Marry Me for Real, Cowboy - Valerie Comer Page 0,41
can feed the cows and keep the mountain lions away. That’s pretty much what David did in the Bible. I think the Bible teaches that we have to be faithful in the little things before we can be trusted with the big ones.”
“David was a king in waiting.” And since when was Nat the one parroting Bible stories?
“Yeah, that’s my point. But he didn’t try to grab it ahead of time.”
Adam shook his head. Why could Nathaniel not understand? He exhaled a long breath and watched the fog dissipate from it. For an instant it clouded the view of the December landscape. Snow covered the distant peaks in Glacier National Park, but in the lower foothills, they’d yet to have snow that stuck. There was a rugged beauty to the stark evergreens, the creek dodging around black rocks as it made its way downstream.
“There is a time for everything,” Adam quoted at his brother. “A time for life. A time for death.” And that only sent his memory back to Ace Desjardins. Was it Ace’s time to die?
Was it Adam’s time to gain Running Creek? It seemed a petty question next to Ace’s, yet Ace had encouraged Adam to go for it. Life could change in the blink of an eye.
Here today, gone tomorrow. That was in the Bible, too, wasn’t it? It had to do with the flowers of the field or something. Fleeting like Ace’s virility or Nathaniel’s lost love.
Adam shifted in his saddle and looked at his brother. “Tell me about Ainsley?”
Riley’s backside was finally getting used to long days in the saddle. Adam saddled Ladybug for her every morning and untacked her every afternoon, but she rode with whichever brother Declan assigned her to.
The rancher probably figured if she and Adam were assigned together they’d spend all their time kissing instead of working. Little did Declan know that there wasn’t a lot of hanky-panky going on for him to be concerned about. Now was when Riley’s acting abilities were put to the test. It was embarrassing to realize how little pretense it had required to play Adam’s doting fiancée for the past weeks. Now Adam’s smile seemed forced and his embraces shorter and less passionate.
Good thing she’d talked herself out of believing anything further could come from it.
She’d seen Adam’s face today when she’d been assigned to work with Travis. Boy howdy, that had not gone over well. What was wrong between the two of them, anyway? Were they simply vying for position? She couldn’t see it, but then again, who knew with guys? Adam obviously had a lot of competitive spirit. Look how well he’d done at rodeo. Just because Travis had been the brother who stayed home didn’t mean he was any less competitive.
Riley had found it easy to chat with Nathaniel, Blake, and Ryder on the days they’d worked together, but Travis only offered terse directions then pivoted Lancaster away. Because she was Adam’s. But there had to be some way to get him to loosen up.
She nudged Ladybug up beside Travis where he sat overlooking the valley. By the flick of his eyes, he was counting heads. When he finally nodded, she was ready. “Are you looking forward to having Toby for the weekend?” It was Friday, after all.
Travis sent her a questioning look. “Always.”
“It must be hard handing him back and forth.” Now, why had she said that? She’d planned to get him to talk about his son, not about the strained situation between him and the child’s mother.
He shrugged. “Yeah, but if I had him all the time, it would be hard to get any work done around here, and Dad does not like a shirker.”
“I bet he doesn’t.” Riley offered an understanding grin. “He runs a tight ship, but he’s fair.” Ugh. The best she could say about the rancher was fairness? Sad.
“He is.” Travis hesitated, looking like he was deciding whether to say more. “He’s good with Toby, though.”
Riley hadn’t noticed. “That’s cool.” Somehow she couldn’t imagine the no-nonsense man reading stories to a little kid. Grandparenthood wasn’t a side of Declan Cavanagh she’d ever considered.
“Toby’s pretty awesome. Dakota does a good job with him.”
He didn’t even sound bitter. Riley snuck a peek. He looked more pensive than grouchy. “She seems pretty nice.”
Travis swung to meet Riley’s gaze for a few long seconds. “Oh, yeah?”
“She seemed prickly at first, but she nearly always stops to visit for a few minutes now when she drops Toby off.” Speaking of