I glance at him, surprised by the genuine affection in his voice. “You seem pretty proud of him.”
“I am,” Caleb says simply. “He’s done a lot for me and the ranch. You’ll see.”
We reach the guest house, and Caleb helps me settle in, carrying my bags and pointing out the amenities with the enthusiasm of a seasoned host. His kindness is disarming and helps me to forget the unease simmering in my chest.
“How old are you, Caleb?”
“Fifteen.”
I remember Wade mentioning that he had just learned he had a son. I guess this is him. It’s good to see that it turned out well for both of them.
I met Doc Lucy at Dad’s, but he wasn’t there anywhere. She mentioned coming over here in the meantime. The only reason I agreed was because Doc Lucy said Wade was out of town for the day. Clearly, that plan didn’t work out. I had told her I wasn’t certain that the Callahans would want me there, but she said that they all needed to swallow their pride to save their ranch and that everything would be fine.
And Wade…
I close my eyes, and the image of him standing in the pasture flashes in my mind. The way the sun caught in his hair, the strength in his stance, the quiet intensity in his eyes.
With a deep breath, I stand and grab my keys. I’m grateful my dad wasn’t home originally—I needed a bit more time to settle and prepare myself for seeing him again after all these years.
“I guess I should make a few other house calls,” I tell Caleb as the two of us walk out of the guest house.
“I can go with you if you need backup,” he offers.
I smile back at him. “I appreciate that, and maybe we can talk about you being my assistant while I’m here. If your dad is okay with it.”
“Yes! I’d love that!”
I’m so nervous about seeing my dad again that I didn’t even look around to take in the beauty of the guest house.
I’ll do that later. Right now, I need to focus on avoiding Wade and keeping my cool with my dad.
“You ready to go next door?” Doc Lucy asks.
“I’m not sure if ready is the right word,” I chuckle.
“Is the guest house not good enough for you?” Wade snaps as he comes up behind me.
“I didn’t say that. Why would you think that?”
“You practically raced out of there.”
“Because I have other house calls to make,” I reply evenly.
Caleb and Lucy walk toward her truck, and I glare back at Wade.
“Is this going to be a problem? I can find some other place to stay or have a colleague take over your ranch. I was hoping that we could be adults about all of it.”
“Why would you think there’s going to be a problem?”
“You’ve snapped at me how many times?” I ask. “Listen, I’m more than happy to help you, but I will not put up with you talking down to me. I get with our history—”
“It was a one-night stand a decade ago,” he chuckles lowly as if it wasn’t memorable.
I’m not going to lie; his dismissiveness is infuriating.
“Swallow your pride and let me do my job. If the legacy of your family ranch isn’t enough for you to do so, I hope that you have a speech planned to explain to your son and wife why you’ve lost your family ranch because of your stupid ego and a ridiculous family beef from fifteen years ago, which I had nothing to do with.”
“Wife?” he asks as he shakes his head. “I’m not married. And I’m not going to lose this ranch. I will do whatever it takes to save this place, whether you help me or not.”
