The Rancher's Legacy. Jessica Keller

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СКАЧАТЬ clicked open and Macy Howell appeared in the doorway. With her hand resting on the knob, she hesitated for a few seconds. Her long, black hair swayed from her abrupt stop.

      Rhett had known he would see his dad’s office assistant sooner or later, but after the last few years of carefully visiting Red Dog Ranch only when he had been assured she was busy or away from the property...it was startling to see her so soon his first day in the office.

      Macy adjusted the armful of files she clutched. Her gaze hit the floor like a dropped quarter. “I didn’t realize you were busy. Should I come back later?”

      But Macy casting down her eyes didn’t compute for Rhett. Growing up, she’d been the girl who would spit at a wildfire and dare it to come closer. She’d hauled hay bales in the field at the same pace as Rhett and his brothers had.

      When Rhett had scooped Macy into his arms after she’d been bitten by a copperhead, she had told him not to worry because the pit viper had barely kissed her. Even in that sort of pain, she’d been focused on being tough and making others feel better.

      The Macy Howell he knew didn’t hesitate, didn’t look away.

      She especially didn’t look down.

      The back of Rhett’s neck prickled in a way that made him want to scrub at it. He fought the urge to ask her what was wrong. But they’d stopped asking each other prying questions three years ago. One kiss had changed everything.

      Ruined everything.

      And he shouldn’t care.

      Didn’t care.

      He dug his fingers into his knees.

      Kodiak, Rhett’s seventy-pound Chesapeake Bay retriever, lifted her giant head and sniffed in Macy’s direction. The dog lazily looked back at Rhett as if to ask if this person was a threat.

      Oh, she was.

      With a gaze that could melt his resolve and her bright smile, Macy definitely was.

      Satisfied that Rhett hadn’t given a command, Kodiak let out a loud harrumph and laid her head back down. Her front paws stretched so the tips dipped into a spear of sunlight.

      Despite Macy seeming to act out of character, the sight of her standing there in jeans and a flannel over a blue T-shirt still hit Rhett with the force of a double-strength energy drink spiked with strong coffee. She had a pencil tucked behind her ear. She looked like...like the best friend she’d once been. Like the person he used to be able to count on.

      Like someone who hadn’t rejected him.

      Looks could be deceiving.

      Uncle Travis’s bushy gray eyebrows rose as if to ask, “Are you going to answer her, or what?”

      Rhett cleared his throat, but it felt as if he’d swallowed a mouthful of summer soil that had baked in the Texas sun for weeks on end. Gritty and dry. “What do you need?”

      “These are the files for the teens with internships starting this weekend. You should probably look them over. Know something about each one before you have to train them.” She stepped into the room holding the pile of file jackets like a peace offering. “Brock always did.”

      Brock Jarrett, also known as his father.

      Rhett’s shoulders stiffened. “There’s no one else set up to train them? Dad did it all?”

      “I don’t think Brock had made plans in case...” Uncle Travis’s voice drifted away.

      In case he died suddenly.

      In case a trip to the library became his last trip.

      In case one uninsured teenager sending a text while driving changed the Jarrett family forever.

      Macy took another step into the room. “He usually spent the first few days with them, yes. They each get assigned to a staff member, but Brock did the bulk of the mentoring.”

      Rhett shook his head. “Someone else can do it.”

      Kodiak groaned and lifted her head, alerted to trouble by his change in tone.

      Macy’s wide brown eyes searched his. “Rhett.” She whispered his name and, for a reason he didn’t want to explore, it made his gut hurt. “Please.”

      Rhett let his gaze land on the painting of longhorns instead of Macy. Meeting her pleading eyes made his resolve shaky and that was the last thing he wanted. His mom had painted the picture years ago, before her mind had begun to fail her. She’d proudly given it to Brock as a Valentine’s day gift.

      Thinking of his mom made Rhett sit a little straighter. Her well-being depended on how he ran this ranch now. The will clearly stated Rhett was to take care of her and provide stable jobs for his sister, Shannon; Cassidy, the girlfriend of his deceased brother, Wade; Wade’s daughter, Piper; and his brother, Boone, and his family. With Boone off at seminary with his wife and daughter, at least that responsibility was off Rhett’s list. But the others stood.

      However, so did the will’s ironclad wording about the ranch continuing to serve foster kids. If Rhett put a stop to the foster programs at Red Dog Ranch, the will stated he would have to forfeit his inheritance. It was continue his dad’s work or get none of it.

      “Leave them on the table.” Rhett jerked his chin toward a small side table near the office door.

      Macy did, but she stayed in the doorway. “We need to talk about the spring kickoff event and the Easter egg hunt.”

      “Put those thoughts on hold. I’m looking into cancelling programs,” Rhett said as he turned back to his uncle. “Which means you and I need to keep talking.”

      Macy’s eyes narrowed for a second. She was biting her tongue. Years of knowing her made that clear, but she backed out of the room and closed the door.

      As Rhett waited for his uncle to say something, he rubbed his thumb back and forth over an etching near the bottom right edge of the desktop. His dad had made him muck stalls alone for two weeks straight after Rhett had carved the indentation. At all of seven or eight years old, it had been quite a chore.

      Uncle Travis offered a tight smile. “She’s the perfect one to work with to help you meet the terms of the will. You see that, don’t you?”

      Rhett pinched the bridge of his nose.

      Of course he saw that.

      It was half the problem.

      Macy had always put the foster programs before everything else, just like Brock had. Before the moneymaking aspects of the ranch, before family, before friendships. She had a passion and knowledge Rhett lacked, but working alongside her would be difficult; between losing his dad, dealing with family drama and being forced to put his business on hold to deal with Red Dog Ranch, Rhett was already past his ears in difficult. He needed to start making hard decisions and taking action to mitigate losses and stress.

      Keeping a wide berth from Macy was one significant way to limit stress.

      “As executor, don’t you have СКАЧАТЬ