"Yeah, Dad will probably start listing the jobs on the board next week. But for now, we need to clean out the stalls then haul more straw over from the hay sheds."
"Oh yay." Sarcasm filled her voice. “At least straw is lighter than hay.” She walked over to the cabinet where they kept a store of gloves and other supplies.
"Good luck finding gloves small enough to fit you. I don't think we've had a ranch hand with hands as small as yours since..." his voice died off as he recalled that summer three years ago.
She raised an eyebrow. "Since I left?"
"Probably." He forced his lips into a grin, trying to keep a positive mindset.
She didn't return his smile.
After pulling on the smallest pair of gloves in the cupboard, Riley grabbed a wheel barrel, pitchfork, and shovel from the tool room and stood at the head of the long line of stalls. Her shoulders slumped. "Usually when you grow up and go back to visit places from your childhood, you think, 'I recall it being much bigger than this.'" She shook her head. "Not this place. It's still as big as ever."
Daniel's gaze followed hers. "Yeah, it still hassixteenroomy stalls. At least now I have help and don't have to do it all myself." He gave her another broad grin.
One corner of her mouth lifted a little this time.
He leaned on his pitchfork. "Just like old times, huh?"
The hint of her smile faded, and Riley pushed her wheelbarrow to the far end of the stables.
Okay then. I guess it's not going to be like old times.
They used to always work next to each other, leap frogging around one another, so they could talk while they worked. Was the cold shoulder her way of saying she had no intention of getting involved with him again, even as a friend? Or was it something else entirely?
He hated to admit it because it would probably be the worst thing for his sobriety, but if Riley was interested in the two of them trying to make a go of it again, he had a feeling he would cave rather quickly. Like he did three years ago. Because even though he didn't want to be, he was still attracted to her and cared for her deeply.
After last night, the desire to protect and comfort her was stronger than it had ever been in his life, which was saying something, because it had always been his job to look out for Riley.
Twenty minutes later, he spotted her standing in the aisle at the other end of the stables. She repeatedly stretched her arms over herhead, behind her back, and across her body, doing anything and everything to loosen up her shoulders.
He recalled his first workout after hanging the punching bag. He'd been determined to work up a sweat, and he did, but he could hardly lift his arms the next day. Considering how aggressively Riley attacked the bag last night, she no doubt had sore muscles today.
They finished cleaning the stables in record time. Daniel appreciated Riley's help, but with the way she barely acknowledged him, he may as well have been working alone.
This is going to be a long summer.
CHAPTER 5
The knot that formed in Riley's stomach when Jake and Emily insisted she ride to church with them expanded as she walked up the front steps of the modest ivory sandstone church. She hesitated on the threshold.
I don't belong here. I'm not worthy to step foot in this building.
What happened to her wasn't her fault, she knew that, but it still made her feel filthy and tainted.
"Riley, honey." Riley spun around at the sound of her mom's voice behind her. "Jake told me you were home for a while. I planned to come out to the ranch to visit you yesterday, but I got tied up helping a sick friend."
Her mom pulled her into a tight hug, and Riley had to squeeze her eyes closed at the rush of emotion that filled her. A part of her wished she was still an innocent little girl who could run to her mom for every little bruise and scrape. But the other part of her didn't want to burden her mother's compassionate heart with her problems. A mother's kiss couldn't heal the kind of pain Riley suffered now.
Her mom pulled her through the doors of the church after releasing her. "We're blocking traffic."
Before Riley knew it, she sat beside her mom in the fourth row,with Jake, Emily, and little Adam on one side and Robert, Jessie, and baby Blake on the other. She loved being surrounded by family, but Robert's whispered, "What are you doing at home?" as he gave her a one-armed hug made her dread the interrogation she'd get later, during family dinner.
Daniel and his parents slipped in just before the services started to sit in their usual spot at the end of the third row. Riley's breath caught at the sight of Daniel in a suit. He sure filled out a pair of Wranglers well, but there was something compelling about this rugged cowboy in a suit.
Riley's gaze repeatedly drifted to him as she listened to the sermon about Unity in Christ. Sitting behind Daniel made it easy to watch him without getting caught. He bowed his head as soon as he sat down, and now, he leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees, head in his hands.
She thought maybe he was sleeping, like he used to do when they were teenagers, but he scrubbed his hands over his face or tugged at the collar of his shirt every so often. Not once, however, did he look up at the pulpit.
