Page 17 of Branded Mine

“Thank you,” I said, still a little stunned.

He was done in about twenty minutes, and when he left, I watched the van disappear down the drive. My mind kept circling back to Ryder. Of course he’d handled it. That was just who he was.

I went back to picking up debris, but the knowledge of all Ryder had been doing and was still doing followed me. It sat with me while I dragged branches away from the house and cleared mud from the porch steps.

It stayed with me when I walked across the yard and into the barn. Everything still looked the same as it had the day I arrived. Worn, weather-beaten, and quietly holding on but I couldn’t shake the knowledge that without Ryder’s years of quiet work, this place would have fallen into ruin long ago.

I spent the rest of the morning clearing more storm debris and adding more sticks and branches to the burn pile. The physical work helped keep my mind off a certain dark andrugged cowboy, but it didn’t quiet the thoughts circling in my head. Every time I looked up, I found myself glancing toward the Kane Ranch, half expecting to see Ryder’s truck coming up the drive. It never did.

Later, a flatbed truck arrived with stacked lumber. The driver confirmed the order was for Shaw Ranch and that it had already been paid for. I almost refused it out of pure habit. Accepting help had never felt safe. With my father, every kindness came with a debt. But this wasn’t my father. This was Ryder.

I stepped aside and let the driver unload, watching the lumber stack higher, the weight of everything settling deeper in my chest. The tax receipt, the window repair, and now this. Ryder hadn’t started taking care of this place when my father died. He hadn’t started when I came home. He’d been doing it long before either of those things happened.

He had simply refused to let the ranch die.

By late afternoon, I couldn’t sit still. Every room I walked through carried pieces of him. The smooth-closing window, the faucet that no longer leaked, and the back door that locked without a fight. I had spent so long looking at this house and only seeing my father’s damage. Ryder had looked at the same place and saw something worth saving.

And now, I was slowly starting to see it the same way because I knew Ryder had been saving it for me.

The thought lodged deep and wouldn’t let go. Ryder didn’t know if I’d ever come back, but I knew he’d been fixing things silently just in case.

He’d held on when I couldn’t.

By the time the sun began sinking toward the mountains, I was done waiting. I showered, changed into clean jeans and a soft black shirt, and stood in front of the mirror for a long moment. I looked tired and uncertain because I didn’t know exactly what I was walking into.

I only knew I couldn’t spend another night staring toward the Kane Ranch unable to stop thinking about him.

Ryder.

I grabbed my keys and drove the short distance next door.

10

The Kane Ranch came into view beneath the fading light, the red-roofed barns turning dark against the orange sky.

Ryder’s truck was parked beside the house, and I saw Kash first, his head lifting and his ears perking up as I came to a stop in front of the porch steps.

I climbed from my car, and his tail started wagging hard enough to wiggle his entire body.

“Hey, handsome,” I murmured as I climbed the handful of steps to the porch and bent down to rub both hands over his head. Before I could straighten, the front door opened and Ryder stepped outside.

A black shirt stretched across his broad chest with the sleeves pushed to his forearms. His dark hair looked damp as if he had recently showered, and he was barefoot. A man’s feet shouldn’t have been as attractive as Ryder’s were, but somehow, even those did something to me.

He stared at me before his gaze moved over my face then lower before returning to my eyes. The air shifted in an instant, carrying the memory of our kiss and everything we had avoided saying afterward.

“You didn’t come over today,” I said, my cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment that I couldn’t filter my words or control myself around him.

His expression didn’t change as he crossed his arms and leaned a shoulder against the doorframe. “Figured you needed room.”

“Did I ask for room?”

“No.”

“Then why did you decide I needed it?”

His jaw flexed. “We kissed when you were hurting.”

The words struck so suddenly and hard that the air in my lungs rushed out. “You think I didn’t know what I was doing?” I could hear the incredulous tone in my voice.