now that the crisis had been averted, she was far too aware of Reuben beside her, petting his horse, rewarding it, looking as if he hadn’t just faced down fifty cow and calf pairs racing for the back of the beyond.
“So what’s next?” he asked, shoving his cowboy hat back up his head with the knuckle of his forefinger, giving her a quizzical look.
She fought down a whirl of confusion, letting her old anger with him surface. How could he act so casual? As if they hadn’t shared so much? Been through so much?
“What are you doing here?” she blurted out.
He looked taken aback, but then his features hardened, reflecting her own churning emotions.
“I came to say goodbye.”
“You’re leaving?” She shouldn’t be surprised. It was what he did best. “What about the arena?”
“I told Cord he needed to find someone else to do the assessment.” His horse did a turn away, restless now, but Reuben got it turned to face the cows. In the process he ended up even closer to Leanne and her horse.
“Why are you here?” George called out, joining them.
“So nice to be made welcome,” Reuben muttered, his jaw clenched. He turned to his father. “Like I was saying to Leanne, I just stopped in to say goodbye and came into the middle of this mess.”
“Sure. Yeah.” George turned away from him and back to Leanne. “Chad is still here. Guess we should get going.” He walked away from them, heading back to the head gate.
Leanne nodded, trying hard not to look at her watch. She had told Shauntelle to drop Austin off at suppertime. If it were only her and Chad and George, sorting these cows would take longer.
“You can’t do this alone.”
Reuben’s tone rubbed her completely wrong. So full of authority. But his words were, unfortunately, correct.
“Done it before,” she snapped. “Can do it again.”
“Not without Devin.”
She didn’t need to be reminded of that particular betrayal. Though she didn’t blame the kid, it was still lousy timing on Devin’s part that he quit right now. This was only the first batch of cows they needed to work through. In the coming week they needed to get the rest of the cows down off the upper pastures, process and wean them. On top of that, she had committed to taking minutes at a meeting of the Rodeo Group. She had too much to do and not enough help to do it now that Devin was gone.
But she wasn’t going to admit that to Reuben.
She turned to him, fighting a confusing mix of anger and loss as she held his dark brown eyes. Eyes she had once found herself lost in.
Focus. He’s not the man you thought he was.
“So I guess this is goodbye,” she said, turning away from him, determined not to let him see how he affected her. “I need to get to work.”
“Not on your own.”
“What do you propose I do? Run to the hired-hand store?” She couldn’t keep the snappy tone out of her voice.
She’d heard nothing for the past three years from this man. A man she had given her heart to and so much more.
And now he swoops back into her life and tells her what she should and shouldn’t do on a ranch he walked away from? A ranch he never showed any interest in?
“I could help out until you’re done,” he said.
All she could do was stare at him. Reuben? Working alongside her on the ranch?
She shook her head. “No. That’s not happening. We’ll manage on our own.”
“You won’t and you know it,” he returned. It wasn’t too hard to hear the annoyance in his voice.
Well, she didn’t care. He had no right to be frustrated with her.
Leanne closed her eyes, trying to bring her focus back to what needed to be done and how she could swing it.
She couldn’t have him around. She didn’t want to live in the past with its pain and resentment. She wanted to move on.
Then she heard the jangle of his horse’s bit and when she opened her eyes again he was already moving his horse into the herd, calling out to George.
“How many do you want at a time?”
“Send me ten pairs,” George was saying. “But don’t get too fussed if cows and calves get separated.”
A chill shot through her as she heard George give Reuben directions.
“I don’t think we need his help,” she called out to George, anger blending with fear.
“Too late,” Reuben tossed over his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere until this job is done.”
“Send them through now, Reuben. Keep them moving.”
Reuben ignored his father’s barked commands and pushed the last of the cows into the pen keeping his horse right behind the last cow. He nodded for Chad to shut the gate. The poor guy looked exhausted, but then so did Leanne. She was slouched in her saddle now, wiping her face with a hanky. She had lost her hat in the race to get ahead of the cows. Her hair hung in a lank ponytail down her back, loose strands sticking to her flushed face.
“Chad, come over here and help me get these cows done,” his father called out.
Reuben leaned on his saddle, watching poor Chad clambering over the fence and joining his father on the walkway to help finish needling the cows. Beyond them, in the second, much-larger pen, the cows and calves were finally settled, munching on the hay. Once the rest of the cows were through, the work was done for the day.
He arched his back, working out a kink, then slowly dismounted. He was going to feel every single muscle in his hips and legs tomorrow. He hadn’t ridden in years and yet was surprised how quickly the old skills came back.
Leanne got off her horse, as well. She slipped the reins over the horse’s head then walked her horse toward him.
Her expression was guarded as she trudged through the pen. Once again he struggled with her angry reaction to his presence. Where did that come from and what right did she have to be upset with him? She was the one who had betrayed him. Marrying his brother while he was giving her the space she said she needed.
“This is just the first bunch?” he asked as she joined him, her horse heaving a heavy sigh as if the day had been too long for him, as well.
“Yeah. We’ve got eighty more head up in the higher pastures.”
“Shouldn’t this have been done a month ago?” he asked,
