I need to remember that. I can’t lose focus. Uncle Randy needs to see that I can handle this place. And that I can handle people like Wyatt Thorne.
And just like that, he’s back in the forefront of my mind.
He shouldn’t affect me like this. Not at all, really. Men have never been much more than a distraction to me. I’d managed to avoid dating for the most part all through school, focusing on my studies instead. It seemed easier than navigating the whole messy dating world. Besides, there’d never been anyone worth making time for.
Maybe I just haven’t met the right man until now.
The thought makes me laugh. There’s no way this cowboy is the right man.
Rough around the edges doesn’t even begin to describe him. He probably doesn’t even know how to smile without grunting first. His only mood seems to be annoyed and angry.
Still…
“Focus,” I mutter under my breath as I reach Oatmeal’s stall. “Hey, girl.” The horse leans in to nuzzle me as I scratch her nose. “How are you feeling today?”
This is why I’m here. This. Right here.
Not for a grumpy cowboy. Even one as sinfully sexy as Wyatt Thorne.
But even as I run my hands over the mare’s swollen belly and speak soothing words to her, I know there’s more to it than that.
The horse nudges my shoulder as if she can sense my distraction. “It’s okay,” I tell her, rubbing the spot between her eyes. “I know I’m supposed to be the calm one here.”
Her big brown eyes blink slowly. Something in my chest unclenches.
I check her vitals again and make a few notes in my notebook, letting the rhythm of the work settle me. The horse’s steady breathing, the creak of the old barn, the faint whistle of the wind outside. All of it reminds me of what’s important and why I need to make things work in Rock Creek.
Taking over Uncle Randy’s practice would be a dream come true. I’m here to build something for myself and my future.
I can’t let myself get distracted.
And I won’t.
Yet…when I hear the sound of heavy boots somewhere behind me, my pulse jumps before I can stop it.
I glance over my shoulder, but no one’s there.He’snot there.
“Get a grip, Anna.”
I laugh at myself before giving Oatmeal a gentle pat. “Soon, girl. You’re almost there.”
Once Oatmeal has her foal, I won’t have any reason to visit the Rock Creek Ranch again, and I’ll finally be able to get Wyatt Thorne out of my head for good.
Chapter Three
WYATT
The swing of the hammer and the twist of the wire as I pull it into place should soothe me. The repetitive work usually does, and there’s no shortage of it on this ranch.
No wonder people in town are talking.
This place is a mess. It’s hard to imagine how one man could do so much damage to a place, but my no-good bastard of a father sure had. And by all accounts, he was a first-class ass hole to everyone around him while he was doing it, too. I don’t know if it should make me feel better or worse that Bill Thorne hadn’t reserved his nastiness only for his sons but had spread it around to anyone within reach.
There’d been a time when I was certain it was my brothers and me that he couldn’t stand. But maybe it was himself he hated, and he just took it out on everyone else.
Not that it mattered. He was gone. Leaving nothing but ruin behind.
Travis had moved to the fences on the far pasture, leaving me to finish up the ones next to the barn.
