Beau (Remington Ranch Book 4) by SJ McCoy

what?”
    He nodded. “Thank you.”
    She grinned at him “You are more than welcome. I really thought I’d blown it for a minute there. No one talks to you like that, do they?”
    “No and it’s not easy to hear. But that doesn’t make it any less true.”
    She nodded.
    Beau smiled at her. He didn’t have the words to tell her how grateful he was for the verbal ass-kicking. And he wouldn’t have spoken them if he did. No one did speak to him like that, ever . Maybe his family used to, but these days they tended to just avoid the subjects that set him off. That wasn’t good. Why had it taken Wanda to make him see it? He looked up and met her gaze. “Why do you care so much?”
    She looked flustered for a moment and then grinned at him. “Care? All I care about is my job. I need the pittance you pay me, so while I have to be around you every day I’ll take any chance I get to make you into an almost-decent human being.”
    That made him laugh. What else could he do? If she hadn’t flipped things back to their usual banter, he might have had trouble swallowing the lump in his throat.
    “Of course. I’m just a paycheck to you. I knew that. So, if you want your day to be bearable tomorrow, what do you think I should do?”
    She smiled. “Go to dinner. Don’t make excuses, go. If Ruby’s there, be nice to her. That kid loves you.”
    “Jesus! What would she be like if she hated me?”
    Wanda laughed. “You’re just not used to little kids. They’re just little people, like you and me only with less filters.”
    “Is that why you relate to them so well?”
    “I’m trying to help you here. If Ruby’s there, make an effort with her, play with her. And if she’s not, well, you don’t need me telling you how to make an effort with her mother, I hope?”
    He shook his head. Women liked him. Well, they usually did. Corinne had, until he’d goofed up about her daughter. He sighed. “What’s the point though?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Yeah, I like her, but what’s the point? Why make an effort with Corinne?”
    “Because you’d like to go out with her?”
    “Exactly, but what would that look like? We’d get maybe one or two dates before Ruby was tagging along too.”
    “That’s how it goes when you date a single mom.”
    Beau glared. “That’s why I don’t date single moms. And this one especially. The thought of having a kid tagging along is bad enough, the thought of that kid being Ruby is a deal-breaker.”
    Wanda sighed. “Then I guess all you can do is accept that things didn’t work out for you this time. And if you could work on the gracious part, I’d appreciate it.”
    He stared at her. The humor was gone from her face and her voice. He nodded. He didn’t know what to say. He felt like he’d disappointed her—and it wasn’t a feeling he liked, but what choice did he have?
    Wanda stood and made her way to the door. She paused and looked back when she reached it. “I hope you’ll still go to dinner though. You shouldn’t let the things you can’t have screw up the things you do have.”
    “Wow, that’s deep.” He wanted to make her smile again. It didn’t work.
    She shrugged and made her way back out to the reception desk. She’d left him with a lot to think about.
    ~ ~ ~
    Corinne checked the mirror. She looked good. She just hoped it was right. She had no clue what people wore to dinner around here. In fact, she hadn’t seen anyone wear anything but jeans to do anything at all. However, did that mean that they all dressed up to the nines whenever they got an excuse to? She hoped not. She could have asked, she could have called Summer or Cassidy, she supposed. She hadn’t wanted to though. She needed to appear capable and confident as she moved into her new role managing the lodge. She sighed. She’d erred on the side of caution and chosen her nicest jeans and paired them with a green top. If she had it all wrong, she shouldn’t be too far underdressed or