Chapter One

Grant pulled up in front of the stables. He was there to see a mare he wanted to buy. From the pictures he was sent, she was a beauty and perfectly proportioned.

After he got out of his truck, he stretched with his arms over his head. He and his ranch hands had finished tagging calves earlier, and he was sore as hell. He seemed to feel it more every year. It sucked getting old.

He walked around and looked at the cleanliness and organization of the stables, impressed. He'd heard good things about the people that ran the business and wanted to meet them.

He blinked a few times when he strolled into the stable. The light was dim, and it seemed like millions of dust particles were floating in the air. When he heard the unmistakable noise of someone cleaning the stalls, he knew why.

He petted the nose of one of the horses that stuck its head over the stall door, curious to meet him. Farther down, he saw a dog lying on the floor with his ears up as he listened to the woman cleaning the stall, singing. He stood back, listened, and then nodded. She was pretty good, and he could have listened to her for hours.

He walked to stand in the doorway and grinned. The woman's back was to him, and she was wiggling her hips as she sang and scooped up horse droppings and threw them into a wheelbarrow.

"Can I help you?" a voice said behind him. He turned to see a young woman.

"Yes, I'm Grant Crawford. I'm meeting the ranch manager about a horse."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman in the stall, tense and stare at him.

"That would be me." The younger woman came forward with her hand out. "I'm Tiffany Nichols."

They shook hands.

"So, you want to buy Dream Catcher?" Tiffany asked.

"Yes."

"She's down a way. If you follow me, I'll show you."

Grant took one more look at the woman in the stall, grinned when she ignored them, and efficiently kept cleaning, and if he wasn't mistaken, he saw a deep blush cover the side of her face.

He wished he had the time to meet her.

Several stalls down, Tiffany was opening the door, slid a halter on the horse, and led her out. His first look at the horse took him by surprise. He knew the mare was pretty, but up close, she was beautiful. He was excited to breed her because he knew the foals would be attractive and sell well, making him a lot of money.

"How much are you asking for her?" Grant asked.

"Five thousand, seven hundred," Tiffany said.

The mare lifted her head and whinnied. Grant looked down the aisle to see the woman push the barrel out of the stall she'd been cleaning.

He turned back to Tiffany when he heard her snort. "What?"

Tiffany grinned. "That's Sara. Every animal that meets her falls in love. The dog with her is mine, but he ignores me when she's here."

Grant grinned and grabbed onto the halter when the horse tried to follow her.

"The damn barn cat hates everyone, but when he met her, he purred and let her pet him. I wish she could work here full time."

"She's just part-time?"

"No. She's a volunteer. She tries to come in a few days a week. She says the ranch is her happy place, and I'm glad we're here for her. She's pretty special."

The woman put the horse back in the stall and closed the door.

"Happy place?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's a widow, and after her husband died, she came out to the ranch and asked to spend time here and help."

"Damn, she's so young to have to deal with that."

Tiffany snorted out a laugh. "She's older than my mom."

Grant's eyebrows rose. "No way."

"Yeah, she's like forty-six or seven, I think," Tiffany said. "The woman has more energy than me, that's for sure."

Hell, she was only four years younger than him.

"She has two full-grown sons. She keeps bugging them to find women and make her a grandbaby. I met them once when they came with her, and it was hilarious to watch them. She ran circles around both. And man, they listened to her. They were pushing each other several stalls away from where she was working, and all she had to say was, ‘Enough,' and they both stopped immediately. They tower over her. She has to tilt her head way back when she's talking to them, but they don't push her. They love and respect her, and I hope I'm as good a mother as she is when I have children."

He nodded and stared at the door where she walked out.

Tiffany cleared her throat.

He rolled his eyes when he caught the laughter in the girl's face. "I'll take her."

"Which one?" Tiffany asked and laughed.

He snorted. "The horse. I don't have time for a woman."

"I know I'm not wise like you elders, but you only have so much time on earth. Do you want to lay on your deathbed and regret not making a connection with someone who might care about you, instead of working all the time?"

"Elders? Really?" he asked gruffly.

She shrugged. "I say it like I see it."

He laughed. "Let's get the paperwork done. I'll come back tomorrow with the trailer."

"We can also bring her to you."

"No. I've got time right now."

They got comfortable in her office. It took them about an hour for everything. He handed over a check and stood.

"Sara, the woman, is going to be sad. She loves that horse."

He paused in the doorway. "Maybe you should have her somewhere else when I come to pick her up tomorrow. I don't deal with drama and tears very well."

That was an understatement. His ex-wife, Kendra, had used them and manipulation to get what she wanted. The fact that he found out she married him for his money bothered the shit out of him. He put up with her for years, but when he caught her cheating, he got rid of her. She still liked to come around sometimes because she knew it bothered him. Thankfully, they hadn't had children. It was one less headache to deal with.

Tiffany shook her head. "You won't get any from Sara. She hides her feelings. I asked her once if she missed her husband, and she said yes. She said she missed the warm body beside her at night the most, and she didn't shed one tear, but I could tell she wanted to. I could tell she was affected, but she didn't show it. She's always been a private person as long as I've known her."

"How long is that?"

"About four years, I think."

"And she came after her husband's death?" he asked.

"Yes."

Grant nodded. "I'll be back. Thank you."

Tiffany nodded and started to work on her computer.

He scanned the area and saw Sara in one of the arenas with a few horses, all vying to get her attention. He caught sight of the dog and cat, sitting and watching her. She definitely intrigued him. He just didn't know yet if he'd do anything about it.

Grant's thoughts turned to the woman he had yet to meet. So far, everything about her had attracted him, but he hadn't said a word to her. He liked how petite she was and her long hair. He liked that she sang and danced instead of gripping like most people did when they had to clean out the stalls. If Tiffany was right about Sara's strength, he admired that in a person.

Although he hadn't been looking for a woman, it's possible this one had just dropped into his lap. Now, he needed to know if she wanted to get to know him.

First, he wanted to make sure he was ready to take a chance at romance again.