Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,23

ranch owned had been put into a master spreadsheet. He’d found manuals and help pages online, and each one had a link for such things. He’d taken two of Jess’s horse trainers to help him do the inventory on the parts, and he had a sheet for that too. He knew what he needed to order, and what they had on the shelves, for every machine on the ranch. All the vehicles. All the air conditioners. All the lawn mowers. Literally everything.

He’d taken his kids to school every weekday, worked as hard as he could during school hours, and drove back to town to get the kids. Sometimes Ted picked them up and that saved Dallas a forty-minute round-trip.

He really liked how all the cowboys and cowgirls at Hope Eternal Ranch helped each other, and his kids had fallen right into the group. He’d eaten at the West Wing a couple of times, and Remmy sat by Hannah and talked her ear off while the woman smiled, asked questions, and laughed.

Dallas had listed his house in Houston for sale, and the realtor updated him each day. Lots of showings. No offers. He wasn’t getting nervous yet, because the housing market was in a slump right now, and Dallas’s house was in a gated community and not something everyone could afford. It would take the right kind of buyer, and Dallas was committed to waiting it out.

He entered the paperwork from yesterday, finishing the last one just as his phone rang. To his surprise, Alicia’s name sat on the screen, and he quickly tapped the green phone icon to connect the call.

“Hey, Alicia,” he said. “Tell me the good news.” He felt more and more like his old self with every day that passed, though nothing had really been settled with Martha, and he still had a crazy attraction to Jess every time he saw her at the West Wing.

Their jobs didn’t put them in the same places on the ranch very often, and if he saw her, it was always there, with lots of other people around.

“You assume it’s good news,” his realtor said with a laugh.

“Well, you updated me two days ago,” he said, leaning back in his chair. His back reminded him that it didn’t like that position much, and he sat up straight again. “So I’m assuming good news, although it could be bad.” His heart skipped a beat. “Is it bad news?’

“No,” she said. “You’re right. Good news. I just got off the phone with another real estate agent. They took a couple through your house, and they loved it.”

“That is good news,” Dallas said, his pulse accelerating for a new reason.

“They’re putting in an offer,” she said. “I should have it by five p.m. tonight.”

“That’s amazing news.” Dallas rose to his feet. He wanted to celebrate, and in times like this, he severely missed his wife. Fifteen years they’d had together. Fifteen years of always having someone he could talk to, share his fears and worries with, and enjoy a good meal together when things went their way.

Chris poked his head into the office, saw Dallas on the phone, and held up his hand as he backed out. Alicia spoke about how if the offer was good, they’d have twenty-four hours to accept it, and everything could be signed digitally, so he didn’t need to come to Houston.

He hadn’t gone to list the house either, as he hadn’t wanted to make the trip. The furniture could stay, and Alicia had gone to make sure everything was clean and in order before her photographer had come to get the pictures for the listing.

Martha had left the house in good shape, and while Dallas knew he’d have to go to Houston to pack and move everything he owned, he’d bought himself a little time by turning the power over to his agent.

“I’ll keep in touch,” she said, and the call ended.

Dallas couldn’t help the smile as it formed on his face. He had to celebrate with someone, and he looked back at the phone in his hand. He knew who he wanted to take for an expensive dinner so he could tell her the good news.

Jess.

“Can’t do expensive,” he told himself as he started typing out a text to her. Hey, he said. Great news! My house is likely going to have an offer on it by tonight. Want to go to dinner with me to celebrate?

He didn’t think twice; he just sent the text.

He tapped the