“Ihaveresponded, but with only one bar of service out at the ranch, it must not have gone through. I’m heading into town to hook up to the Wi-Fi there.”
“Oh, good. He’s eager to hear if you’ve talked to Vern yet.”
I cringe. I wasn’t planning to go into detail with her, but I also couldn’t lie. “It didn’t go exactly as planned.”
“Of course not. Your grandfather is a difficult man when it comes to that place.”
Mom never understood his attachment to the ranch or Dad’s willingness to send me there every summer, but whether or not she agreed, she’d always let it happen. And I always learned a lot while I was here.
I clear my throat. “I’m working on it,” I mollify.
“I hope you get it all taken care of quickly. Honestly, your father is beside himself, trying to get everything done at work.”
I bite back the retort that’s on the tip of my tongue. She doesn’t mean anything by her comment. She and Dad both wanted me to come out here. They knew I needed some space. A place to lick my wounds from Hannah in peace, and since they reallydidwant Pops to sell the ranch, coming out to Cottonwood Creek was killing two birds with one stone.
“I know, Mom. I’ll be home as soon as I can,” I say carefully.
“Okay, sweetheart. Take care of yourself. Make sure you call Dad once you get set up in the coffee shop. He worries, you know.”
“I will.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I hang up with a sigh and a twist of guilt that I haven’t tried harder to reach my dad. I had a key role in his company, and while he knew where I was and that there was no service at the ranch, maybe he expected meto spend part of my day doing my actual job rather than spending all day and night living and breathing the ranch life.
I haven’t really missed being connected to life outside of the ranch, and that surprises the hell out of me. Maybe I’d been burnt out with being stuck behind a desk all day. Or maybe I just hadn’t been here long enough to feel the strain of not being able to email or call someone on a whim.
The bell on the door rings as I walk into the Cowboy Corner Café, and Mrs. Mackey greets me with a sweet smile, gray hair short and curled.
“Wes, sweetie! It’s good to see you. We missed you at our pitch night the other night.”
“Hi Mrs. Mackey. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. Pops has been keeping me busy.”
“Oh, I’m sure he has. I hear he gets to keep you until Thanksgiving.”
My smile is tight as I nod. Gossip spreads like wildfire in Cottonwood Creek. I’m not surprised she’s heard already, but it makes me feel a little worse that I haven’t informed my own father yet.
“Well, that will give you some time to get reacquainted with Sawyer. Won’t that be nice? She’s such a sweet girl.”
My eyes bulge at the word sweet and Sawyer together in the same sentence. That girl is as sour as they come, especially with me.
I’d be willing to bet she tastes sweet, though.
The thoughts swirling grind to an abrupt halt.
Clearly, my blood sugar was getting low if my mind was going to how Sawyer Addams would taste. Definitely the lack of food and not how good she’d looked up on her horse the other day, smirking down at me with her copper hair braided down her back and those cool blue eyes roaming over my cowboy attire. I hadn’t missed the way her gaze had lingered.
God damn.
I need to sit down and stop thinking about the damn neighbor girl who drives me absolutely crazy. I should take the advice I’d given the bull earlier and stop thinking with my giant dick before I create an embarrassing situation and pop a hard-on in these jeans.
I clear the log lodged in my throat. “I’ll take the biscuits and gravy and a coffee, Mrs. Mackey. And if it’s not too much trouble, the free Wi-Fi you’re offering.”
“Of course. Find a seat and I’ll bring it all out to you in a jiffy.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Mackey.”
