Ryder should have stayed home. He’d asked Chelsea for an innocent line dance and ended up holding her while they two-stepped around the barn. Now the entire length of her body pressed against his as the band played Brett Young’s “In Case You Didn’t Know.” He wanted to push her away and pull her closer at the same time. Sentiment had always escaped him...until tonight. He finally understood what people meant when they said they never wanted to let someone go. He could stay in this moment forever and never tire of it. Unfortunately, the band didn’t feel the same way. The song ended, and Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart” began.
“Dance with me.” Peyton squeezed in between them, stomping her feet to the beat.
“Sign when you speak, sweetheart,” Chelsea gently corrected.
“Momma, please stop.” Peyton’s smile fell from her pretty cherub face. “Let me be me for one night.”
“Honey, you need to learn.”
Peyton folded her arms across her chest. “I am learning. But I need a break.”
Chelsea lifted a brow at Ryder. Lines of frustration etched across her forehead. “Am I being unreasonable?” she asked without signing.
That was a loaded question if he’d ever heard one. He wanted to comfort Chelsea, but he sympathized with Peyton too. “I think she just wants you to dance with her.” He signed as he spoke, so Peyton wouldn’t think they were hiding anything from her.
“I want to dance with you, too.” The little girl reached for both of their hands, ending any further conversation. Peyton looked up at him with eyes the same blue as her mother’s. Eyes that touched a man’s soul and made him vow to love and protect them forever. Although that was purely speculative on his part, because he had no intention of ever marrying again. Well, maybe not never. Just not while he was on parole. He needed at least the next three years to get his life together. Until then, he had nothing to offer anyone.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t have fun tonight. He reached for Chelsea’s hand and gave it a squeeze he hoped reassured her she was doing an amazing parenting job. The three of them danced together through four songs and Peyton’s ability to detect the changing beat blew his mind. Since Missy had been born deaf, she’d never known what music sounded like. Peyton had, and when certain songs played, she recognized them well enough to sing along.
“You have a remarkable daughter,” he said after Peyton ran off with one of her friends. Another slow song began, and Ryder tugged her to him without asking. “I see a lot of you in her.”
“Thank you.”
Chelsea’s dark lashes shadowed her cheeks as she lowered her head. He fought the urge to lift her chin to him, knowing he’d be unable to refrain from kissing her. Because what man wouldn’t want to kiss a woman like Chelsea Logan? Intelligent, beautiful, successful. And a strong single mother on top of it.
“Is Peyton’s father around?” For all Ryder knew, the man could live across town.
“Oh, no.” She shook her head violently. “He left the minute he found out I was pregnant. I had to hire a private investigator to track him down, so I could get him to relinquish his rights to Peyton. Let’s just say he was a lesson learned.”
“You’re doing a wonderful job raising her on your own.”
“Are you sure?” She met his gaze. “I think you thought I was being too hard on Peyton earlier.”
“Not at all. You want what’s best for your daughter and there’s nothing wrong with that.” Ryder silently cursed himself for saying a word because now her mouth was dangerously close to his. He was in the exact tempestuous position he’d feared only moments ago. Her lips, full and lush, had taunted and teased him in his dreams. Whatever stirred deep within him went way beyond a passionate night in bed. He wanted all of Chelsea Logan, but she was off-limits. At least until he straightened out his life. And even though he’d already asked her out, a part of him wished he hadn’t. He wanted her company—in more than one way—but a date or two couldn’t turn into a relationship. He had nothing to offer her and until he did, they’d both have to settle for this, and only this. Ryder groaned.
“Are you all right?”
“What?” Had he groaned out loud? Crap! “I was just thinking of something I forgot to do today.” Like keep you at arm’s length. He needed to get his mind off her body before she became physically aware of his thoughts. “What does Peyton want to be when she grows up?”
“An equine veterinarian. She has ever since she could say horsey. Even after she lost her hearing, that dream still burns inside her.”
“Good for her. I’m glad she doesn’t see her deafness as an obstacle.” Maybe Ryder needed to take a lesson or two from the pint-size Logan. Especially after Nate accused him of using his incarceration as an excuse not to live his life. He may have had Chelsea wrapped up in his arms for the past hour, but he hadn’t been oblivious to the stares and whispers that followed them around the dance floor. People could talk about him all they wanted. He’d survive. Chelsea and Peyton’s reputations worried him more. Every fiber of his being told him not to let her go, but he had to. Releasing her, he stepped back and nodded toward the bar. “I could use a drink. Can I get you something?”
“Just another Coke, thank you.”
Ryder sensed a twinge of disappointment in her voice. But it didn’t hold a candle to the ache he already felt in his heart. He should have stayed home instead of leading her on and torturing himself. “I’ll meet you at the table.”
By the time he reached the bar, his desire had turned to anger. How could he have left her in the middle of the dance floor...alone? He could have at least walked her to the table. Either prison had stripped him of his social graces or he’d become an idiot during his incarceration. Who was he kidding? Chelsea was way too good for him.
“This is a surprise,” a man said from behind him.
Ryder turned to see his brother Wes, and his fiancée, Jade, standing there. “I hope it’s not a bad one.”
Jade stared up at Wes, waiting for him to respond. When he said nothing, she broke the silence between them and gave Ryder a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“You, too.” The last time he’d seen Jade, she’d still been in high school. “I heard I have triplet nieces. I’d love to meet them.” Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Wes’s fists clench and unclench repeatedly. “Or maybe it’s too soon.”
“I think it’s a great idea.” Jade entwined her fingers with Wes’s. “Don’t you, honey?”
“No.” Wes released her hand and stepped in front of her, blocking her from Ryder’s view. “I don’t want you anywhere near my children.”
“Come on, Wes. We need to talk. Not here, but sometime soon.” Wes more than any of his brothers had understood the hell of living under the same roof as their parents. The constant war that had brewed between them had been the reason his brother had competed in any and every rodeo he’d qualified in. Frank and Bernadine’s dysfunction had taught Ryder how not to behave in a marriage.
“Why did you come back to Saddle Ridge?” Wes asked.
“Because I wanted to be near my family.” The silence surrounding them screamed louder than a freight train. When had the music stopped? Ryder looked from face to disapproving face of the former friends and neighbors he’d grown up with. He’d known they’d need time to adjust to his being home, but he hadn’t expected the mob mentality as they gathered behind his brother.
He could hear Tori swear as she pushed her way through the crowd. “What the hell is wrong with you people?” She scolded them before stopping in front of Wes. A foot shorter than his brother, she could drop any man to his knees with her death glare. “How dare you start this in public.” She jabbed the front of Wes’s shirt. “And how dare you show your face tonight if you had a problem with Ryder showing up, too.”
“Me?” Wes puffed his chest. “I have every right to be here.”
“So does your brother.” She took a step closer. “He served his time for the accidental death of your father. Do you hear me, Wes? Ac-ci-dent-al.”
“Okay.” Ryder squeezed between them. “That’s enough, Tori. I don’t need you standing up for me. Wes can feel however he wants to feel ab—”
Ryder never saw the punch coming. Just shy of the sweet spot, his brother knocked him to the ground with one solid blow.
“Oh, my God!” Jade shouted. “Wes, what did you do?”
“It’s all right.” Ryder picked up his hat and rose to his feet. “He’s wanted to do that for a long time. It doesn’t make me love him any less.” Despite Wes’s own issues with their father, the man had still been their father, and his death had eliminated any chance of them ever reconciling their differences.
“Let’s go.” Jade yanked Wes’s arm until he relented and followed her out of the barn.
“Give me a shot of whiskey.” Nate smacked the bar top behind him.
“You’re bleeding.” Tori handed Ryder a wad of napkins. “He had no right to do that.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not surprised.”
“Hopefully he got it out of his system now.” Nate handed him the shot. “Here, this is for you. You look like you could use it.”
“Thanks, man.” Ryder closed his eyes as he tossed back the amber liquid. The smooth smoky sweetness burned as it slid down his throat, briefly taking away the pain along his jaw. The band began to play as the crowd faded into the background once again. He set the glass on the bar and turned around to see Chelsea standing at the edge of the dance floor with Peyton, watching him.
Yep. He should’ve stayed home tonight.
Chelsea hated Mondays, especially when she still had Saturday night on the brain. It wasn’t so much what had happened between Wes and Ryder, although it had frightened her when everyone at the dance stood behind the younger Slade. Or that her daughter had witnessed the spectacle and asked a million questions when they got home. None of which she could answer. It had been Tori and Nate’s reactions. Tori had defended Ryder as if her life depended on it, and Nate had not only let her, he’d bought Ryder a drink afterward. She couldn’t put her finger on why that had bothered her, but the situation felt off somehow. Especially after her conversation with Tori earlier that night.
Her office phone beeped, jarring her to the present. The screen displayed Stephen Jacobs’s name, the senior partner who had warned her about Ryder the other day.
Chelsea pressed the intercom button. “Yes, Mr. Jacobs.”
“Will you come to my office, please?”
She checked her watch. “I’m meeting with clients in a few minutes. Is it possible to wait until after they leave?”
“No, it’s not.”
Chelsea closed her eyes and sighed. “I’ll be right there.”
The walk between her office and Stephen’s reminded her of a scene from a bad horror movie. The one where the buxom blonde walks down a long corridor and opens the closed door at the end, but the audience knows she’s about to meet a violent death.
She gripped the knob, glancing over her shoulder one last time before turning it. And sure enough, half the firm had poked their heads out their doors to watch.
“Wonderful.” She drew her shoulders back and pushed open the door. “Mr. Jacobs, you wanted to see me.”
“Have a seat, Chelsea.” He motioned to the leather chair across from his desk without even the courtesy of meeting her gaze.
She closed the door behind her and checked her watch again. Two minutes until her nine o’clock appointment arrived if they weren’t in the lobby already. She’d never been one of those attorneys who made their clients wait. Tardiness and rude were synonymous in her book.
“The other day I spoke with you about Ryder Slade and how your relationship with him had been brought to my attention.” Stephen leaned back in his chair and deadpan stared at her. “At that time, you told me there wasn’t a relationship. This morning I was not only told otherwise, I saw a video of you and Mr. Slade dancing rather intimately Saturday night.”
Chelsea’s blood simmered beneath the surface of her skin as she fought to keep her annoyance under control. “With all due respect, who I date or don’t date is none of this firm’s business, and therefore, none of yours.”
Stephen’s head tilted ever so slightly at her rebuke but he remained expressionless. “No, but the contract you signed has a morals clause. As an employee, you are held to certain behavioral standards so as not to bring this firm into disrepute.”
He can’t be serious. “And I have adhered to those standards. Dancing with Ryder Slade in no way disgraces this firm.”
“What about the incident that occurred?”
“The one where his brother approached and punched him with no provocation whatsoever? That incident?” Chelsea slid forward in her chair, perched on the edge and doing her damnedest not to storm out of his office. “Ryder Slade is on parole and free to go anywhere he wishes in this town. There are no restraining orders preventing him from doing so. The man accidentally killed his father, pled guilty, served his time and now he’s out. Again, my friendship with Ryder is irrelevant.”
“Let me ask you something, Chelsea.” Stephen clasped his hands in front of him on his desk. “Say you’re in the middle of a custody case and you’re representing the father. What would you do to the mother on the stand if she was dating a parolee who had been convicted of killing his father?”
A bead of perspiration trickled down her spine. Stephen had purposely raised the heat in his office and had probably pocketed ice packs under his jacket. As a criminal attorney, he’d been known to use the tactic while deposing the other side.
“I would try to discredit her on the stand...”
“Exactly.” He grinned in satisfaction.
“You didn’t let me finish. I would try to discredit her on the stand if adequate proof existed that the man in question was a threat to her or her child. The sole fact he’s an ex-convict won’t hold up in court. Any judge will toss that argument.”
“Any sworn judge. Our clients are their own judges and juries when it comes to these matters. You don’t have to worry about your nine o’clock meeting.” He reclined against the back of his chair. “They contacted me personally over the weekend. The Williamsons no longer feel comfortable with you as their attorney, or with us as their firm.”
“They walked?” Chelsea’s pulse drummed in her neck.
“They ran.”
She didn’t know what to say. What could she say? She refused to defend her actions any further. She didn’t regret dancing with Ryder and she refused to allow anyone to condemn her for it. But in the same breath, she needed her job. She needed clients to trust her enough to believe in her abilities to represent them.
“Do you have anything to add?”
She lifted her chin, determined not to show fear. “Are you firing me?”
“No, you are too valuable of an asset to this firm.” Stephen rose and came around to the front of his desk to stand before her. “But this can’t happen again.”
Chelsea stood, refusing to allow him to tower over her. In heels, she was almost an inch taller than him. “Are you referring to Ryder or losing clients?”
She hid a smile of satisfaction as she watched his Adam’s apple bob when she used his own tactic against him.
“Well.” He strode to the door, increasing the distance between them. “I would like to say both, but we know I can’t do that. My recommendation is to either keep your distance from Ryder Slade or improve his image.”
She hated to agree with Stephen after his little power play, but maybe he was onto something. Ryder wanted nothing more than to make amends with his family. If they saw him in a different light, they might forgive him or at least begin to, and the rest of the town would follow suit.
“You may have just given me an idea. But I’ll need your help.”
Stephen’s hand slid from the doorknob he was about to turn. She’d never seen him defeated or wary before. At least not of her. “With what?”
“I remember a client—this was shortly after I started working here—who ran an at-risk youth program on a ranch nearby.”
“The Bloodworth Ranch in Whitefish. The owner’s name is—let me think—Drew... Drew Kent. I represented a parolee that ended up working there. Is that what you want? For me to get Ryder a job there?”
“Yes and no. Ryder already has a job and they desperately need him. But, volunteering at an at-risk youth program would help rebuild his character.”
“It might.” Stephen rubbed his chin. “I must admit, I honestly figured you would’ve taken the easy way out and walked away from Ryder. Either there’s something serious brewing between you two or you really believe in him.”
“I believe in him.” She didn’t know why. In the back of her mind, it had something to do with Nate and Tori’s reactions Saturday night. The three of them were hiding something, and she suspected the truth was more to Ryder’s benefit, not his detriment.
Stephen returned to his desk and jotted down a note. “I’ll give Drew a call and see what he says. I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you.” A powerful relief filled her as she strode to the door and opened it. Her idea had potential especially if Stephen advocated for it alongside her. Somehow, she’d convince Saddle Ridge to give Ryder a second chance.
The Williamsons had done Chelsea a favor. She had planned to spend part of the afternoon drafting their wills, but since they were no longer her clients, she used that time to visit the Bloodworth Ranch. Despite Stephen’s earlier antics, he remained true to his word and got in touch with Drew that morning. Since Ryder would be a volunteer, he had no qualms about his working there a few hours a week. That was if she convinced Tori to let him have the time off...with pay as part of a community project. She wasn’t sure which would be harder...convincing Tori to spare Ryder for a few hours and take the tax write-off or talking Ryder into taking the job.
She pulled into Free Rein’s parking area after picking up Peyton from school. That alone had been a rare luxury. She’d run into Tori while she waited for classes to let out and asked if she had time to chat today. Tori cautiously agreed, and Chelsea wondered if she thought she’d attack her again about Ryder. She hoped her generosity mirrored her relief when she heard why she was there.
“Mommy, look!” Peyton shouted much louder than she had probably intended, unaware of the intensity of her voice. After three years, it still caught Chelsea by surprise.
She followed her daughter’s gaze to Ryder, who stood in the center of a round pen lunging a stunning black mustang. The majestic animal trotted in a circle around him as he held the lunge line in his left hand and a whip in the other. Peyton gasped when she saw him tap the horse’s rump with the whip. “It’s okay, sweetheart.” Chelsea signed. “Ryder’s not hurting him. He’s correcting the horse’s mistakes.”
“But he looks perfect already.”
From a distance he did, but she wasn’t a horse trainer. “You know how Mommy used to sit behind you and guide your hand as you learned how to write your letters? Ryder’s doing the same thing. He’s guiding the horse.”
Satisfied with her explanation, Peyton dragged her inside Tori’s house, without so much as a knock. She beelined to the kitchen and climbed up on the stool at the breakfast bar where Tori had already set out a plate of peanut-butter-covered sliced apples. Chelsea set her handbag on the polished granite and watched her daughter happily tell Missy about a boy she had a crush on. Tori joined in, reminding them both they were too young for boys.
For the briefest of moments, Chelsea felt like an outsider in her daughter’s life. She imagined this had been Peyton’s daily routine before she took it away. There wasn’t anything wrong with her having a daily routine with Missy and Tori, she just hadn’t been aware there was a routine outside of the one they shared.
“I hope you coming here today means you’ll allow me to pick her up from school again.”
Peyton watched her intently, waiting for her response.
“If you’re okay with it, I am too,” Chelsea signed.
“Thank you, Mommy!” Peyton hugged her with one arm while she munched on her apple slice with the other.
“She’s welcome here anytime.” Tori ruffled her hair. “I’m glad you changed your mind. After the other night, I wasn’t sure.”
Chelsea nodded toward the great room, and Tori took the hint. She wanted to discuss Ryder and the Bloodworth Ranch without prying eyes.
“Is Nate around?”
“He’s on his way to Nevada to retrieve his trailer and pay off the transport fees on the mustangs he rescued.”
“Is that one of them with Ryder?”
“Oh, no. They won’t come near humans for a good while. We need to earn their trust after the way they’ve been treated.” Tori tilted the thick wooden slats of the blinds overlooking the round pen. “That’s Cactus. I named him that because he was a prickly thing when he first arrived. He’s been here for two years and has the most potential.”
“Will you put him up for adoption?”
“No.” She returned her attention to Chelsea. “Don’t tell Ryder, but that’s his horse. It doesn’t make up for his mother selling Dante after his arrest, but Cactus took an instant liking to him when he arrived. They seem to understand each other.”
Chelsea continued to watch Ryder through the window as she envisioned his muscles flexing beneath his tan flannel shirt. “Any idea who bought Dante?”
“I know exactly who bought him, but he’s been unwilling to sell him back to me or Harlan. He’s a good horse, and he doesn’t feel Ryder deserves him. Harlan continues to try though.”
“At least he doesn’t feel the same way about Ryder that Wes does.”
“If you had told me Wes would have reacted that way, I’d have said you were crazy. I’d like to believe Dylan and Garrett are better behaved than that, but now I’m not so sure. Ryder doesn’t deserve the pariah treatment.”
“That brings me to why I’m here. I think I have a way to begin changing people’s minds about him. I hope you’ll hear me out before you disagree.”
Chelsea outlined the at-risk youth program and where Drew saw Ryder fitting in. “I don’t want this to be a hardship for you, which is why I brought it to you first. If you can’t afford to pay him, even with the tax write-off, I’ll cover his salary for whatever hours he’s not here. As long as you don’t tell Ryder.”
Tori shook her head. “Lying or hiding something from Ryder is never an option. He values honesty above all else. The truth always comes out and that might end any relationship you have with him, to say nothing of what it would do to my relationship with him.”
Chelsea hadn’t looked at it that way. “Fair enough.”
“I like the idea of the program and I think he would do well working with at-risk children, but I doubt he’ll do it.”
“Why? This is a terrific opportunity for him.”
“It is,” Tori agreed. “But he’s honor bound to Free Rein.”
The nagging feeling that had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach reared its ugly head. “To Free Rein or to you?”
Tori’s nostrils flared. “I am Free Rein.”
Chelsea sat down at the chess table near the window to collect herself. Tori wasn’t the enemy. There was no reason to give her the third degree. She lifted a translucent white pawn, rolling the cool onyx between her fingertips before setting it down two spaces forward. “You’ve told me how much you want him to succeed, so why don’t you want him to volunteer at the Bloodworth Ranch?”
“I can’t afford to let him work elsewhere and still pay him. A tax write-off only does me good at tax time.” Tori joined her at the table, moving a black pawn of her own. “I need every dollar now for those animals. Your offer to cover his salary is generous, but he would never forgive either one of us, so I’d have to take the financial hit.”
Chelsea moved her knight to a free space. “Not if I make a monthly donation to the sanctuary.”
“I’m just going to come right out and ask.” Tori moved her own knight. “If you’re financially capable of doing that, why haven’t you done so already? You’re supposed to be my friend. You’ve been here every weekday to pick up your daughter for what...the last eight or nine months? You’ve seen how hard Nate and I struggle to keep the sanctuary running, but you’ve never volunteered your time or offered to sponsor one of our animals. Yet you have no problem volunteering when my brother asks or donating money for Ryder’s sake. I’m sorry, but your offer comes across a little disingenuous to me.”
Chelsea slid another pawn two spaces, and Tori immediately countered with her other knight. “You’re a hundred percent right. I said the same things to myself the other day. I’ve been so laser-focused on my job and Peyton, I didn’t see what you were going through.” She toyed with the bishop before settling him next to her pawn. “That’s why I volunteered. And that’s why I told Judd I was embarrassed for not offering sooner. The same goes for the money. Regardless of whether or not Ryder volunteers at the Bloodworth Ranch, I will make a monthly donation to Free Rein starting today.”
“Thank you.” Tori moved her bishop next to Chelsea’s. “Check.”
“Crap, I didn’t see that coming.” She bumped her queen over two spaces.
“I can’t risk losing Ryder to the Bloodworth Ranch.” Tori claimed her pawn with a knight. “He runs a solid program. Ryder would make more money over there although he doesn’t offer the parolees a place to live.”
Chelsea nudged a pawn forward, poised to claim Tori’s bishop. “Drew doesn’t have room for another full-time parolee. I thought maybe you’d know that considering you were the one who told Ryder Free Rein was the only job available. I realize Whitefish isn’t Saddle Ridge, but the 45-minute drive is nothing.”
“Ryder wanted to be near his family.” Sacrificing the bishop, Tori moved the pawn protecting her queen forward two.
“He still could have been.” Chelsea removed the bishop from the table, which in turn caused Tori to claim hers. “Double crap!” She moved her queen back to its original position. “I know rents are higher in Whitefish, but he could have worked there and lived in your bunkhouse until he could afford to move.”
“Why are we discussing this?” Tori’s knight retreated. “You just said Drew doesn’t have room for another full-time employee.”
“No, but you knew about his parolee program and he would have hired him if there had been an opening.” She slid her remaining bishop across the table.
“I needed him here.” She nudged her queen one space. “He’s the only one who would work for what I’m paying.”
“The other day you said you felt guilty...is that why?” Chelsea jumped her knight. “You told me no one else would hire him. But how hard did you look?”
Tori shifted in her chair and pushed her queen forward, knocking one of Chelsea’s pawns over. “I didn’t look outside Saddle Ridge. Never said otherwise.”
True, she hadn’t, but for someone who’d said she’d felt incredibly guilty she couldn’t pay him more, it baffled Chelsea that Tori hadn’t expanded her search area or at the very least contacted the Bloodworth Ranch. “Was it because you needed him here or because you wanted him here?” Chelsea claimed one queen with the other.
Tori blew out a long slow breath and studied the board. “Because he belongs here.” Tori leaned forward and picked up her black horse. “Your inquisition is starting to tick me off, so I’ll only explain this once.” She struck Chelsea’s queen and claimed the space.
“I’m not trying to imply that you and Ryder are together.” Chelsea advanced her knight.
Tori’s left eye twitched, setting her king on the run. “No, but I’m getting a definite vibe that you believe there’s something going on here.”
I’d bet money on it. Chelsea bumped her own king forward one. “Is there? Whatever it is, you can trust me. Heck, pay me a dollar and then you’ll have attorney-client privilege.”
“There’s nothing to hide.” Tori’s black knight slid in front of her king.
Chelsea hadn’t said there had been. “No?” She eliminated one onyx horse with another.
As if realizing what she’d said, Tori quickly continued. “Having Ryder work here means I can send him into town during the day and people will have a chance to interact with him. Maybe they’ll even remember the person he was before this happened.” Tori took out Chelsea’s knight with the pawn she had planned to capture next. “I had hoped he’d run into his brothers and those chance meetings would help bridge the distance between them. After Saturday night I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
Chelsea positioned her rook, ready to end the game. “That fight made it all the way to one of the senior partners.”
“What happened?” Tori blocked her with a pawn.
“Just a good dressing-down. He warned me about Ryder last week and again today.”
Tori’s eyes widened. “They can’t tell you who you can date.”
“No, but I was warned that any relationship with him would have consequences, starting with the clients I lost because they saw me dancing with Ryder.” Chelsea overtook the pawn.
“I’m sorry.” Tori sent another one forward. “I never imagined this would trickle down to you.”
“I see bad things happen to good people all the time in the courtroom.” Chelsea moved her rook forward another two squares. “Check. You’d think I’d be used to it. I may not know Ryder that well, but I can see something inherently good inside him. That’s why I’d like to see him volunteer at the Bloodworth Ranch. Working for you is a great start, but that doesn’t carry as much weight as him volunteering at a place he has absolutely zero connection to.”
“Okay, but is there any way you can arrange for him to volunteer on the weekends and not during the week? At least then I have people here to help cover his absence.” Tori moved her pawn, leaving her king wide open.
“I’ll talk to Drew, but I think that’s what he had in mind.” Chelsea smiled, loving the taste of victory. “You just hung your king.”
“What?” Tori stared at the table. “Did you call check?”
“Sure did.” She nudged the black king off the board with her rook. “Your mind was clearly elsewhere.”
“I guess so.” Tori tugged the cord of the blinds and raised them, giving them a better view of Ryder. He had removed the lunge line from Cactus and stood in the center of the pen as the horse cautiously approached. He didn’t reach for him or call his name. Instead, he remained quiet and still, allowing Cactus to decide if he wanted more from Ryder and not the other way around.
“Trust me when I say, you’ll never find a better man.”
Chelsea believed Tori, despite the nagging voice telling her there was more to his story. She trusted Ryder. If she’d been her own client, she’d warn herself the same way Stephen had. “Then help me convince him to volunteer at the Bloodworth Ranch.”
“Okay.” Tori wrung her hands. “You first. I need to check on our new horses. I’ll take the girls in the truck. Let me know what he says.”
“Before you go—” Chelsea ran into the kitchen and retrieved her bag from the breakfast bar. “Let me give you this first.” She removed her checkbook and wrote out two amounts. “This one is my first monthly donation to the sanctuary.” She handed the check to Tori.
“You just made a donation the other night.”
“That was a special circumstance. This is what I promise to donate every month.”
“Thank you.” Tori folded the check in half and tucked it in her pocket as Chelsea finished writing out the second one.
“And this one is for babysitting Peyton every day.”
“No, no, no.” Tori walked away from her. “Absolutely not. Our kids are best friends. I refuse to make money off that. We discussed this the last time you offered to pay me.”
“I don’t care.” Chelsea thrust the check at her. “Friendship aside, you’re providing a service and deserve to get paid. I should have insisted months ago. You either take it or I’ll find some other way to give you the money and you won’t realize it came from me.”
“Fine.” Tori snatched it from her hands.
“Fine.” Chelsea capped her pen and tossed it in her bag. “Friends?”
“Always.” They both laughed. “Now go get your man. He’s been sulking since Saturday night. I think he misses you.”
“Yeah?” Chelsea slung her bag over her shoulder. “Then he should have returned my call yesterday.”
“Uh-oh.” Tori giggled. “You know how men are...stubborn as those donkeys out there, which you’re now the proud sponsor of.”
“I am?”
“I’ve been looking for a monthly sponsor for Jam Jam and Marmalade.” Tori pointed to the pasture next to the round pen. “They’re the smaller mother and daughter donkeys that are always together. I can’t think of a better sponsor for them than you and Peyton.”
“Jam Jam and Marmalade. I love that. They’re perfect.” She gave her friend a hug. “Thank you. Let’s go tell Peyton.”
“Nope.” Tori spun her around and steered her to the back door of the great room. “You can tell her later.” She swung the door wide and gave her a little shove through it. “Go get your man.”
“He’s not my man.” Chelsea tried to grip the door frame, but Tori pried her fingers loose. “I’m doing this to help rebuild his reputation.”
“No, you’re doing this so it will be socially acceptable for you to date him. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Now go.”
Tori was wrong. Half wrong, anyway. She really did want to see Ryder happy and accepted by his family along with the rest of Saddle Ridge. She also wanted to be the one standing next to him when it happened.
So what if it hadn’t even been a week and she’d already put her reputation on the line for the cowboy? Her father always told her she had to “risk it to get the biscuit.” She just prayed Ryder wasn’t more of a gamble than she could handle.