cover it. Dad?”
Doug sighed. “It’s strange to know that if I’m callin’ myself ‘almost retired,’ I shouldn’t have a say in this.”
“Of course you have a say, Dad,” Brooke said earnestly. “I would never do anything you didn’t think would benefit the ranch.”
“If you three think you can make all these part-time jobs work, then it’s fine by me.”
Sandy looked relieved, but Brooke wasn’t. She didn’t feel like her dad had actually approved, but he hadn’t said no, either. Her excitement took a little hit, but she was determined to make it work.
“No point in worrying about this now,” she said briskly. “It’s almost Christmas, and we have enough to do. We’ll talk about it after the holidays.”
Chapter Nineteen
That night, Adam cradled a naked Brooke in his arms, satisfied and sleepy and so comfortable in his bed. He could hear the crackling of the fire in the living room and the quietness of her breathing.
He still couldn’t believe he’d shared the truth of his past with her but had been so surprised at how right it felt. The weight seemed off his chest, as if he could inhale deeply again. His dreams weren’t full of death and dying, but occasionally the bittersweet memory of the good times he and his friends had shared.
He’d shared something he hadn’t discussed with another soul—did that mean he was falling in love with Brooke? It was such a surprise to even think about, and he knew better than to mention it aloud. He wasn’t even certain himself and knew she wasn’t ready to hear it, regardless. He could be patient and wait until the moment was right.
“Is that Ranger snoring?” Brooke asked in the middle of a yawn.
“Guess I’m used to it. And I was just about to say how quiet you were tonight.” He gently threaded his fingers through her hair, sweeping it back from her face, so he could see her expression. “Is something wrong?”
“Not with you,” she murmured, then came up on her elbow and looked down at him with wicked intent in her slumberous gaze. “That was . . . incredible.”
He smiled. “You’re trying to distract me.”
She leaned down to kiss him, and her hair slid along his shoulders and about his face, like a waterfall hiding their kiss from the outside world.
Heaving a sigh, she laid her head back on his shoulder. “I have a lot of crazy thoughts going on in my head.”
“About Tyler? He’s taken up a lot of your valuable time.”
She grinned. “My valuable time? What about yours? I thought you’d do my work for me while I dealt with him.”
“You didn’t order me to,” he pointed out.
“True. But I admit, I like watching you work with him. I think you’re a good influence.”
He winced. “Unfair. Next you’ll expect me to be a saint.”
She tweaked his navel. “Never.” The she sighed. “He’s not totally enthusiastic. Maybe his buddies have been giving him a hard time. It can’t be easy trying to change your life.”
“It’s not, but then, you know that.”
She looked up at him with a frown. “Me? I don’t know anything about that. I’ve always been this way, with ranching as my goal. I’m pretty boring.”
“Really?” He studied her. “I think people can have more than one goal, and maybe you’re figuring that out.”
Her smile was slow in coming. “What are you, a mind reader?”
“I just know you.”
“Okay, maybe you’re right.”
Adam listened as she told him about her enjoyment working with teenagers, and her mom’s suggestion that she might like to become a part-time riding instructor.
“So what’s the problem?” he asked. “Seems to me you’ve been handling your work duties and Tyler. How would teaching be any different?”
“Because Josh is going to expand his work, too,” Brooke explained. “I just don’t know if we can all pull back like this.”
“So Nate and Josh get to do what they want, but not you?”
Her gaze on him softened, and when she caressed his cheek, he turned to kiss her fingers.
“My champion,” she murmured.
“I’m being serious,” he countered.
“I know you are. I guess I just have to . . . see how it goes. But I came up with a way to test myself where kids are concerned.”
“Should I even ask?”
She grinned. “I’d like to volunteer to host an outing for the Chess Club. I could get the greenhorns on a horse, maybe lead some of the more experienced ones on a trail ride up into the mountains. But I’d need help. You up for it?”
“Wow, give a