Jake opened her door. "Sorry to wake you up so early."
She flopped onto her back with a groan. "You and I both know it's only early for me. I bet you've been up for hours."
"Yes, I have, and I need to leave soon to take a load of cattle to Missoula."
"Missoula?" Riley sat up now. "So you'll be gone all day?"
"Yes, and Zane worked the calving sheds last night, so he's out of commission this morning. Which means I need Daniel to feed the cattle and you?—"
"I'll be cleaning the stables by myself," she finished for him.
"Yes, sorry to dump that on you, but..." His words died off.
"But what?"
"I'm beginning to get the feeling you'd prefer to work alone, even though we usually pair up the ranch hands for safety and man-power reasons."
"I know." Her gaze dropped to the blue and tan comforter thatcovered her legs. She'd never enjoyed working alone but working with Daniel seemed to keep setting her off.
Did he tell everyone how she attacked him yesterday?
Does Jake regret letting me come home?
A surge of sadness shot through her as she realized she didn't have anywhere else to go. She supposed she could always go stay with her mom and Aunt Charity in town, but she didn't think she could handle her mom's coddling. A cold chill swept over her as she considered returning to Seattle.
"I'm sorry I'm being so difficult, Jake. I don't mean to be. I just..." She couldn't find the words to express her frustrations with herself and what she'd been through.
"I know, Ri, and I'm sorry I keep saying the wrong things." He looked down at the floor for a moment before speaking again. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but...maybe you need to talk to someone."
Riley tensed, her defenses rising.
He must have sensed a change in her because he raised a hand in surrender. "I know Emily would be happy to talk through things with you...or maybe even Mom."
Just the thought of talking about what happened to her made her tremble and bile rise in her throat. The last thing she wanted to do was explain the details to her mom.
"I'm not trying to force you to do something you don't want to do, but think about it, okay?"
She nodded, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes.
Her door closed then opened again and Jake poked his head back in. "By the way, Daniel said he'd take care of the calving sheds tonight, so you don't need to worry about it."
"I'll help him." The words were out before she could stop herself. She wasn't sure why she said them other than she still owed him an apology for assaulting him yesterday, and she felt bad that he had to do all the mowing and weed whacking by himself.
"Are you sure? You don't have to."
"I want to." Much to Riley's surprise the words were true. As she'd reminisced about her childhood with Daniel in the orchard, she realized how much she missed her best friend.
Jake nodded. "Try to squeeze in a little nap this afternoon then."
She wouldn't argue with that. Even though she'd spent an hour in Daniel's gym before going to bed, she'd still had a nightmare last night that caused her to lose sleep. Which meant she was awake when Daniel drove down the lane just before midnight.
Forty minutes later, Riley stood alone in the stables after turning out the horses. She'd always hated having to clean the stables alone when she was young. Sharing the task with Daniel had always made it much faster and more enjoyable because they joked and laughed about anything and everything.
She hadn't worked that closely with him since she came home, which was a good thing, considering how his presence seemed to keep sparking a panic attack in her.
Cleaning all the stalls by herself was every bit as exhausting as Riley expected it to be. She developed a new empathy for Daniel, knowing he often had to do it by himself.
Not for the first time, she wondered why he was home on the ranch. When they were young, he always talked about becoming an architect. He wanted to design houses and big hotels, hospitals and apartment complexes, and even sports arenas.
