“You must take me for an idiot.”
I barked an incredulous laugh. No point in even responding.
Cooper headed back toward the truck bed to haul another bag of feed. I heard him talking to someone in the barnyard. Seconds later, Tag stepped in. He was dressed in clean jeans and a gray polo shirt. I’d never seen him wear anything but dusty ranch clothes until Bea came to Meadowbrook.
His eyes scanned the tack table and wall, quickly taking stock of our progress. Relief washed over his face, his shoulders slacking. “Wow. It looks great.”
“Took us a while. It’s a lot of stuff to sort.”
“Sorry to ask you to do all this. I wanted to get to it myself, but I’ve been runnin’ like mad the last few days.”
“No problem.”
“Did you guys get to the storage room?”
I stifled a sigh. “Not yet.”
“Alright.”
I probably should’ve kept my mouth shut, but the question that’d been burning my lips for the past hour slipped out. “Mind if I ask why you’re having us do all this?”
Tag tipped his head, maybe in embarrassment. “Well, I—” He stopped and huffed a soft laugh that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sayin’ it out loud makes me feel pretty stupid, but, uh, Cal said he wanted a tour when he got here. I’m already proud of what I do, but I wanted to clean up ‘cause…” He shrugged, shaking his head. “I want it all to look nice, I suppose.”
Well, that made me feel like a selfish jerk.
Tag never had a father figure in his life. But now he had Bea’s family in Colorado that adored him, and his soon-to-be father-in-law, Cal, was coming onto his turf for the first time. Of course he wanted every corner of this ranch spic-and-span.
Resentment drained out of my chest like someone pulled a plug. “That’s not stupid at all. Cade and I are happy to help out.”
“Thanks.” Tag gave us a small smile. “We’re headin’ to the airport. Randi’s flight lands in about an hour…”
His words drifted off as Bea twirled into the barn. These days, her entire aura was the epitome of cloud nine. She was almost a bride, and it showed—glowed—on her face. She wore a yellow crop top, high waisted jeans, white kicks and a white jacket. You wouldn’t know by looking at her that she lived on a ranch and could keep up with any one of the men. She worked in Meadowbrook’s new and thriving hospitality department, but whenever there weren’t guests, she pulled her weight like the rest of us.
Or she followed Tag around, chatting his head off all day. Not that he minded the distraction. He was intoxicated by every syllable fallingfrom her lips. When I met Tag, he worked like a machine. Now, not so much.
Couldn’t blame him, really. I’d been smitten like that before.
I felt my jaw tighten as Tag tucked her under his arm, and I had to look away.
Bea gasped. “Whoa! It looks amazing in here! You guys did great!”
I shifted the ropes on the peg one final time. “We’re about to start the storage room.”
Tag said, “When you do the feed this evenin’ don’t forget that Cayenne needs?—”
“Her dewormer.”
“Right. And I moved?—”
“Starburst into the empty stall.”
He stubbornly continued. “And Gypsy isn’t doing well on?—”
“The alfalfa. Tag, I know.”
Bea laughed, pulling Tag by the arm toward the door. “Jesse knows what he’s doing. Stop worrying.”
“I’m not worried. Just remindin’.”
