Page 52 of Meant for Her

“I bet the fences are in good repair too,” Luke said.

“They are, but please don’t compare my family to you and Ryan. You were dealt a bad hand, and for that I’m sorry. You need to focus on how much you’ve accomplished in the last three years.” Luke didn’t say anything. It probably wasn’t a good subject for him. “Oh, crap.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“I left work to find you. David said he would cover for me, but that I had to check in with him.”

“Go ahead. You can just drop me off.”

Once more she made a call. She briefly explained that they’d located six of the cows, but the sheriff was making sure the paperwork was in order before releasing them. “Do you need me to come into work.”

“No. It’s been really quiet here for a change.”

That was a relief. “I appreciate you covering for me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As soon as Malia disconnected, the Lattimore ranch came into view. She turned down the rutted drive. Since she didn’t have a truck, each dip in the dirt road was quite jarring.

“We’ll have to get this road fixed,” he said.

“You will someday. My dad’s is still dirt. I doubt he’ll ever get it paved even though one of our cousins works for a construction company.”

Luke huffed out a laugh. “That makes me feel a little bit better.”

When Malia arrived at the ranch house, she decided that Luke deserved to take a break. It was almost dark anyway, so it wasn’t as if he could go for a ride.

She cut the engine and hopped out, not waiting for him to tell her to go home. Malia was their mate. As such, she had some rights—or so she wanted to believe.

Luke jumped out and stopped her. “You know it’s dangerous for you to be here.”

“If your rustlers come, I doubt they’ll be knocking on the front door.”

“I have no idea what they’ll do. They could have learned that I found half of the cattle they stole and want to make sure I don’t cause them any more problems.”

He was just making up stuff. “Unless they were at the auction, they’d never learn what happened. And yes, Chip could be in on it and have told them.”

“See? You’re in danger.”

Malia placed her hands on his shoulder. “There is one thing you need to know about me.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m stubborn. When I want something, I go after it.”

“And you want the two loser Lattimore brothers?”

She wasn’t going to rise to his bait. Before she could say anything else, the front door opened. “You guys coming in, or what?”

Malia spun around and strode toward the front porch. She was cold and could use a little Ryan Lattimore comfort. If Luke wanted to join them, all the better.

Ryan grinned when she stepped past him. When her traitorous body reacted to being near him, she spun around. “I’m sorry you had to stay back.”

“Were our cows there?”

“I’ll let your sullen brother answer that question.”

Ryan looked over at Luke and then back at her. “He being a dick again?”

“Actually, he was very polite throughout the proceedings.”