Lone Wolf (Wilde Brothers Ranch #6)- Scarlett Grove Page 0,3

whole new life.

They made a lot more money and made a huge difference for the land, the animals, and the environment. But the shift had also increased his workload and his responsibilities. He’d taken it in stride for the first five years, but everything was ramping up so quickly that he felt like he was going to crash.

Dylan had always been a loner. He liked to escape to a quiet place on the ranch to read a book. Unlike his brother Shane, who was a survivalist and a published author, Dylan preferred to escape into imaginary worlds, where he could go on adventures vicariously. Shane had asked him why he’d never written himself. He was perfectly content to run the warehouse and spend his spare time reading. But he hadn't had any spare time for as long as he could remember.

“We finished with the boxes, boss,” said one of the interns, a twenty-two-year-old girl from Idaho.

“I’ll come and check them,” he said.

He walked into the warehouse and looked at the boxes. They were all packed correctly. If the boxes weren’t packed correctly, the meat, cheese, and milk would arrive warm and ruined. They would have angry customers and would have to issue refunds. That was his worst nightmare. He checked the boxes meticulously then told the interns to apply the labels and take them to the delivery van.

He got onto the line with the crew, and they finished the rest of the shipments for the day. He needed to get the boxes delivered to UPS by one o’clock. And they were already cutting it close. After the last box was labeled and placed in the van, Dylan told the crew to break for lunch, and he climbed inside the van to take it into town.

The daily trip into town for deliveries was the only time he left the ranch these days. The rest of the time, he was in his office, answering emails cataloging shipments, and managing the freezers and refrigerators.

He'd been trying to teach his brothers Cash and Cal how to do his job. But neither of them were suited for organization. They had an excellent team going with their mate River and her dog Boo. They had reduced the time it took to move the cattle, sheep, and chickens down from several hours a day down to one. Taking them off the job would be inefficient. If he taught an intern, then they would just end up moving on when they were done with their education. He needed permanent help, but he'd been reluctant to talk to Austin about hiring someone.

He bumped along the gravel road into the ranch then turned onto the highway toward Fate Rock. The sun was high overhead in the autumn sky, and the fall leaves danced on the air. He always liked this time of year. It was perfect for sweaters, hot chocolate, and curling up with a good book by the fire. Not that he was going to get a chance to do that anytime soon. He sighed and grumbled as he pulled into the parking lot of the UPS store.

He’d known Tim and Rod, the two workers at the store, since high school. He climbed out when he saw them, and they began to unload the van with several dollies. Forty-five minutes later, they were finished, and he signed the paperwork and received the tracking numbers for each box.

Back in the van, he pulled out of the parking lot. His blinker was blinking in the direction of home. But then he changed it and headed into town. He would have his lunch at the Fate Rock café and do a little bit of reading.

He parked the van into the front of the 1950s-style café. He sent a quick text to his older brother to let him know he would be eating his lunch in town and might be coming back a little bit late. Somebody else would have to babysit the interns for half an hour.

He groaned and rolled his eyes, grabbing his paperback out of the glove compartment. He walked into the café, and Sally Jenkins sat him at his favorite booth by the window. She brought his usual order before he’d even needed to ask. She slid it onto the table while he read the pages of the thriller he'd been engrossed in during every spare moment he'd found from work. He sipped his soda, ate his burger, and flipped to the last page of the novel. When he