Page 29 of Cruz

“I hate my mom,” she said.

Her grip tightened around him, and he held her as she let the sadness consume her. She didn’t talk, and he knew there was going to be plenty of time for that. He stroked her back and just held her.

“You were in town?” she asked.

“Yeah, I was.” He kissed the top of her head, and she pulled away. “I had to pay the vet. Fucker, you want to see what he charged?”

Kate looked down at the receipt and her eyes went wide. “Okay, wow, that is a lot.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I think it is because he hates me.” He shrugged. “I’m a grumpy bastard and it seems to upset a lot of people. How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” Kate said. “I can’t believe she would do this. You know what, that is a lie. I knew she would do this.”

“What do you want to happen?” Cruz asked.

“I want her out of my life. I love her and she will always be my mom, but I can’t keep doing this. I’ve done it all my life, and I’m done. She nearly ruined me with this place.” She sighed. “I can’t let her do it anymore.” Her lip wobbled. “Does that make me a bad person?”

“No, I would have told her to fuck off sooner.”

Kate burst out laughing. “You offered her a job.”

“Only because of you.” He pushed some of her hair off her shoulder. “I only gave her a chance because of you.” He kissed her cheek. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Yeah, I trust you.”

“Then, I don’t want you to worry about any of this. You understand? Your mother is not going to hurt your business, and she’s not going to hurt you.”

She took a deep breath. “You don’t know that.” She shrugged. “It’s my mom, she is not going anywhere until she gets what she wants.”

Cruz looked at Kate and knew this had truly beaten her down today.

“Do you want to spend the day here, or do you want to come and work on the ranch with me? It’ll help take your mind off it.”

“Come work on the ranch?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I can teach you all I know.”

“I don’t know the first thing about ranching.”

He smirked. “I’m pretty good at it, or at least that is what I’ve been told.”

He saw that smile, and it stole his freaking heart.

“Thank you, and yes, I would like that.” She sighed and rested her head against his chest. “I would like that a lot.”

He held her tightly, giving her a moment to relax, and then he picked her up and helped her close the shop.

Cruz didn’t like what her mother had done, but like several times before that Kate didn’t know about, he would take care of it. He always had Kate’s back.

Chapter Ten

Kate took some time away from the shop.

She did not open for the rest of the week. She posted a sign outside, then announced that all online orders would be packaged and shipped the following week, as she took the time and worked on the ranch.

She got up at the same time as Cruz, they made love, or had hot sex in the shower, and she loved both. He’d go out with his men, tend to ranching business, and she would get started in the kitchen. The week had been divided between breakfast burritos, or full-on breakfast sandwiches. She would then go ride with Cruz tending to whatever he needed. Checking on the cattle, working the fences, there was always a job to do. He’d drop her off at eleven, where she would get lunch together.

He’d then pick her up at around twelve-thirty, she would load up the truck with the food, and they’d go out hunting for his workers, to feed them. Once that was done, she would stay with him until around four, then he’d drop her off at the house, she’d cook, and the workers would come. Some would eat, as they did give their orders for her to either cook to serve, or cook to take away. It was refreshing, and she loved it.