* *
CHUCKY DANCED INTO the laundry room as Taylor started folding the clothes she’d pulled out of the dryer. Jancey followed him into the room, a laundry basket on one hip.
“Here, I’m done,” Taylor said. “Small load.”
“Cool.”
Jancey opened the lid to the washer and dumped the entire basket in—whites, jeans, a red T-shirt. When she glanced up and saw Taylor’s expression of horror, she gave a small shrug. “I know, but this is easier.”
“Did someone do your laundry on the ranch?”
“No. That was all me.” She gave Taylor a frowning look. “Cole won’t tell me what went on at the ranch.”
Then it wasn’t her place to fill his sister in. “I’m not sure what happened.”
Jancey frowned at her. “Did you sit in the truck or something?”
“I thought it was best to let Cole handle things.”
The nonanswer worked. Jancey snorted and then poured soap directly into the washer, ignoring the dispenser tray. Taylor wouldn’t have been surprised had she added a few glugs of straight bleach, but she closed the lid.
“I don’t want Cole all stressed out. I shouldn’t have threatened Miranda.” She turned and leaned back against the washer, gripping it with both hands.
“Sometimes we just…act. Then we have to do damage control. Part of life. No one does it perfectly. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes.” Taylor put a hand on Jancey’s shoulder. “Are you putting stuff on your socials?”
“I haven’t. Yet.”
Chucky gave a small whimper, and Jancey scooped him up. “But if Miranda keeps messing with us, I will.”
And maybe that was why Cole hadn’t yet filled her in.
Taylor’s phone rang, and she dug it out from her back pocket, her pulse rate jumping when she saw the name on the screen. She gave Jancey a quick nod. “I have to take this.” She put the phone to her ear and said hello as she abandoned her laundry and headed out of the house so she could speak to Paul in private. She preferred to get her news, good or bad, alone.
“We knocked around the idea of a second interview,” Paul said after a quick hello, “then decided we didn’t have time. We need someone now, and you fit the bill. Welcome aboard.”
She’d gotten the job.
Taylor pressed her lips together and somehow refrained from punching the sky. Her luck had finally turned. She made her way across the driveway to the bunkhouse as Paul gave her the details. Once he was done, and all of her questions were answered, she disconnected the call, set down the phone and let out a breath that felt as if it had come from the tips of her toes. Finally! Progress. It might be temporary, but she was moving forward after too long a period of professional stagnation.
Now she had about a hundred things to do before her Monday start time.
There was only one that she wasn’t looking forward to. Telling Cole that she was leaving.
But it wasn’t as if she could have stayed on the farm forever. They’d both known she was leaving when they’d started sleeping together. If things were different, if their lives and needs were more closely aligned, then her leaving might be a goodbye-for-now.
She saw no way around it being a goodbye-forever. And it was tearing her up. No matter how badly she might want this to be different.
She was urban. He was country. She was all about her career and so was he—nonmeshable careers.
This moment had been inevitable, and she’d fully expected it to be bittersweet. She hadn’t expected it to feel as if a hole was opening up in her heart. She crossed the room and pulled out her suitcase and the boxes she’d packed her dishes in. She didn’t need to get everything together immediately, but she could dive in tonight as soon as she did the hard thing and crossed the driveway to tell Cole the news.
According to Paul, they needed her yesterday. Things had started to heat up for the firm, and they needed all hands putting in as many hours as possible. Which meant she had to pack and leave so much sooner than anticipated. She’d fully expected at least two weeks…time to wind things down, time for her and Cole to say a proper goodbye. Maybe even to make plans to meet again in the future—in some capacity.
She needed that time.
She wasn’t going to get it.
And then there was Jancey. Taylor headed back across the drive to pick up her laundry. The washing machine swished away, but Jancey wasn’t around. Nor was Cole.
She got back to the bunkhouse and set the laundry down next to the suitcase.
She was excited to be moving forward…but she couldn’t say she felt happy about it. She didn’t need to dig too deeply to figure out why. She hadn’t anticipated things happening so quickly, hadn’t thought she’d have to tell Cole goodbye so soon.
She’d just gotten a job and wasn’t feeling ecstatic—and that wasn’t right. She abandoned her suitcase and picked up her phone from where she’d set it down on the table. She’d call Carolyn and her mother and her grandfather, tell them the good news before she started packing. Maybe hearing some congratulations would jolt her back to reality.
Because it simply wasn’t possible to have everything.
* * *
COLE WAS IN the middle of putting something together for dinner when the phone rang. Jancey wasn’t yet home, so he snagged the receiver on the second ring, hoping he wasn’t going to hear that her truck had broken down.
“Cole.”
The hairs seemed to rise on the back of his neck. “Miranda.”
“I heard you ran into Wyatt and Ashley today.”
“Yes.” He knew from experience that the less said, the better.
“And that they filled you in on the summer plans for the working ranch.”
He didn’t give in to the temptation to tell her what he thought of her plans. “Yes.”
“Good. What I’m calling about is the livestock you have on the property. The horses, to be exact.”
“What about them?”
“Matt will not be feeding them. We’ve spoken and he agrees that feeding the horses is outside the scope of his duties.”
“So maybe he can feed them on his own time. Or do you control that, too?”
“He doesn’t want to feed them on his own time.”
In other words, she’d threatened him. “Fine. I’ll get someone else.”
Who, he had no idea.
“Have them check into the main ranch when they arrive so that we know they’re authorized.”
Cole pressed a hand to his head. There was no reason for anyone visiting his place to do that, but that wouldn’t slow Miranda down. “I will. Anything else?”
“No, Cole. That’s all.”
Cole hung up and planted a hand against the wall. Took a deep breath. Okay. He’d bring his horses here to the farm.
And he’d show great restraint by doing it without putting his hands around Miranda’s throat. A tidal wave of frustration smashed into him.
Was this the way he wanted to live his life?
He shoved the question aside and headed for the door. He wanted to talk to Taylor. Get her take. He knocked on her door, and it took her a few seconds to answer. When she did, he saw that her suitcase was open on the bed, and his gut tightened.
“You