Ace High (Lost Creek Rodeo #6) - Heather B. Moore Page 0,2

back to the ranch early,” he said. “You okay here with the ladies, Bulldogger?” Bulldogger was Ryan’s nickname from their college days.

Ryan smirked, his blue eyes narrowing. “I think I can manage.”

“Great.” Lars disentangled himself from the brunette, whose brown eyes were doing that fluttery thing that always seemed cartoony to him. “Sorry, ma’am. I gotta go help with the, uh, thing that Kellie wants me to help with.”

Mallory’s pink, pouty lips curved into a smile. “Oh, I could help you.”

He took a step away, and then another step. “I wouldn’t want you to miss out on all this …” He waved a hand. “Stream watching. Most beautiful stream for miles.”

Ryan coughed into his fist, stopping his laugh.

Mallory tossed her hair and moved closer. “If you’re sure, handsome.” Then she reached up and tapped the brim of his cowboy hat.

Lars froze. No one touched his hat. No one.

“Mallory,” Ryan cut in quickly. “Did I ever tell you about where your horse Maggie got her name?”

Mallory’s attention shifted. “I don’t think so. Does it mean something important?”

“Sure does.”

Lars exhaled. Crisis averted. He strode to his horse as fast as possible without actually running. Swinging up, he was turning the horse before he could hear any part of the story he was pretty sure Ryan was making up on the spot.

Lars might laugh about this later, but it wasn’t funny now. His cowboy hat had belonged to his grandad—the man who’d raised him and his brother, Braden. Grandad Jackson was the salt of the earth, and when Lars’s parents died, he didn’t think twice about taking in two grieving boys. Grandad and Grandma were long gone now, and Braden was running their ranch in Montana. He and Lars owned it fifty-fifty. But while Lars was getting his education, Braden had made some poor decisions that led to owing more on the ranch mortgage than the land was worth.

Lars had had to use school loans to finish his degree, and then he’d co-signed on another loan for the ranch. Although theoretically, the ranch was big enough for two brothers, in reality, all of Montana wasn’t large enough for both of them.

So Lars had stuck to rodeo until he was good enough to go pro, and from there, he paid fifty percent of every purse he won toward the ranch loan, and the rest went to saving for his own property. As much as he loved his grandparents’ ranch, Lars thought of it as Braden’s now.

Lars was looking at maybe two more years of saving before he had enough money to get his own land. And he couldn’t wait. Although he’d miss the freedom of coming to Lost Creek whenever he wanted. Working his own land would take up most of his time. Of course, there was the option that Reid took when he bought acres a short drive from Lost Creek.

It was something for Lars to think about.

Keep himself closer to a certain woman.

Kellie Prosper couldn’t stay inside the ranch house one more minute. She was going stir crazy—and not because of being inside all morning holding counseling sessions with her clients. It was because of that blasted letter from her ex-husband’s attorney. A few months ago, Brad had accused her of stealing money from one of his private accounts while they were married.

She’d had no access to them—in fact, she hadn’t known about them until they had to disclose financials during their divorce proceedings. From the beginning, she knew she’d be cleared of all accusations, but it was the whole concept of continuing to deal with Brad. Their marriage was over, and it needed to stay over.

She didn’t want reminders of how she’d failed Brad. How he’d failed her. How their love had crashed and burned.

“You never took my last name, that should have been my first clue,” Brad had told her in their first meeting with the divorce lawyers.

It was true that she’d kept her last name as Prosper, but that was because her clients knew her as Kellie Prosper. Plus, Brad had said he didn’t care. As long as he had her, that was all he needed.

Oh, how things had changed.

The letter this morning had been the notice that Brad had withdrawn his complaint. Kellie was relieved, but also pissed. Brad knew it hadn’t been true, yet he’d dragged her through mud for months anyway.

Now, she had to call her parents and give them an update. They’d been suffering right along with her. Her mom picked up on the second