Riley turned away from her mother's penetrating gaze and wrapped her arms around herself. A part of her wanted to cry on her mom's shoulder and tell her what happened even though she didn't want to have to relive it. The other part didn't want her family to know, because she was so ashamed that she'd ever gotten into that position with Collin in the first place and that she hadn't been able to stop him sooner.
"It's not something you can fix, Mom." Her quiet voice broke on the last word.
"Oh, sweetheart." A gentle hand landed on her back. "Is it a problem with a boyfriend? I didn't know you were dating anyone seriously." Mom stroked her back from shoulder to shoulder. "I know a broken heart can feel like the end of the world, but time heals all wounds."
Does it?
Would time take away the feelings of irritation, anger, and anxiety? Would it dull the memories of Collin's hands and mouth violating her? Would it take away the shame that she knew she shouldn't feel but did anyway?
Maybe timewouldhelp with those things.
But Riley wasn't a patient person. She wanted to feel better now. Since that wasn't possible, she took the next best thing: a lengthy hug from her mom.
CHAPTER 6
Monday morning Daniel walked into the stables to find his dad writing on the job board.
Of course, Riley's name sat next to his own. So far, they were the only two ranch hands listed, but Jake hoped to hire more men by the end of the week. That meant Hank would be returning too. The ornery old man, who cooked for the ranch hands and kept the bunkhouse clean, was almost as good of a cook as Daniel's mom. Not that he'd ever admit that to her.
The first item on the list of chores for Daniel and Riley was cleaning the stalls and feeding the horses, of course. The animals always took precedence.
"Spring cleanup?" Daniel read the second task on the job board.
His dad slapped a paper against his chest.
Daniel quickly scanned the list. "Wait, you want me and Riley to prune the trees in the orchard? I don't know how to do that."
His dad turned back. "Of course, you do. You've helped me do it many times."
"Helped. I never had to do it on my own. I don't know which branches to cut."
"Keep all the small branches on the five main branches unless theycross or interfere with each other." His dad held up his hand with his fingers splayed in a wide curved position as though he meant to catch a baseball. "Use the saws-all on the branches that are too large for the pruning shears."
Daniel looked at the list again. "Trim the raspberries?"
"Same thing, son. Just cut back last year's growth."
Like I know what that is. I wasn't here last summer.
"I'll switch you jobs, if you want." His dad grinned. "You can drive the honey wagon instead."
"Nope. I'm good. I'll figure out how to prune everything."
Even if I have to look it up on YouTube.
Daniel would rather prune any day over hauling the manure from the corrals to spread over the alfalfa fields. That was the dirtiest and smelliest job on the ranch. His dad always called the manure spreader the Honey Wagon, even though it was the farthest thing from it.
"I'll be back and forth between here and the hay fields, so let me know if you have any problems." His dad stepped out the door of the stables then turned back. "Don't bother Jake before noon. He pulled another all-nighter at the calving sheds."
"I could have taken another turn at the sheds."
"Don't worry, you'll get another chance or two." His dad waved a hand. "We still have a couple dozen babies coming."
Daniel had cleaned two stalls by the time Riley walked into the stables.
Shadows once again ringed her eyes, and he wondered if she'd spent half the night taking her frustrations out on his punching bag again.
"Sorry, I'm late." She barely glanced at him before studying the job board. "Spring cleanup?"
