The Bride (The Bride #1)(16)

“I think I’ll go up and watch ESPN.”

She smiled at me. “Okay.”

I got up and started to head out of the living room when she said, “Jake?”

“Yep?”

“Game of Thrones is coming back soon. You like that show, right?”

“My favorite.”

“Okay, so we can watch that together.”

She was lonely, I thought. The texting Riley aside, this was different. Being in the house with someone. Sam had been more than her father, he’d been her whole world. Except for me.

“Yeah,” I told her. “We can watch that together.”



*

Ellie

April



“Not bad,” Jake said as I showed him the numbers. We were at the kitchen table. It was Sunday night, which meant we were working financials of the ranch.

Expenses, our calf yield, the current market rates for beef, and what we needed to sell to hit our goals.

It was strange because I wasn’t the best at math in school, but for this stuff you could use a calculator and I seemed to have a head for it.

Like now I was showing Jake how we were overpaying for hay. My dad had always stuck with Mr. Johnson, but they were charging almost ten dollars more for a large bale than the McCurdys.

I had no intention of being disloyal to Mr. Johnson, but I told him if he didn’t come down on the price I was walking.

He crumpled like a tin can under extreme water pressure.

Jake could care less about that kind of stuff. Until he saw the result.

“You really called Mr. Johnson up and started haggling for hay cost,” he said smiling as I showed him what it meant in savings per year.

“Girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.”’

He looked at me then and I could see he was thinking something serious.

“You’re really getting into this. I wasn’t completely sure if you would or not.”

“Uh, hello? Like I sort of have no choice. Future here.”

He nodded. “I guess it never it occurred to me if this was the future you wanted?”

“Of course it is.”

Right? I mean I always knew ranching was my future. I suppose I wanted it. Or maybe I hadn’t really thought it out because I was supposed to be way older before I started having to do any of this stuff.

And it was a lot of stuff.

So I thought about it. Really thought about it and answered him again. “I’m a Mason. Long Valley is Mason land and has been for five generations. It’s mine to have and work for future Masons. I don’t know if it’s about wanting it so much as knowing this is my destiny. It all came way faster than I was expecting. But it doesn’t mean I can be any less responsible about it. Does that sound corny?”

He smiled, then reached over and ruffled my hair, which I hated.

“Stop!” I smacked at his hands.

He laughed and seemed to come to some conclusion about something.

“When school’s out I’ll start taking you around more. Showing you every aspect about the ranch. I want you to be as prepared as you can be.”

Yep. That’s what I needed to be. As prepared as I could be because we were counting down time now. Only twelve months and two weeks left.





Seven





Ellie

April 22





It was official. Today was going to be the best day of my life. On a scale of one to ten, a total ten.

First, it was my birthday. Jake promised to make me my favorite for breakfast. Eggs and ridiculously burnt bacon. Normally we fended for ourselves in the morning. He was always up before me anyway.

Especially during calving season, because those little suckers were always popping out.

He could be up around the clock some days. But calving season was always exciting because it meant securing the future. Which was good news, something we needed around Long Valley because we hadn’t had it in a while.

Either of us.

Janet had broken up with Jake a couple of months ago. Then she asked him to get back together. Then she broke up with him again.

It was all very intense.

As of today I think they were officially on again, but one thing was quite certain.

She hated me.

Like next-level hated me. My first official enemy in Riverbend. She would call the house line because cell service was spotty out on the ranch, and I could hear it in her voice.

Hi Ellie! How are yooooo?

So chipper. So peppy.

Translated.

I hate you, Ellie… please divorce my boyfriend soon.

One more year to go. Anyway, back to my birthday. I was seventeen. Jake was taking time to make me breakfast this morning. I wasn’t expecting a gift, but you never knew with him. Some times Jake did (remember my horse Petunia—that was a Jake gift) and sometimes he didn’t. Just a simple ‘happy birthday kiddo’ instead.

Point of fact, I hated it when called me kiddo.

I made sure he had a gift on his birthday every year he lived with us, because he was… Well, he wasn’t an orphan. We all figured his mom was alive somewhere in the world, but no one knew that for certain. What was certain was that she would never step foot inside the state of Montana again. She had hated living here. A transplant Ernie had picked up from Seattle and brought home.