Serious Cowboy (Cowboys of Duncan Ranch #2)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Aaron blinked at the person in front of him as if she were a mirage. But he could swear Joy Taylor, the only woman he’d ever really loved, was the one standing right in front of him. He even almost reached out to touch her face to be sure but didn’t. Sure was tempting, though.

“Um, Aaron… hello. Yeah, it’s me. And this is my daughter, Kara.”

Daughter.

The word punched him in the gut like the fist of a prize fighter. It was a reminder that ten years had passed, that she had a life that no longer included him in any way. Not that he hadn’t already known that. But coming face to face with the evidence of her having moved on was hard. Even if it should’ve been nothing but ancient history at this point.

“Nice to meet you,” he stated, fiddling with the slender box in his hand as he glanced at Kara then back to Joy. “So, you back for a visit?”

“More of a longer stay. We’re moving here.”

“How awesome.”

He wanted to mean it, but he couldn’t tell if he did or not. He felt too astounded to decide one way or the other. His system hadn’t quite caught up to the fact that the girl he’d grown up with, his best friend since kindergarten, the one who’d up and abandoned him after tearing out his heart and stomping on it was here. Right here.

With her kid. The one she’d had with another man.

He kept messing with the box in his hand temporarily forgetting what it was or where it’d come from. Aaron forced a smile hoping it came across as genuine. Based on Joy’s grimace, he doubted that it did.

“Well, we’d better get going. Lots to do and a short time to do it in.”

Relief swept over him at her announcement. He’d rarely felt this uncomfortable.

“Sure, sure. And uh, welcome back.”

“Thanks.”

Then she was gone.

Aaron watched as she plunked herself in one of the ugliest and most rusted out little vehicles he’d ever seen, her daughter following suit in the back. He couldn’t help but stare as the car burped out a cloud of sooty smoke and squealed as if a belt was loose as it ground its way down the street.

He wouldn’t be surprised if the orangish thing, or maybe that was all the rust, simply broke down and breathed its last about a hundred feet from where he stood. Somehow, though, miraculously, it kept going until Joy was out of sight.

Unconsciously, he played with the box in his hands, nearly dropping it. Glancing down, he remembered what he was holding and why. His mother’s fifty-fifth birthday would be in a month, and they were celebrating it with what should be a pretty sizable party.

The box contained her present from him, a bracelet specially made with the four birthstones from their family, a ruby, an emerald, an aquamarine, and a yellow citrine. It made for a lovely rainbow, a weather phenomenon Angie Hunter dearly loved if her tendency to take pictures of every single one she saw and post it to Facebook meant anything.

He thought his gift would be a hit. He hoped it would.

But before the pleasant concept of the look on his mother’s face could bring him a sense of contentment and satisfaction, Joy’s expression popped back into his mind. Her kid—daughter—resembled her so much she could be her mini-me. Same dark hair and gray green eye color. Same nose. Same chin. He figured everyone probably told her that, though. Told them that.

Why he couldn’t quit thinking about it he had no idea.

Determined to get his feet back under him, he stowed his mom’s bracelet in his breast pocket and hopped up into the cab of his raised Chevy Silverado. He hadn’t had the truck altered for looks but for practicality. The road to his house was way out in the sticks and made of dirt that washed out with every single storm. Any vehicle with a more normal suspension often couldn’t make it.

But his always could.

Once onboard, he dragged his hat off his head and wiped his forehead with a hand. It’d been hot as blazes this year, the summer heat downright unpleasant. He hoped it would break soon. Aaron couldn’t even remember the last time the temperatures were this crazy. So crazy he bet he could fry an egg there on the sidewalk.

No traipsing barefoot for him.

Backing out of his parking spot, he motored out onto the lane, glancing over his shoulder for pedestrians. Rocky Ridge might be a small town with relatively minor traffic, but in a vehicle as tall as his, he couldn’t afford to not be careful.

Pulling around the back of Mountaintop Java, he ordered a sandwich, chips, and iced coffee to go. This might be his lunchbreak, but he spent most of it with this errand for his mom. One that had been extended by running into Joy. Yet time and ranch work stopped for nothing and no one, so once out of the city limits, he accelerated, munching as he went.

Those at the Duncan Ranch would be expecting him.

As he pulled up by the barn, Sam Duncan, the brother who supervised half the ranch hands, approached. His wife Whitney normally supervised the other half, but due to being heavily pregnant with twins and prescribed by her doctor to be on light duty, she was staying mostly inside due to the heat.

“Still on lunch?” Sam asked him.

Aaron glanced at his watch. “Back as of now.”

He didn’t leave the property most of the time, but with the jewelry shop closing before he’d get off work, he’d wanted to get this taken care of sooner rather than later. Aaron half worried Sam would say something about him being away from the property, but he didn’t. Aaron knew his lunch was his time, but he preferred to be as dependable to these people as he could. The Duncans were the best employers he’d ever had.

“Excellent. Bessie’s in need of her hot lime treatment.”

Ah, poor Bessie. The dairy heifer was getting up in years and had a reputation for falling victim to minor ailments off and on. Pete Duncan, the family veterinarian and youngest brother, had come up with a treatment plan for Bessie’s latest condition of mange, something Aaron and Sam had to deal with since Pete was away at a conference. They’d also provide the cow with an injectable drug known as ivermectin to make sure to restore her to health as soon as they could.

The Duncans weren’t the type to rid themselves of any animal they could help. It was yet another reason why Aaron respected and appreciated them. Bessie might serve a specific use, but she was also half pet. Especially when it came to Pete, his wife Lilliana, and Whitney. Sam’s wife might be tough as nails and work harder than half the men, but she was all soft and gooey on the inside.

Those kids—the twin’s genders were still a secret since they wanted it to be a surprise—would be lucky to have her as their mama. As well as having Sam as their daddy.

With Bessie’s treatment taken care of, Sam waited for any other of the ranch hands to take off to see to their duties then pulled Aaron aside. It was something Sam had done more than once. But what Sam told him today sent him for a loop.

“Newbie, I want you to become my managerial apprentice,” Sam said, referring to Aaron as “Newbie” even though he’d been with the ranch for three years now and there were other people there newer than him. “I need a right-hand man to pick up the slack for me, and you’re it.”

“I’m honored,” Aaron told him, and truer words had never been spoken.

Sam patted him firmly on the back. “Comes with more than a decent raise, too. You’ve earned it by proving yourself reliable. I’m going to be tied up for the next little while if not for the next eighteen years straight. I need to know that my duties for this ranch are in good hands whenever I have to focus my attention on more important matters elsewhere.”

Aaron let his mouth slide into a conspiratorial smile. Sam would never say such a thing in front of either retired patriarch Jim or the eldest son and current general manager of the ranch, Bryce. They each liked to say and think that ranch business came before everything else, but their wives would be quick to tell a different story.

Also, Sam, in Aaron’s estimation, at least, had his priorities straight.

“From here on out,” Sam went on. “I’ll be doing some extra training on what to do when certain emergencies come up and how to handle some of the other basic business I hadn’t already shown you. You’ll be ready when I have to take a step back for a while.”

That was another thing Aaron liked about this job. They didn’t just throw their employees to the wolves. In the two positions he’d had previous to this one, it was sink or swim with next to no guidance or leadership. Yet that had never been the case here.

Not once.

“I’m your man,” Aaron felt something powerful burst in his chest. It gave him such a sense of pride to know Sam trusted him like this. Especially considering he was only twenty-eight. There were a lot of other ranch hands on the property who’d been there longer, though he could admit that they weren’t as dedicated as he was.

“Yes, you certainly are. Now, let’s get back to it.”

After returning down the bumpy driveway to his home, Aaron took a long shower to work out the kinks and aches then slid his dinner for one into the microwave. He’d been a bachelor ever since Joy had left him, and he didn’t regret it.

It was fun to play the field and meet new women all the time.

He kept things light with them, letting them know up front that he wasn’t in the market for anything remotely serious. The last time he’d been more serious minded about romance it’d bit him in the rearend.

No more of that. Thank you very much.

As he chomped on his single serving of lasagna, he kicked back in his recliner in front of his large television, a baseball game playing. But he couldn’t seem to hone in on it, despite it being his favorite team.

Today had been such a mixed bag. First, the blast from the past that was Joy Taylor, then a promotion out of the blue. Life could be so unpredictable sometimes.

Yet rather than focusing on his promotion and raise, all he could think about was his old flame and what her being around might mean for his future.