Wealthy and Wanted - Alexa Riley Page 0,2

was all the family he needed, and he didn’t want to be anywhere else.

I’ve thought about that as I’ve gotten older and realized maybe I’m in the same boat. I don’t remember my grandparents, and my mom took off after I was born. Women are nothing but trouble, so maybe Otis has the right idea.

I toss the old horseshoe in the bucket and step away to let the horse run. She trots over to Otis to get her treat and then out into the pasture with the other horses. I’ve been up since four this morning taking care of them, and I’m worn out. But as the cool breeze of fall creeps over the hill, I know winter is coming, and there’s lots to be done before the first snow.

“The boys in the barn got the sheep inoculated,” Otis says as he grabs his gear and we make our way to the other side of the fence.

“Good.” I toss my tools in the back of the Gator and get in the driver's seat. Otis is slow, but I’m used to it and wait for him to catch up.

“You want to check out that fencing on the east side?” he asks as he gets in beside me.

“Yeah.”

Otis said I never like to waste words on small talk, and maybe he’s right. Why say more than a man needs to? I’m not one to chatter on just for the sake of it. I’ve got work to do, and I expect it to get done.

This ranch is over two hundred acres, and I’ve got a team of workers that make the place run. I could sit back and let them do it, but that’s not who I am. This land is in my blood, and it’s the reason I wake up before the sun and I’m the first one in the barn every morning. I’ve got some cattle and sheep that make enough money to pay the staff, but after striking oil when my grandfather was a young man, we’ve never had to worry about money.

When we get to the land by the stream, there’s a mama cow and her calf playing in the water. I grab my tools and go over to the fencing where something has knocked it over. Otis is slow to join me, but I wave him off when he tries to help. The old man doesn’t need to be out here lifting lumber when we both know his strengths lie in telling me what to do.

“Make sure you do that one from behind so it’s stronger than the way it was done before,” he says, and I shake my head.

“Pretty sure you were the one that did it before.” I do as he says because we both know he’s right.

“I was young and stupid once, just like you.” He laughs at his own joke as I nail the wood into place.

After I fix the fence, we both get into the Gator, but I don’t take off right away. For a moment we sit there and watch the baby calf with its mama drinking from the creek.

“Did you call that number I gave you?” Otis asks and I nod. “When is she supposed to be here?”

I check my watch and start the Gator up. “Soon.”

“You might not like that I found someone to clean your place, but you need it. That place is a pigsty.”

I grumble as I take off back to the barn and wave to the guys leaving for the day. It’s quitting time, and I know they’ve done all the chores before knocking off. I drive the extra trail to Otis’s cabin and let him off at the front so he doesn’t have to walk.

“Just try and be nice,” he warns me, and I look away.

“I am.”

“Okay then, try and be conversational.” He stands there staring until I shrug. “Clay, look at me.”

When I finally turn to face him, he’s got that look in his eyes like he’s upset. It’s the same look he gave me after my father died. “What?”

“You might think I’m an old lonely man, but I had your father and then you as family for all these years.” He reaches out and squeezes my arm. “Just don’t make up your mind too quickly, okay?”

My eyebrows pull together in confusion, and before I can ask what the hell that means, he’s gone. I sit there for a long moment trying to understand the ramblings of that old man and decide maybe he’s losing