Already knowing that tomorrow morning at nine, I'm coming back to Promise Ranch.
And it won't be just for Butterscotch.
Chapter 5 - Tucker
I stand there like an idiot watching Marley's truck disappear down the driveway, kicking up dust as she goes, and the only thought running through my head is: You're a coward, Tucker Hayes.
I had the perfect moment. Multiple perfect moments, actually. Standing at that fence line with her, close enough to touch, close enough to see the way her brown eyes went soft when I talked about my dad, close enough to notice the way she kept adjusting those glasses like she always does.
And I did nothing.
Just stood there with my hands in my pockets like some teenage kid too scared to ask a girl to dance, and now she's gone and I'm standing in the driveway alone, and I'm so pissed at myself I could punch something.
"You're an idiot," I mutter, turning back toward the barn.
"Yeah, you are."
I spin around to find Wade leaning against the fence near the equipment barn, arms crossed, that knowing smirk on his face that I've wanted to punch off him since we were sixteen.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to watch you let her drive away without doing a damn thing about it." Wade pushes off the fence and walks toward me. "What the hell, Tucker?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Bullshit. You just spent the last hour showing that woman around the ranch like you were trying to sell her on the place. Or on yourself. Hard to tell which."
I run a hand through my hair, frustrated. "She's Butterscotch's vet. I was being polite."
"You showered and shaved for polite?"
"Jesus Christ, is everyone keeping track of my hygiene now?"
Wade grins. "When it’s this entertaining? Absolutely." He stops a few feet away, and his expression changes from amused to serious. "You like her."
"I don't—"
"Tucker. Come on. I just watched you give her a full ranch tour. Saw the way you were looking at her. That's not polite. That's interested."
I want to argue, but the truth is Wade's right. I am interested. More than interested. I spent the entire tour trying to impress Marley Williams, trying to show her that this ranch is worth something, that I'm worth something, and now she's gone and I didn't even have the balls to ask if I could see her again outside of a professional capacity.
"It doesn't matter," I say finally. "She's Emma's vet. Well, Butterscotch's vet. Same thing. There are boundaries."
"Fuck boundaries."
I stare at Wade. "Did you just say fuck boundaries?"
"Yeah. I did." He crosses his arms again, looking more serious than I've seen him in months. "You know what I learned in the past two weeks? That sometimes the best things in life come from ignoring what you think you're supposed to do and just going for what you want."
"Wade—"
"I'm serious, Tucker. I fought Sierra's investment because I thought I was supposed to protect this ranch from outsiders.Thought I knew better than everyone else. And you know what happened? I almost lost the best thing that ever happened to me because I was too stubborn and scared to take a risk."
This is surreal. Wade Turner, the same Wade who put the ranch above everything, who never dated, who laughed at the idea of love, is standing here telling me to take a risk on a woman I barely know.
"You and Sierra are different," I say. "She's living here. She's part of the ranch now. Marley's just—"
"Just what? Just the woman who made you smile for the first time in months? Just the woman you can't stop thinking about?" Wade shakes his head. "I saw how you looked at her, man. That's not nothing."
