Chapter One
The store owner watchedCole walk up and down the aisles at the farm store, picking out the things he’d need for the next month.
Brownie knew Cole hated coming to town.Nothing pissed him off more than having to talk and be friendly with people he didn’t like.He’d often told Brownie that most of them were dickheads or wouldn’t shut up.But he didn’t want to take his men away from their jobs, so he dealt with a few hours of discomfort once a month.
“Hey, Brownie, where are the barbed staples?”Cole yelled from the back of the store.
“Next aisle over.”Brownie turned back to the young woman at the register.“I’m sorry, ma’am.What else will you be needing?”
The woman scanned the list that Tomas, her foreman, had given her.
“He wants...”she said, and her brows puckered together as she studied the paper in her hands.“Naxcel?”
Brownie, the store owner, laughed at the confused look on her face.She was the cutest little thing he’d seen in a long while.He loved how expressive her face was.Every emotion was plainly visible.
“It’s an antibiotic for large animals,” he explained.
Victoria released a sigh of weariness.“There’s a lot to learn, isn’t there?”
“Yes, ma’am, but I believe if you’re a hard worker, you can do anything you put your mind to.”
“I hope so, Brownie, because this is my only option.”
Brownie nodded.“I liked your uncle.He was a good man.”
“I think so, too.I only get to be here a few times a year.But I always loved it and never wanted to leave.It would take me weeks to get back into city life, and I miss him every day.”
“Living in a city was never for me.”
Victoria shook her head.“Me either, but I had to go where my mom took me.I’ve always been a country girl at heart.The peace and quiet are exactly what I need.”Victoria shrugged.“It’s weird, but I had more in common with my uncle than I ever did with my mother.The country life is something I’ve dreamt about my whole life.”
“I understand that.I know I couldn’t live anywhere else.I’ve lived here my whole life and wouldn’t change a thing.”
He tapped his finger on the counter as he turned away.“Let me get you that medicine.”
****
Cole stood behind thelittle girl, with an armful of things.His aggravation rose when she didn’t notice him.He also disliked parents who left their kids to fend for themselves.Some of the drugs on the counter, he assumed she was buying, weren’t meant to be around kids.Some of the medications could be dangerous, even deadly.
“Hey, kid, do you want to move to the side?”Cole looked around one more time.“Where the hell is your parent?”
Victoria spun around, looked up, and then up some more until she met the man’s eyes.
Cole looked down into the greenest eyes and blackish lashes he’d ever seen on anyone.When he stood behind her, he assumed she was a child.She was so small.The top of her head came up to his armpits.She wore a little purple t-shirt, jeans, and tiny work boots that looked new.Her hips and back were slim, and the thick braid swung down her back, almost reaching her hips, with a pink bow at the bottom that secured it.
“Jesus Christ, how old are you?”he asked tersely as he set his load of supplies on the counter next to hers before he turned to face her.
Her eyes widened at the rude question.“Excuse me?”Her eyes narrowed, and her voice chilled.
“I asked how old you are?”
“I heard you the first time.I can’t believe you would ask a woman that.”
Cole grunted.“I’m still not sure you’re a woman.”
Victoria gasped.She took a small step forward and poked her finger into the muscled chest under the blue flannel shirt.She tilted her head way back and glared at him.
“You need to learn some manners, Mister.Now stop asking me that.”
