Holidays on the Ranch (Burnt Boot, Texas #1)(36)

“I started getting moody a couple of days ago. I think it’s what my sister had. Do you think I’m bipolar or something, Finn?”

“Hell no! I get the same moods. It’s got something to do with what we did and our jobs over there. Last year I went on a month-long cattle drive. It was a trial run for that new Chisholm Trail reality show on television.”

“You are part of that O’Donnell family?” She jerked her head around to stare at him. Yes, he did look like the boss on the trail drive. What was his name? It was strange sounding. “Dewar,” she muttered.

“My cousin.” Finn smiled. “By the time it was over, I figured out that I was just hunting for an escape, thinking that it would cure all my nightmares and somewhere out there was the perfect place where there was peace. Took me awhile to realize that the peace has to come from within. It’s not a place and no one else can bring it to you. You got to do that for yourself.”

“And?” she asked.

“I decided to find a ranch that felt right. I looked at dozens, but when I drove down the lane at Salt Draw, it felt right. You know the rest,” he answered. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that when you come up to that fence that separates you from the grass on the other side, you got to look around in your own pasture and realize that what you’ve got is just as good as what’s between the fence and the road or the next ranch over.”

“Then why are you still hanging on to your anger at Lala?” she asked bluntly.

He braked so hard that the truck slid several feet before it came to a halt. He turned around in the seat and stared at her for several seconds before he opened his mouth. “What makes you say that? I’m over her. It’s been more than two years, for God’s sake.”

“You trying to convince me or you, O’Donnell?” she asked.

“That’s not a fair question.”

She shrugged. “You don’t have to answer it, but you do need to face off with it and get the thing over with. I know you, and there’s a little bit of something holding you back. I think it’s Lala.”

“It’s not easy to know that I was played for a fool,” he finally whispered.

“Guess we’ve both got a lot of baggage, don’t we?” she said.

He eased his foot over to the gas pedal and started back down the curvy, twisting road toward Burnt Boot. “Yes, we do, but O’Donnell and Brewster can take out the enemy together, can’t they?”

A dozen deer stood in the pasture right across the fence. The big buck held his head proud and tall, antlers gathering snow as he watched over his harem.

“Isn’t he majestic?” She turned around so she could keep an eye on him longer.

“Not as majestic as you look in that coat,” he said.

“It’s a work coat, for God’s sake, Finn, and that’s a horrible pickup line.”

“Just stating facts. I always liked you in camo with just those pretty eyes of yours peeking out, but a rancher woman, now that’s just about the sexiest thing I’ve seen you in,” he said.

“Well, then I’ll have to save my money and buy a pair of Carhartt coveralls. I bet you’d really go wild if I got all dressed up in them. But don’t hold your breath. I still don’t like ranchin’.” She laughed.

He chuckled. “Don’t hold me responsible for what might happen if you put on a pair of coveralls. Hot damn, Callie! That would be too much for my poor old heart to take.”

“You mean you might kiss me again?”

“Oh, honey, all you’d need would be a pair of boots and I’d do more than kiss you,” he teased.

“Finn O’Donnell, you are full of bullshit. We were going to stop and get something to eat, weren’t we?”

“I figured we’d get a burger at Polly’s place in Burnt Boot. She makes the biggest, greasiest ones I’ve ever eaten. If we unload the feed first, we could sit up to the bar and eat it, drink a couple of beers, and then pick Martin up at school. And we’re past those deer. I was afraid there would be a stray fawn and you’d want to take him home and name him Bambi. The way you are about strays, you’d want to keep him in the house.”

“Yes, I would. Poor little thing. I bet Angel would just love him,” she said. “I have no doubt you would be the one bringing a stray fawn home, and you’d keep it in your room. So don’t tell me I’m guilty of hauling strays to the farm when you’re just as bad. Now drive on back to the barn, and I’ll help unload this feed. I’ve got a brand-new coat, so I won’t freeze to death. And with two of us working, we can go to Polly’s faster. That burger and beer is sounding better every minute.”

He pulled the truck right into the wide doors of the barn, got out, and tossed the bag with the two pairs of gloves in it at her. “I don’t turn down any kind of help, and if I’d known you were going to offer, I’d have bought you a stocking hat to go with the gloves. And about that deer, you’re probably right.”

“Not a cowboy hat?” she asked.

“What about a hat?”

“If you were going to buy me a stocking hat, why not a cowboy hat?”

“You have to earn it. You have to tell me that you’ve changed your mind about ranchin’ and cowboys to get a cowboy hat, darlin’.”