reached out and plucked at the sleeve of the shirt she wore.
“I dressed you without question. About to introduce you to my girls, and then I was going to feed you. Feed you, mind, from the food I make here. Vegetables I grew, milk my cows produced. Cream for your coffee, butter for your toast. That’s how I talk to people. While wearing my clothes, you insult my ranch. My pride.”
“I’m sorry, “she said, and looked away when she realized how defensively she snapped out the words.
“That’s how you apologize?” he asked, crossing his arms again.
“What do you want from me?” she yelled.
Tucker clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shook his head. “What kind of people do you surround yourself with, I wonder?”
“You don’t know anything about me, okay? So why don’t you, hey, don’t you turn your back on me!”
Tucker continued his trek toward the barn, though his stride was far longer now and she had to rush her steps to catch up.
“Who do you think you are, buddy?” She rushed forward a few more steps and stopped in front of him to make him talk to her.
“You can’t talk to me like that. I don’t know how it is out here in the middle of nowhere, but where I come from, we treat one another with respect.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it is!”
“Have you thanked me yet?”
Colleen opened her mouth to say of course, but realized she never did.
As she stood frozen in the realization of her entitled attitude, he wordlessly walked around her and pressed on.
“I’m sorry,” she called to his back.
Tucker stopped and spun on his heel. “Now that sounded a bit more sincere.”
“I am. You… I imposed on you, and without hesitation you’ve been a most gracious host. I have no place to tell you about manners. I can’t believe I was so rude to you.” Colleen walked forward and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
Tucker slipped a thumb under her palm, hooked it around her thumb, and brought the back of her hand to his lips.
“Already forgiven, Miss.”
Chapter 2
In all her life, she’d never had a man genuinely kiss the back of her hand.
“Please keep showing me your farm?” she asked.
“Ranch.”
“Right, ranch.”
“Right this way.”
The fact was not lost on her that he didn’t let go of her hand as he led her toward the barn.
She’d only ever heard of farm animals. It was weird to meet these animals that were so familiar to her, yet she’d never seen one with her own eyes, never touched one, never smelled one. Cows were huge!
Tucker moved like an expert, calming the animals to the newcomer, and warming them up to her.
It took a bit of courage to reach out and actually touch one of his prize cows on its side. I’m touching beef, she thought. Beef looked at her, its massive head swinging around as if on a lazy hinge.
“Hi,” she said, but those eyes just blinked at her, calm as anything.
He continued showing her around, freeing the animals from the barn to go grazing out in the pastures. The horses, cows, and goats were as happy as anything to roam about.
“You just let them go? Aren’t you afraid they’ll run off or something?”
“Naw,” he said, “got the place fenced off. ‘Sides, they know where they get fed.”
As he went about milking his cows by hand, feeding his chickens, and tending to the other early morning chores, he told her about him.
This was his family’s ranch for eight generations now. It used to be much bigger, but they’d downsized it when it was his father’s.
There used to be ranch hands, and every barn had been full, but the market had shifted and running the ranch fulltime had become more work than the payoff. So, instead of running it as a business, Tucker’s father decided to close it down and simply make the ranch their way of life.
The
“I dressed you without question. About to introduce you to my girls, and then I was going to feed you. Feed you, mind, from the food I make here. Vegetables I grew, milk my cows produced. Cream for your coffee, butter for your toast. That’s how I talk to people. While wearing my clothes, you insult my ranch. My pride.”
“I’m sorry, “she said, and looked away when she realized how defensively she snapped out the words.
“That’s how you apologize?” he asked, crossing his arms again.
“What do you want from me?” she yelled.
Tucker clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shook his head. “What kind of people do you surround yourself with, I wonder?”
“You don’t know anything about me, okay? So why don’t you, hey, don’t you turn your back on me!”
Tucker continued his trek toward the barn, though his stride was far longer now and she had to rush her steps to catch up.
“Who do you think you are, buddy?” She rushed forward a few more steps and stopped in front of him to make him talk to her.
“You can’t talk to me like that. I don’t know how it is out here in the middle of nowhere, but where I come from, we treat one another with respect.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it is!”
“Have you thanked me yet?”
Colleen opened her mouth to say of course, but realized she never did.
As she stood frozen in the realization of her entitled attitude, he wordlessly walked around her and pressed on.
“I’m sorry,” she called to his back.
Tucker stopped and spun on his heel. “Now that sounded a bit more sincere.”
“I am. You… I imposed on you, and without hesitation you’ve been a most gracious host. I have no place to tell you about manners. I can’t believe I was so rude to you.” Colleen walked forward and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
Tucker slipped a thumb under her palm, hooked it around her thumb, and brought the back of her hand to his lips.
“Already forgiven, Miss.”
Chapter 2
In all her life, she’d never had a man genuinely kiss the back of her hand.
“Please keep showing me your farm?” she asked.
“Ranch.”
“Right, ranch.”
“Right this way.”
The fact was not lost on her that he didn’t let go of her hand as he led her toward the barn.
She’d only ever heard of farm animals. It was weird to meet these animals that were so familiar to her, yet she’d never seen one with her own eyes, never touched one, never smelled one. Cows were huge!
Tucker moved like an expert, calming the animals to the newcomer, and warming them up to her.
It took a bit of courage to reach out and actually touch one of his prize cows on its side. I’m touching beef, she thought. Beef looked at her, its massive head swinging around as if on a lazy hinge.
“Hi,” she said, but those eyes just blinked at her, calm as anything.
He continued showing her around, freeing the animals from the barn to go grazing out in the pastures. The horses, cows, and goats were as happy as anything to roam about.
“You just let them go? Aren’t you afraid they’ll run off or something?”
“Naw,” he said, “got the place fenced off. ‘Sides, they know where they get fed.”
As he went about milking his cows by hand, feeding his chickens, and tending to the other early morning chores, he told her about him.
This was his family’s ranch for eight generations now. It used to be much bigger, but they’d downsized it when it was his father’s.
There used to be ranch hands, and every barn had been full, but the market had shifted and running the ranch fulltime had become more work than the payoff. So, instead of running it as a business, Tucker’s father decided to close it down and simply make the ranch their way of life.
The
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