Well, he wasn't sure he wanted to know the reason.
The familiar cadence of approaching hoofbeats pulled him from his thoughts.
Tucker rode into the yard on Rowdy and headed for the hitching post. By the time Seth reached the barn, his boss had already looped the reins around the post and was loosening the cinch.
“Everything okay?” Seth asked.
“Yup.” Tucker grunted as he lifted the saddle free from the horse’s back and placed it over the hitching rail. “It's just hotter than hell out there. Everybody's already gone through the water they packed, and the lunch truck isn't due for another hour. I'm going to take the coolers out.”
“I'll give you a hand.”
Together, they grabbed two empty water coolers from the ranch's utility building. Tucker filled them from the commercial ice machine while Seth topped them off with cold water.
“You've been spending a lot of time with Shylo lately,” Tucker observed.
Grinning, Seth glanced over. “You keeping tabs on me?”
“Hard not to notice when your truck's gone half the evening, and hers keeps showing up here. That's not like you at all.”
“Well... yeah.”
“Yeah, it's not, is it?” He shrugged. “There's something about her. I don't know. She's... different.”
He hadn't expected to enjoy Shylo's company this much. The evenings had started with the idea to get to know her better. Somewhere along the way, he'd stopped looking for excuses to see her and simply wanted to be with her.
“How's she doing?” Tucker asked as he snapped the lid onto the first cooler.
“Good, I guess.” He secured the second lid. “I think she's finally starting to feel at home around here.”
Tucker nodded. “So, she's thinking of staying? I thought she was only passing through.”
“So did I. But I don't think she's in any hurry to leave. I think she likes it here.”
“Hmm.”
And I really like having her here too.
He kept that thought to himself.
Together, they carried the heavy coolers outside and lifted them into the cargo bed of one of the Triple-R's ATVs.
“Mya cornered me this morning,” Tucker said as he threaded a ratchet strap through the tie-downs. “She told me to make sure Shylo gets invited to Sunday dinner tomorrow.”
He hadn't given tomorrow much thought beyond seeing Shylo after work tonight. Since she'd stayed over last night, he'd followed her into town that morning for breakfast at the Front Porch Café before stopping by the hardware store for supplies. Inviting her to the ranch for dinner again seemed like the obvious next step.
“I hadn't thought about asking her, but she's off tomorrow. I could.” He tightened the strap as Tucker gave it one last pull.
“Then invite her. Mya and Paige both seem to like her. Might be good for everybody to have her over again.”
The comment struck Seth as odd, but only for a second.
“That, and Mya's making pie.”
He let out a short laugh. “You really think pie's the selling point?”
Tucker shot him a look. “You've had Mya's pie.”
His boss wasn't wrong. The woman could probably settle international disputes with a slice of her apple crumb pie.
