Crazy Heifer (The Valentine Boys 2)

I looked at my watch and knew that I was going to be late.

Firing off a quick text to the woman that was never far from my mind, I headed for the truck.

“If y’all decide on anything else, let me know.”

With that, I headed to the barn.

***

Desi

Four hours later, I was in the Valentine kitchen surfing through Pinterest, looking for ideas for my new shop. Ideas that would help me make my cake business the best business that it could be.

Only there were a lot of opinions.

Even more, there were a lot of bad suggestions as well as good ones.

My phone went off for a second time, and I looked at the display nervously.

Candy had canceled our meeting today about fifteen minutes before she was meant to meet me. Which hadn’t bothered me at all.

What had bothered me was that instead of meeting my potential business partner, I’d had to deal with Mal.

Mal who was once again calling me and looking like he was going to keep calling me.

I ignored the call just in time for Callum to come sauntering into the kitchen.

I perked up at the sight of him.

I’d tried to go talk to him earlier, but he’d looked like he’d had his hands full, and I was unwilling to insinuate myself into a situation that I couldn’t handle.

And a birthing horse that looked like she might not make it wasn’t one of the places that I wanted to be.

Callum stopped short of the counter and looked at me with tired eyes.

He was dirty, sweaty, and looked quite a bit disgruntled.

I stood up from my chair and walked to him, wrapping him up in my arms despite the dust on his chambray shirt.

“Hey,” I said softly, going up on my tiptoes to offer him my lips.

He didn’t disappoint me, dropping his head down and placing his lips on mine.

Our kiss wasn’t heated, and I had a feeling that had a lot to do with the person at the table behind me and not Callum’s obviously shitty mood.

“Hey,” he rumbled, pulling back and removing the hat from his head.

His hair was a sweaty mess as well. Though I was starting to really love the curls that were coming out in his hair the longer he allowed it to grow.

I wasn’t sure what caused this change in him—him letting it grow—but I was happy for it. I also made sure to mention to him every time we were intimate how much I loved his hair.

“You okay?” I asked worriedly.

He wasn’t in the best of moods, that was for sure.

He sighed.

“Nearly lost Star Shine today,” he grumbled. “The foal is out and walking around, but Star Shine is still not out of the woods. I’m not sure that she’s going to make it through the night.”

I felt my stomach drop.

I’d made friends with quite a few of the mares on the ranch, and even a few of the colts.

Star Shine was definitely one of my favorites.

“Do you need to go?” I asked. “You don’t have to be here… I am a big girl. I can talk to my ex-husband alone.”

Even though I’d begun to really rely on Callum over the last couple of weeks.

One day, he came into my life, and the next, I never wanted him to leave again.

It was honestly quite humbling, finding someone that you could completely and utterly rely on for everything. I’d never had that once in my life, and it was a relief.

A relief that I hadn’t realized that I needed.

Even with Malloy, I still wasn’t sure if he was doing it for his son, or for me.

Though he loved me, I knew, I always wondered if he was doing what he was doing because on some level, he was watching out for his son.

“Nah, I’m more than ready to take some time,” he muttered. “I have a ranch hand watching over Star. Plus, when you sent me that text earlier that he’d cornered you at your new shop, I was a little pissed that I didn’t get the chance to set him straight.”

I grinned. “In person, at that.”

He snapped his fingers as if he’d missed a golden opportunity.

“He said he has some really important stuff to bring over here,” I said. “Are you sure you want him bringing it here? I don’t know what it is.”

Callum waved the worry away. “Don’t worry. I’d rather him bring it over here rather than straight over to the cabin. I would rather him not know where you live.”

I agreed. Otherwise he might try to invite himself into my house.

“I talked to Malloy today, too,” I said when the phone once again rang, indicating Mal was getting impatient.

Instead of answering it, I got up to stir the pot of beans that I’d had cooking on the stove since early this morning.