visible shudder followed. “Definitely not with the mouse.”
“You know, you can get rid of mice. The place didn’t look too bad when I was in there. Seemed mostly cosmetic. Cleaning. Paint. Looked like someone had the law on their tail and left half their belongings. Granted, you were screaming like someone was after you, so I didn’t get a great look.”
“I could never do it on my own, and I’m not asking Cash. He has enough to do.”
“I would help you.” The words were out of his mouth before he had time to think, but once they registered, he decided the idea wasn’t so crazy. If he was going to follow through with the two of them getting along and putting the past behind them, he might as well jump in with both feet.
Curiosity and concern mingled in the depths of her distractingly beautiful green eyes. Maybe even a bit of fear. “Why?”
“Why not?”
It was easier to answer that way than to tell her the truth. I don’t want to turn into my father seemed like a strange answer. There was one thing he’d never seen his dad and mom do—make amends. Forgive. Move on. Therefore, that’s exactly what Hunter planned to accomplish.
And this way, when Rachel did her next disappearing act for the job she wanted and came back to visit her family, she and Hunter would be able to get along. Wish each other well.
She studied the toes of her camel-colored boots as though they held the answer to all of the world’s problems. “It was nice of you to offer, but I can’t accept.”
Couldn’t? Or wouldn’t? He could pretty easily guess the answer to that. Her response didn’t surprise him. She wasn’t the type to welcome his offer—or anyone’s for that matter—with open arms. Nope. Rachel had always had a bit of an edge to her, and that was putting it nicely. The woman had more spunk in her pinkie finger than most people had in their whole body. It had been one of the things he’d liked about her back then. Still did.
“We need to get back.” Rachel shut the front door of the house. She grabbed the small cowboy hat propped on the stair railing and tromped down the steps, heading for their horse and calling Grayson at the same time.
After a few seconds of complaining from the boy, Rachel and Grayson mounted up. They took off with quick waves in his direction.
She was sure in an all-fired hurry to get out of here. Away from him. Not that he blamed her. He’d been a jerk when they were younger. He’d asked her to stay when he shouldn’t have.
Some people just weren’t built for this life.
Hunter had learned that lesson too well. A painful brand had been burned into him because of his mother’s unhappiness. She’d detested ranching and small-town living. Yet Dad had convinced her it would grow on her one day. He’d pursued her until she’d agreed to marry him and live on the ranch. Hunter had heard the beginning of their story many times.
But the middle and end had never improved. In all of his childhood memories, his mom had been sad. Lethargic. Broken. When he was nine, she’d given up pretending and left them. Moved to Dallas.
After, Dad had sunk further and further out of reach. It wasn’t that they didn’t see each other. It was that they didn’t really talk about anything besides ranchTing. His sister, Autumn, had been his saving grace. Three years older, she’d taken to mothering him.
Hunter wouldn’t copy his father’s mistakes again. He’d been selfish asking Rachel to stay and marry him. She’d only been eighteen. He’d been twenty. Hunter had watched his mom live a life she didn’t want. He’d witnessed her unhappiness. He’d known better than to ask Rachel to do the same, yet he’d been grasping at straws to keep her in his life.
And, in the process, he’d lost her completely.
Suggesting they get married had been impetuous of him, and when Rachel had said she loved him but she couldn’t, he’d reacted so badly. Out of hurt, he’d pushed her away.
Not a shining moment for him.
But it was time to turn all of that around. Hunter had been at a loss about how to prove to Rachel that they could get along again. She’d built so many walls between them over time—and he’d only been too happy to help her hold them steady—that he wasn’t sure where to begin.
But now that he knew about the house, she’d given him the perfect way to start.
He only hoped it wouldn’t backfire on him.
Rachel surveyed the small ranch house from the doorway, frustration zinging along her spine. It was Wednesday, and she and Grayson had gone out for another ride. He’d been antsy after it rained all day Tuesday, and he’d wanted to visit the house again—which he’d started referring to as his fort. But since they’d been out on Monday, someone had been here. Supplies were sitting just inside the door, paint cans included. The mountain of trash was gone.
All fingers pointed to Hunter, since no one else even knew what she’d been thinking. What part of no didn’t he understand? She did not appreciate his intruding in her life like this.
Rachel slipped her cell phone from her pocket, hoped the reception would work and called her friend Val. The two of them had been best friends since junior high, and the fact that Val still lived in Fredericksburg was, for Rachel, a definite plus in being home. They’d kept up their friendship over the years—one of the only people Rachel could claim that about. Val had always been levelheaded back when Rachel had been anything but. Now she hoped the two of them were on a more similar plane. Except, at the moment, level was not a feeling Rachel was experiencing.
“Hey,” Val’s voice sounded in her ear. “Connor is eating mac and cheese, which means I’ll probably have to go in a sec when he puts a piece of it up his nose even though I’ve tried to teach him not to do that a million times.”
“Okay.” Not for the first time, Rachel thought what a strange thing motherhood was. “You are never going to believe what Hunter did.”
“Ooh, what?”
She explained about finding the deserted old ranch house, running into Hunter and the conversation that had ensued. “And now he’s started fixing it up after I told him no. I didn’t even know he’d been out here and a bunch of stuff got done.”
“Huh.” Prolonged silence came from Val’s side of the conversation. “That’s...horrible?”
“It is horrible! I don’t want him involved in my life.”
“Technically he’s not involved. You weren’t even there when he did anything.”
“Whose side are you on, anyway?”
A stifled cough-laugh combination answered her. “I mean, how could he just help you like that when you didn’t even give him permission?”
“Your sarcasm is impressive.”
“Thank you. I learned it from you. So, do you want my old-married-lady advice?”
“You’ve been married two years, so I don’t think that qualifies you as headed out for pasture yet, but sure.” Rachel’s mouth curved despite her annoyance with Hunter. “Hit me with it.”
“Let him help. You’re out of space at the house. I’d offer to let you stay here—”
“You guys don’t have room for me, either.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to accept his offer. At some point, you need to let go of what happened between the two of you. This is the perfect opportunity.”
“No.”
“Just...no? That’s all you’ve got?”
“Yep.”