towering pine trees outside. “I mean, it makes some sense with how soft the ceiling was.”

Only it was one more thing that she had not anticipated. The list of items that needed to be repaired was getting long. Each one another issue that she had to figure out how to fix on time, while at the same time pulling together a proposal for the park project, trying to find a landscape architect to join the team, and doing volunteer work to help win the project.

She felt drained just thinking about it.

“What do we do, boss?” Colton looked her over, his blue eyes assessing, as though he were daring her to ask for additional time.

She wracked her brain, but at the moment, nothing was coming to mind. They had already hired three men to help, but the budget didn’t have room to hire someone else. She was already working overtime, and Colton was helping out where he could.

“Right now?” She took off her gloves and wiped the sweat from her brow. “Nothing. It’s lunch and I want to check on the progress in the barn.”

“We can’t afford a change in timeline,” Colton reminded her for what had to be the millionth time.

“Really? You and your brothers haven’t mentioned the timeline at all. Anything else you’d like to remind me of Captain Micromanage?” She knew she shouldn’t be sarcastic, but the growing list of repairs stacked with the fact she had seen Colton every day this week was making her fuse shorter than normal.

She had taken on the ranch house because she liked the hominess and the years of history and family embedded into the frame and rooms. She especially liked the kitchen, which was a part of the original homestead. It had been upgraded with electricity decades ago when a new addition and second story had been added onto the house, but a lot of the original details were still noticeable. However, Colton was probably more tied to the ranch house than he realized. He was in her space every day, breathing down her back as she worked.

Colton lifted a dark brow. “Tell me you’ve got a plan.”

She glanced at her watch. “Not yet. Let me think about it, and I will get back to you. First lunch. I’m starving.”

She packed up her tools and set them under the window.

“Is there someone you can hire?”

“I need to see who is available to help out first. It’s harder to find good help for a decent price these days, and we don’t have the money to bring on someone else.”

“And our budget is starting to get a bit stretched. How are we supposed to make our deadline if we keep getting hit with these surprises?” He opened the bedroom door, careful to keep the plastic on the floor and over the furniture in place.

“That’s for me to worry about. That’s why you are paying me.” She flashed her winning smile.

“I’ll find help.” Colton said it in that low voice that made her body sit up in alert.

She froze partway out the door and backed up. “Excuse me?”

Colton gestured up at the ceiling.

“You need help. I’ll convince Jace and Ty to help out.” He cocked his head to the side, as if daring her to argue.

She shook her head. The last thing she wanted was all three Hartmans breathing down her back. “I’ve got this covered. I’m starving. Let’s talk after lunch.”

“Do you?” Colton challenged. “Have it covered?”

She cocked her head to the side. “I don’t like what you are implying here. Are you telling me I can’t do this job?”

Heck, even she was starting to doubt it. All this work was starting to add up.

Colton crossed his arms and looked down at her. “With all the extra stuff cropping up, how can I not be concerned about the schedule?”

“Right.” She turned on her heel and marched out the door and down the hardwood stairs.

“Gus,” Colton followed. “Wait a minute.”

“Can’t. I’m going to check on the barn and then eat my lunch in my truck. Alone.” She didn’t bother to look back. She opened the heavy front door, throwing her weight into it, and then pushed the screen door away with more force than necessary. It swung open and banged against its hinges.

Colton’s heavy steps echoed on the wood porch directly behind her. “Gus, just a minute. Let me explain.”

Digging her toe into the gravel, she rounded on him. “Don’t you dare hire me to do a job and then micromanage every little thing that I do. You are my client, not my babysitter. Back off.”

“I didn’t mean to micromanage. I’m just worried about the timeline.”

She rolled her eyes and started for the barn. “Right. Look, I know you’re stressed because you are stuck here in Montana. I can see you multitasking everything possible between this project and your job, but I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing. You are here for a year; suck it up, or hand this project over to Ty. At least he trusts me.”

Colton blinked like he had been slapped. “I wasn’t trying to micromanage you.”

“Uh huh. Look, it isn’t my fault that the roofs on every building out here are older than dirt and everything is rotting from the Montana weather. The least you can do is respect my abilities without butting in. I told you a year was tight, and this was the very reason why. So stop getting on my case. You’re acting like your father.”

As soon as the words were out, she wished she could rewind. Colton’s face turned an ashen shade of gray, and he jerked to a halt.

“I’m not acting like my father.” For once, he looked uncertain. His face was completely shuttered, and his arms hung by his sides. “You of all people should know the last person I would end up like is my father.”

“Then stop blaming other people for your problems. I’ve got better things to do than deal with your attitude about the timeline. I’m doing my best. If the schedule goes over, then have Ty help. He will still be here when the year is up.” She shrugged, as though it were no big deal.

Her cell phone rang, and she pulled it from her back pocket. Steph. “Look, can we talk later? I need to take this.”

Colton gave a short nod and backed away. His lips were thin as he turned around, not quite looking at her.

A twinge of guilt shot through her. Maybe she shouldn’t have called him his father. But he was reminding her of the late Hartman.

“Hi, Steph,” she answered as she started around the barn and toward the pen where the yearlings were located.

“Gus, I have a great idea for your volunteer service.” Even through the phone, she could hear the enthusiasm in her friend’s voice. “And don’t say no.”

“What is it?” she asked warily. While Steph usually had good ideas, some were straight up off the wall.

“Remember how I mentioned the dance would be a great opportunity? Well, it hit me. We need help decorating, and I thought of you.”

She hesitated. “Okay, I’d be happy to help, but how does this give me the experience I need?”

“Well, they want to do something like a ‘Garden of Paradise’ type theme. I immediately thought of your backyard because it is crazy beautiful. You could bring plants, fairy lights, tiles, etcetera. It isn’t quite landscaping, but it would be a great way to show the town that you have an excellent eye for design.”

She gripped the phone tighter. “It will be a lot of planning. And I’m not sure I will have time to chair the committee.”

“I’ll chair the committee. You just be the brains behind the work. How does that sound?”

Honestly, it sounded perfect. At the moment, it sounded like the one thing that may go right in her life. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Yes!” Steph shouted in her ear. “Trust me, it’ll be totally worth it. I can also help you decorate. Go with me to the next meeting?”

“I’ll be there.” She hung up the phone, went to her truck, and grabbed her lunch. After her argument with Colton, the idea of sitting in her truck, pouting, as she ate her sandwich felt a bit childish. But she wasn’t quite ready to face him again.

Pulling her lunchbox out of the backseat, she headed to the small stack of hay by the horse pen. She had a beautiful view of the endless fields and the horses grazing.

For now, she would eat lunch. Afterward, she’d check on the barn and figure out a way to get her and Colton on a track that worked for both of them.

“Looks like things are going well,” Ty commented the second Colton stormed back through the front door.

As well as they could with a woman who seemed so sweet and good-natured with everyone, except for him. He brought out her stubborn, snarly side.

And for some reason, it made him want to pull her close and kiss her senseless.

It made absolutely zero sense.

“Is that supposed to be serious or sarcastic?” He threw himself into a wood kitchen chair and dropped his head against his hand. The air smell like bacon, and his stomach growled.

“Sarcastic,” Ty responded.

“I was being rhetorical.” He drummed his fingers against the table. “Our schedule is getting pushed.”

His phone rang, and he waved it at Ty. “I’m going to take this.”

He answered and pressed the device against his ear. “Jordan.”

“Colton,” Jordan’s jovial voice boomed on the other end, but there was an edge to it. “I’m going to cut to the chase.”

The man always sounded happy, even when things were going haywire. It somehow made the bad news more manageable, but at this point, he couldn’t handle more bad news.

He braced himself for whatever Jordan had to say.

“One of our distributed has not been delivering for the past week. They were supposed to deliver to one of the bigger restaurants, but they have not been following through. The restaurant manager is pissed and wants to cancel our service, and the distributor has not been picking up the phone.” Jordan named the two companies.

Shit. Colton’s gut turned. This was his fault. He had been so focused on his father’s funeral and will, and now the renovation of this house, it was taking him a while to reach out to all their customers, distributers, and farmers. This restaurant and the distributor were still on the list of people he needed to call.

Colton took down the name of the distributor and the restaurant. “Thanks for the heads-up. I can give them a call.”

Jordan hesitated, and he did not blame his business partner. The budget these days had been tightened and every dollar mattered. “I just want to warn you, I’ve been crunching numbers, and right before you left, everything was starting to look good. I’m not sure what will happen if we lose this restaurant. I think you should consider heading back to San Francisco.”

“I only have thirty days I can be out of Montana. Those days need to be saved for serious situations. I’ll call them today, and if we can’t get this contract sorted, I’ll fly in, but it will only be for a day or two.” The old Australian shepherd was dozing on the back porch, resting in a patch of sunlight through the pine trees. For a minute, he wished he could be that dog, just enjoying this moment of life.

“Keep me posted,” Jordan said. “We need to keep new contracts coming in, and we can’t afford to lose any.”

He wanted to ask Jordan how many new contracts they needed, but every time he asked, it felt like a moving target. The company felt so out of his control. The more money they lost, the more it felt like shifting sand between his fingers.

But he was determined to overcome this issue. He had a strong relationship with both companies; hopefully they could resolve this quickly. Farm to You wasn’t going to fail without him throwing everything he could at it.

Ty was laying the top piece of bread on his sandwich by the time that Colton headed back into the kitchen.

“Want one?” Ty motioned toward the extra bacon and turkey on the counter. It felt like a small peace offering.

His stomach growled, but he had other things on his mind. “Thanks, maybe in a bit. I’ve got a client I need to call and figure out why they aren’t delivering their produce. Before I do, I want to see if you have time to help out on the barn?”

Ty shook his head. “Not currently. The spring and summer always keeps me busy with calving and foaling.”

“If we could all chip in and help her out—”

“So you can micromanage her schedule?” Ty cut in. “Colton, I know you like things done your way, on your timeline, and on your schedule, but for the love of everything, back off. A few more months on the ranch will not kill any of us.”

But it could result in more time away from his company.

The door banged open, and Jace walked in.

Jace gave a brief nod and disappeared into the mudroom.

“I don’t get him sometimes,” Colton muttered.

“He probably doesn’t get us,” Ty said. “I will give him this: he’s been feeding the cows every morning.”

“Really?” He had assumed that it was Ty out feeding before anyone else went out in the morning. “Maybe he’ll prove all of us wrong. Dad included.”

Ty finished his sandwich and pushed his plate away. “I have to ask. Is selling this place really going to make you happy? It’s not going to get Dad out of your head. So what if we’re here for more than a year? This place is ours for now. Let’s make it a home and not a hell.”

He clenched his phone and started for the office. “There’s nothing on this ranch for me. Honestly, the only thing that makes sense for me is to sell it. If you want to buy it, by all means.”

Then he walked in the office and closed the door before Ty could respond.

The office looked like a paper mill had exploded. Oversize sheets of white paper covered with lines of black ink and red markups were spread in neat stacks over the desk. Rolls of drawing plans were stashed in one corner, and large books of building codes were stacked on the shelves.

Jace had well and truly taken over the office.

He shifted some drawings, hoping he wasn’t displacing something important, as he placed the documents to an open part of the desk. His eyes landed on a worn notebook at the corner with a red cover. “Rocking H—Horses” was scrolled across the front.

His father used to document all the important information about the horses and cows—age, registration, vet visits, bills, feed—in a notebook just like it.

His chest tightened at the urge to open it up and scan through the pages, see if the notebook was the same one he kept.

Instead he turned away and started the first of two calls. Horses almost kept him in Montana once. He wasn’t going to get attached again.

To his surprise, the distributor was entirely apologetic, letting him know that their truck had broken down, and they had emailed Farm to You, thinking they would let the restaurant know, but they hadn’t heard back. Colton scrolled through his email and found the missing message in his junk filter. He let them know that they would follow up with an alternate way to transport the produce the next day.

For the restaurant, he offered to reimburse them for the produce they had bought from the local farmers market, and deliver the next two weeks shipments for free. They happily accepted his offer, and Colton was glad that they still had the client, even if it required more money out the door.

He hung up and dropped his head in his hands.

It had worked out. They still had the client.

Maybe Ty and Gus were right, he was micromanaging. Maybe, just maybe, he could let go of this timeline for the ranch. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was to turn into his father. His father criticized everything. He didn’t need to go down that path.

Ty was in the kitchen, pulling on his boots. He wasn’t quite looking at Colton as he quickly laced up each shoe.

“Look, Gus keeps finding damage that needs to be repaired, and it looks like the schedule may extend. If that’s the case, are you fine managing the work on your own? I can come back every few months after the year is up.”

Ty raised his brows at him. “Depends. If she needs me around full time, it’ll be tough. But Gus and I can sort something out.” He looked suspiciously at him. “Why the change of heart?”

“I realized you were right. I am micromanaging.” He looked down at his hands. “And Gus told me I was acting like Beau.”

“She’s always been one of my favorites,” Ty deadpanned. “Honestly, I think the biggest factor will be Jace. If he’s fine with it, we can make it work.”

He sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’ll have to think about how to approach that one. Let me talk with Gus and see if we can get the schedule closer to a year, as that will be best for everyone.”

“At least apologize to Gus. She couldn’t have predicted any of this, and you put her on edge as it is,” Ty stood and headed across the kitchen. “I’m going to pick up some salt blocks.”

He stood, frozen at the kitchen table, thinking Ty’s words over. His brother was right; he owed Gus an apology. Grabbing his gloves, he headed out.

The mountain air felt good in his lungs as he stepped outside. Fluffy white clouds gathered in the distance, bringing a promise of rain in the coming days. Gus wasn’t where he had left her. He nodded at the two men who were taking a break from working on the barn to have lunch and continued down the well-worn path that lead to the horses and cows.

He didn’t have to go too far before he spotted her plaid purple shirt. Gus was sitting on the small stack of hay, her back to him, as she watched the yearlings graze in the field.

A long-legged bay lifted his head as he approached, bits of hay dangling from his forelock, and knickered softly at him before going back to his grazing.

The ranch used to have more horses. More cows as well—a few hundred head at least. Now it was down to the bare minimum. No ranch hands, a half dozen horses, and a few dozen cows. Judging from his dad’s books, a healthy chunk of their fifteen-hundred-acre homestead was being leased for crops by neighboring farmers.

The once sprawling ranch had certainly dwindled down to nothing over the past ten years.

“It’s a nice-looking herd,” he said to break the silence.

Gus started and spun around. “Oh, it’s you.” Her voice was flat. Like she was already worn out by his presence.

He moved and sat by her. Gus didn’t move away from him, but she also wasn’t looking at him either.

“One thing I liked about horses was that patience is always rewarded. If you move too fast, you could risk damaging the training and the relationship. If you are too lenient, the horse will walk all over you. Training a horse, in a way, is a true partnership.”

Gus snorted. “I think those words can be applied to many situations. Probably a few of your own personal situations.”

He gave a soft laugh. “You’re probably right.” He laced his fingers between his knees and leaned forward. “I used to love training horses. It was the one thing I felt like I could do that my father couldn’t critique me on. I was far better at it than he was.”

He pulled a piece of hay loose from one of the bales. “I thought I was going to go into training horses at one point.”

He pulled a few more pieces out of the bale and stood to lean over the fence, arm extended.

A slender sorrel mare came over and puffed out two long breaths before taking the proffered hay.

“Why didn’t you?” Gus was right behind him, a chunk of hay in her own hand.

“My dad kicked me off the ranch when I told him I wanted to start professionally training. Told me to get the hell out before I ended up a washed-up, dried-up useless fool. He threw my stuff out the door and told me to never come back.” He scratched the horse behind her ear. It was easier to focus on that than look at Gus. “I had spent so long having him tell me I wasn’t good enough, that was kind of the final straw. So I left. Moved to San Francisco. I was determined to do better than him, prove to him I could be successful.”

He could feel Gus’s dark gaze on him. “Were you?”

“Depends on what you define as successful.” He pulled his hand back and stuck it in his pockets. “I made decent money, bought a condo, started a business, and it was going well until I decided to expand. Now I’m bleeding money left and right. I’m trying not to lose my business because I put my condo up as collateral. If I lose that, I’m…homeless. I lost.”

Why he was telling her all this, he didn’t quite know. “I owe you an apology. I’m sorry for trying to micromanage you. If it helps, I wasn’t helping to make sure you were on schedule. It’s that I feel like I’m more in control of the situation if I’m pitching in. I know you have a lot on your plate, and I wanted to make sure you were supported. Even if I’m on calls the whole time.”

Gus’s hands were on his shoulders, and slowly she turned him around, her dark gaze as rich as the soil after it had been planted. He always loved her eyes. It never took any effort to get lost in them. To feel that pull, that connection.

Even now, it was still there, buzzing against his nerves, making him feel more alive than anytime without her. For a moment, all that weight, all that stress seemed to lift from his shoulders.

And all she had to do was look at him with those large dark eyes.

“We’ll figure out the schedule. This is only a setback.” She smiled up at him. A real smile. Not the one she pasted on to make everyone around her comfortable. The one that made the corner of her eyes crinkle. The smile that made him want to lean down and kiss her.

“A setback isn’t losing. It’s a learning curve,” she added.

Her hands were still on his shoulders, warm and soft, like she had a claim on him. And for a brief moment, he wanted to forget that they were in Montana, or that he had every intention of heading back to California at the end of this probation period.

She stretched up to her toes and kissed him.

On the cheek.

An innocent brush of her lips.

And his body instantly went hard. Like a teenager unable to control himself.

“I’ve got to get back to work. I need to figure out what size framing we need to repair the roof.”

“I’ll stop micromanaging you,” he said, as a peace offering.

“My stress levels would greatly appreciate that.” Then she walked away without a backward glance.

He watched her go, holding his breath.

He didn’t follow her. He couldn’t. Not when every fiber of his being wanted to pull her close and claim her as his.

Pulling on his gloves, he headed out to check the cows. Yes, for now, he was on the ranch, but eventually he was heading back to California, and he knew she would stay. He had hurt her ten years ago when he had left. There was no way he could hurt her again.