Chapter Seven

T he next morning, Nathan scrambled eggs and made toast while coffee brewed. He liked it black so didn’t bother with the usual additives most people preferred. He glanced at the clock. He’d gotten up early so he could catch Jonas on his way out. His brother had come home after Nathan had gone to bed but before his pain reliever kicked in. He hadn’t wanted to get out of bed, nor did he want Izzy to find out he’d overdone it yesterday with the long, circling, bumpy ride.

The doc hadn’t been kidding when he’d warned him not to jump back into his normal routine too fast, but only do what didn’t hurt. Before last night he hadn’t appreciated the advice, but now—Nathan shrugged.

He got a cup from the cupboard and filled it to the brim, his thoughts returning to the one person who wasn’t deterred no matter how much he grumped at her. He wanted to keep it that way, though he wasn’t sure why. She seemed to take him with a grain of salt, something new for Nathan. Most people just stayed out of his way.

That old saying... keep your friends close and your enemies closer could apply if he still considered Izzy the enemy, which after her response to his mom’s shed, how could he?

Izzy Payton had gumption. His dad had told him once when he’d asked why Adam had married Zelda, that it was because she had courage and pluck. She always wanted to do what was right and what she could to help others. Nathan had a feeling that Izzy operated under the same rules.

“You’re up early,” Jonas broke into his thoughts. He poured himself a cup of coffee and then added creamer before nabbing one of Nathan’s pieces of toast.

“I need to talk to you about something before you take off this morning.” After popping two more pieces of bread in the toaster, Nathan followed his brother to the table. Jonas wore paint-spattered jeans and a tee shirt. “How’s the new office coming?”

“Slow, but Sloane is giving me a hand with painting when she can.” Jonas watched him over the rim of his cup, waiting for him to get to his point.

Suddenly, Nathan wasn’t in a hurry. The toaster binged. He went to butter the slices, then brought them back to the table. He wasn’t surprised when Jonas stole another one. He’d kind of counted on it. As payback, he said, “I heard Sloane is considering moving to Waco, Texas.”

“Who told you that?” Jonas’ brows pulled together.

Nathan suppressed a smile. “You know, with everything that’s been going on, I don’t remember. She didn’t mention it to you?”

“No.” The toast he stole dropped like a stone to the table.

“That’s surprising. You guys are such good friends.” Nathan remembered a conversation he’d had with her about six months back indicating Sloane wouldn’t say no to something more with his brother. At least he thought that’s what she had hinted at. Jonas was crazy to think all she wanted was his friendship. “With the number of tourists visiting that town, she’ll have more automotive work than she can keep on top of.”

“She’s a grownup woman. She can do what she wants,” Jonas said, his expression the same one Nathan had seen him wear in court.

“I’ll bet she thinks the same thing,” he pushed a little more, but it was clear that maybe he was wrong. After knowing Sloane since they were in grade school together, it could be Jonas didn’t have the kind of feelings that led to asking her to be his lifetime partner.

That was too bad. She would fit into the family so well.

Jonas picked up his toast. “So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

“I took Izzy on a tour of the ranch yesterday.” Nathan slowly let out a deep breath. Jonas’s brows shot up. He pushed the remains of his breakfast aside. “We ended up at Mom’s shed on the back property.”

Leaning forward on his elbows, Jonas said quietly, “I’m surprised you took her there.”

“I am too.” For the first time in longer than he could remember, Nathan felt a kinship with Jonas. For a short while, before Jonas had gone back to Denver after their mom had passed and after Blake had left, it’d been just the two of them. But the longer Jonas stayed away to build his career, that closeness stretched thin. Nathan shrugged. “She wanted to see everything.”

“I see.”

He didn’t know how Jonas could, when Nathan was more than a little confused and somehow pleased, too at her reaction. “She has an idea about fixing up Mom’s shed and using it for weddings, and she wants to set up a time to do a presentation of her ideas for improving the Triple L’s finances.”

“She’s working fast. Good. The sooner she gives us her ideas the better.” Jonas stood and took his cup to the sink. “Blake and Malorie are flying back from New York tomorrow, so how about we set up an appointment for Wednesday afternoon? You pick the time.”

From where he stood, Izzy had enough passion to save the ranch with or without his cooperation. He wanted to be there, every step of the way with whatever she planned. That way he could rein her in when necessary. “All right. We’ll meet at two.”

Jonas took off. Watching him drive away, Nathan honestly couldn’t blame his brother for leaving him and the ranch to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer.

If he’d been as ambitious as Jonas, he would have followed in his brother’s footsteps and gone to college to become a veterinarian straight out of high school. But he liked the idea of staying on the Triple L better. Besides, who would have been left to run the ranch?

When he was a boy, Zelda had made sure he understood that adopting him was not an accident, that of all the children she and Adam could have picked, he was the one they wanted. It wasn’t until he was a teenager that he began to notice how different he was from his brothers, not just in looks with his skin, hair, and eyes darker, but in temperament too. Jonas was calm, purposeful, and intentional—if that was a personality trait. In that way, he was a lot like their dad. Blake’s feelings ran deeper. He was more impulsive. Lost his temper quicker. And he didn’t hold anything back when it came to telling his brothers what was on his mind, whether he and Blake had a difference of opinion or were ready to throw punches at each other. Nathan guessed that was why his dad had started settling their arguments with a deck of cards.

He regretted his last conversation with his dad. He owed Adam and Zelda more than he could ever repay. So, if saving the ranch meant joining hands with Izzy Payton, then so be it. He would do it.

Taking his dishes to the sink, he cleaned up the kitchen while he waited. He had about half an hour to spare before he was supposed to meet Izzy in the barn. When he was done, he slipped into his favorite, worn cowboy boots and headed out to feed and water the horses before moving them to the front pasture.

Nathan could hear Zelda’s kittens the moment he entered the barn. He didn’t know why he’d given Izzy the kitten. Maybe to prove he could be user-friendly when he wanted, but he hadn’t thought it through, had he? What was a woman who traveled for work going to do with an animal that in its infancy would need a lot of attention?

But he honestly believed, if anyone could work and give a kitten the love and attention it needed, that person would be Izzy. Oddly, it was her resolve to take on the kitten and the job of bringing the Triple L out of financial ruin in the face of his roadblocks in the beginning that he admired the most. He hadn’t met anyone these days, except his brothers, who could go toe to toe with him and not change the important things he loved about the ranch.

When Izzy had melted into his mom’s sanctuary as if she’d somehow found a connection with Zelda, she’d ignited disturbing feelings he wasn’t expecting.

He opened Duke’s stall and began brushing the stallion down. There was no point in dwelling on how she’d had that instant kinship with the she-shed. Maybe deep down inside he wanted a wife and family, but there was no way Izzy was that woman, and he couldn’t in all good conscience ask any lady to marry him when he wasn’t even sure he would have a ranch to bring her home to. Besides, Izzy Payton wasn’t going to stay in one place long enough to make a permanent, lasting relationship or build a future that would only box her in. He wouldn’t want to be the one to do that to her.

The woman spending too much time in his thoughts strolled into the barn. Her wild red hair was tamed into a ponytail that stuck out of the back of a green cap with a colorful butterfly embroidered on the front. Her jeans were torn, and her tee was the color of the blue sky outside. Her boots were the only new thing she was wearing.

Nathan turned his back on the enticing woman.

“Morning. What are we doing first?” she asked brightly from behind him. Izzy very clearly was prepared to get her hands dirty.

Continuing to brush Duke down, he pointed at the mares. “We need to groom this lot, then move them out to the front pasture.”

“Okay.” After watching his brush strokes for a few minutes, she got right to work on Rosie.

For a while, he enjoyed the quiet and repetitive rhythm of working side by side with Izzy. When he finished, he moved Duke to the pasture, passing Izzy on the way back leading Rosie. She was humming softly to the mare and gently patting her neck.

If he didn’t know better, he could believe she fit right into the natural flow of a working ranch.

He was already brushing down Bella when she came back. Before she entered Grace’s stall, he reminded himself of the reason she was still on the ranch and why he should keep his distance. “I have to talk to Blake, but if he doesn’t have anything else planned, we’ll meet in the office in the main house at two on Wednesday.”

“That’s great. I’m ready.” She studied him thoughtfully for a minute. “Do you trust me?”

Did he? Nathan shrugged.

She pushed her hands into her front pockets and tilted her head as if she was still trying to figure him out. “It’s okay if you don’t. My job is to prove to you that what matters most is the survival of the Triple L and that I won’t do anything to make things worse than they already are. But I have to warn you, I’ll try not to, but I might step out of the bounds of what is comfortable for you. And your brothers.”

“Yeah, I pretty much got that,” he acknowledged. “How do you know the solutions you come up with will be the best ones? Like having weddings at Mom’s she-shed?” He frowned. With her boundless enthusiasm, it was difficult to keep Izzy at arm’s length. Against his better judgment, he admitted, “Half the time I don’t have a clue which direction is the best way to go.”

“I just keep trying until I hit on the right combination that will make things better,” she said gently and smiled at him. She wasn’t being cocky, but she had enough confidence to push his envy of her faith in herself into overdrive. “I promise I won’t make any recommendations you can’t abide—”

Her cell rang. Izzy dug it out of her pocket. “Hi, Mom. Is everything okay?” She put her hand over the phone and whispered. “I have to take this. I shouldn’t be long.”

He waved her off and returned to grooming Bella. She didn’t go so far away that he couldn’t hear at least part of her conversation. He shouldn’t eavesdrop but from the brief panic that crossed Izzy’s face when she asked how her mom was doing, Nathan was thrown right back into the past.

It was just her and her mom. He could understand her concern.

“You sure you’re okay.” Whatever her mom said eased the tension from her shoulders as she leaned against the barn door. “The ranch is lovely.”

He should at least pretend he was a gentleman and give her a little privacy.

Nathan led Bella and Grace to the pasture to join Rosie. Duke was in his own sectioned-off area. By the time his mom had passed, he’d disconnected from his brothers. Not consciously, maybe, but he didn’t tear down the wall once it was erected, either.

There was nothing he could do about losing his parents so young. Life happened.

Yesterday, when he shared his mother’s special place with a red-headed woman who was more determined than he was when it came to not taking no for an answer, somehow something changed. Her idea to set up the shed for weddings was a project his mother would have approved of. He wouldn’t fight Izzy on making the idea a reality, whether it brought in a small income for the ranch or not.

Nathan quickly finished grooming Angel and led her to the pasture with the others. When he came back and started cleaning out the stalls, Izzy was still talking to her mom.

“Mom, I have to get back to work... yes, okay... yes.” Izzy’s voice came closer. She stepped into the stall. “I’ll call you later and let you know.”

Before he could ask her how her mom was doing, Izzy said, “I’ll get started on the next stall.”

As she headed to the tack room, Nathan leaned sideways and watched as she walked away. What was it about the woman that was so dang... intriguing... and surprising... and different from Malorie—whom he’d had a short-lived, intense crush on while she was his nurse?

When she came back carrying a hay fork, he got back to work. Izzy stopped at the stall and said unnecessarily, “That was my mom.”

“I figured,” he said. Wanting her to tell him more, Nathan stopped scooping used chips and straw into the wheelbarrow.

“She wants to come visit while I’m here.”

Surely she knew her mom was welcome. “Did you tell her we’d be glad to have her come stay?”

“I wanted to make sure it was okay first,” she said softly then stood up straight. “I’m here to work and my mom can be a distraction.

“Of course, she can come. Moms are—” For the first time, he looked forward to meeting someone new. Someone vital to Izzy.

“Special and important,” she finished for him, then went into the next stall.

When they had everything ready for the horses’ return, she came with him to take a look at his small herd. He studied the horses, determined to ignore how well Izzy fit into the ranch with her cowgirl boots and cap, her grand ideas, and how easy it was to be with her as they watched Bella amble over.

The sun was warm and bright. If the stretch of white coloring across the horses’ back haunches was an indication, they might have all been Rangerbreds. But untangling that knot would be up to Jonas. That was his area of expertise. Or it used to be back in the day, anyway.

Izzy rested her chin on her hands on the top rail. “Can I ask you something?”

“Maybe,” he said lazily. He was feeling mellow, not a normal thing for Nathan. But standing in the sunshine with a pretty lady at his side? He might even give her a straight answer.

She turned to face him. “Do you like doing veterinary work with the horses, or training riders and horses better?”

Honestly? It was time to move on from his long-ago loss, including his dreams of becoming a vet, and make something better of his life. It was what his parents would have expected and what he suddenly wanted. Very much.

He remembered how much he’d thought about following in his dad’s footsteps when he was younger as he trailed Adam around the ranch learning everything he could about ranching and taking care of the stock. That was a boy’s dream—not his, not anymore.

He scratched Bella’s neck. “Becoming a vet didn’t seem as important after Dad passed.” And like he’d told her, his only dream now was to save the ranch.

“I get that.” Her astute gaze never left his face. “So, we’re still on for barrel-racing lessons?”

He shifted uncomfortably. Izzy Payton saw too much. “If you still want them.” And before she could ask because he knew she would, he said, “We’ll start Thursday.” After she presented her ideas for the ranch.

She was something else. Her ingrained understanding had him revealing things he didn’t tell anyone, not even his brothers. On the outside, she looked like a beautiful wildflower he could find anywhere on the ranch. Inside, her insight was dangerous to his equilibrium. She didn’t have to tell him to stop clinging to the past. He’d finally figured that out for himself. Keeping up with the wily woman was going to be like participating in a tough Olympic sport.