New possibilities started rolling around inside her mind, and she was feeling more and more sure that it would work out without a hitch. She would regret missing the opportunity with Heath, but the fact was that they just weren't right for each other. They were from two completely different worlds, and as much as she cared for him and believed that his way of life was the right thing for him, it just wasn't the right thing for her.

  She was so happy that she would get a chance to go back to the city that she began planning her new life and devising a strategy to get back to where she had been before. She had worked her way up from nothing the first time, and she could do it again. Maybe someday, she would meet the right person who would share her values and lifestyle, and they could start a family.

  She felt sad for Heath, but he would get over it in time. She wasn't the only woman in the world, and shifters could have children with people other than their mates. It was common knowledge.

  She was quite sure that the whole myth of fated mates was just make-believe, considering she had been matched with Heath and they just were not ever going to work out.

  Heath’s truck pulled up in the driveway for the evening milking, and a flash of guilt washed over her.

  She didn't want to hurt or disappoint him, but she had to stay true to herself, what she believed in, and what she really wanted. She'd never wanted to be a farmer. She couldn’t simply pretend that she did. She pulled on her rubber boots and started out to the barn to tell Heath the good news. She would sell all the goats at the local auction. She was sure it would be much easier to do that than to try to find someone to manage the place for her. She wouldn’t need his cooperation to do it either.

  It was best to end it now, make a clean break, and go their separate ways. The night before had been beautiful and magical and probably the best sexual experience of her life, but she just couldn't bring herself to base her entire life on that.

  In the barn, Heath was bringing in the first round of goats to the milk stalls. His face lit up when he saw her, and he walked toward her as if he was going to pull her into an embrace. But he stopped short with several feet between them.

  “You look happy,” he said.

  “I am,” she said.

  But as she stood in the barn looking at him, she couldn't bring herself to tell him that she was leaving. Maybe she was being true to herself, but the idea of hurting Heath was simply too much to bear.

  “I'm happy to see you,” she said.

  She was. She couldn't help it. If only things were different. If he came from the same world as she did, if he wanted the same things—a life filled with art, fine cuisine, and culture—maybe then. Not this life. Out in the backwoods, tending livestock? It could never work. If she could just convince her heart of that, this would all be so much easier.

  “I'm happy to see you too,” he said in a sheepish voice.

  She knew he wanted to say more, but she'd already been so cruel this morning that he was keeping his distance and keeping his guard up.

  “Do you want to help with the milking?”

  “Yes.”

  What harm would it do to experience this work just a few more times? It wasn't the most terrible thing in the world, she'd come to realize. It was actually quite satisfying. After they put the milk machines on the first round of goats, she went to go check on the kid who had been born the night before. He was vigorously nursing his mother. She felt so happy to see him up and healthy. Heath came to stand beside her, and she smiled up at him.

  “They're doing well,” she said.

  “They are.”

  “It's such a relief.”

  “I know how you feel. As a rancher, you're responsible for their lives, and you want to take care of them and make sure they’re healthy and safe. But things happen, and you can't control the outcomes. Nature takes its course despite your best efforts.”

  There was a melancholy in his voice that told her he was still hurting from the sharp words she'd spoken that morning. She wished she could take it all away, just like she wished she could take away all the suffering of the world. But she knew that was impossible. Trying was just a recipe for misery. She'd learned early in life that she had to take care of herself. Her ex-husband’s betrayal had been just another lesson that had taught her that she always had to push herself first, or she would come in last.

  Chapter 11

  Heath felt like his world was falling apart. He'd been so sure that morning that Rose would change her mind about the ranch, that everything would work out, and they would be together forever. They'd start a family. They’d make each other happy all the days of their lives. But that wasn't what happened. When he'd returned for the evening milking, something had changed in her. Something was going on, and she didn’t tell him what.

  He'd wanted to reach for her and hold her, with every fiber of his being, but she'd kept her distance. It made him feel like a bad man for wanting to love her so much. He'd spent the whole day doing double the work because Gunner still hadn't returned to his chores. By the time Heath made it back to Wilde Ranch that evening, he was fuming.

  He saw Gunner’s motorcycle in front of his house, and instead of continuing down the road, he pulled into the driveway and charged out of the car. He felt like a man possessed, full of anger and frustration. He stormed up the front steps of the house and banged on the door.

  Gunner answered the door in his leather jacket and boots, his keys in his hand.

  “If I don't see you out in the hayfield with the twins tomorrow, there is going to be consequences.”

  “Oh yeah?” Gunner said. “What kind of consequences?”

  “You'll stop getting your pay, for one thing.”

  “So what? I have an inheritance just like you.”

  “We’ll start charging you for food.”

  “Who cares? I can get my food at the grocery store like any normal person.”

  “How long do you think that's going to last, Gunner? You’re shortsighted. You aren't thinking about the future.”

  “I told you, Heath. I don't care. I'm not you. I’m no good to spend my entire life slaving away on this place for nothing. Now, get the hell out of my way.”

  Gunner pushed past, and Heath’s blood boiled. His youngest brother charged down the steps, straddled his bike, turned on the motor, and rode away into the night.

  Chapter 12

  Rose packed her bags and left a note for Heath. She was on the road to Denver by eight o'clock. If she made good time, she'd be there by eleven and would have plenty of time to get a good night sleep. The entire drive to the city, her mind flip-flopped between excitement and regret.

  She wanted to feel the excitement of getting a new job and getting her life back. In a year, with the salary from the firm, she could buy a new condo. She could get a new car. She could start her savings account. She could get back on her feet and back to where she had been before it all fell apart. That was what she wanted. She just had to keep reminding herself that.

  But every time she reminded herself that leaving Fate Rock was the best decision, she had a memory of Heath and the night they’d shared. The beautiful look in his eyes, the soft touch of his hand, the way that he mastered her body and made her feel things she'd never felt before. How could she deny how special it had been? How could she pretend that it was meaningless?

  She pulled into the parking lot of her dingy little apartment building and took her suitcase up the stairs to her door. Inside, she set down her things and looked around the front room. Compared to her grandfather’s historic farmhouse, the apartment was a hovel, and she already missed the space and the feeling of history that she got at the ranch. But if she got this job, she could get a much better place in no time, and she could have the life she’d been working for since she was twelve years old.

  She ordered some takeout and ate dinner in front of the TV before getting ready for bed and turning in for the night. In the morning, she was showered and dressed and had eaten breakfast by nine and was out the door by ten. The commute from her dingy apartment to the downtown financial district took over an hour. When she arrived, she proceeded to the high-rise where the firm was located.

  When she walked into the grand lobby, she bit her lip to hold back the squeal of excitement. The marble-tiled floors, the high ceilings, the sharply dressed professionals in upscale business attire. She had worn a cream-colored skirt suit with a tailored jacket. She carried one Chanel bag the bankruptcy attorney had allowed her to keep and wore her last pair of Manolo Blahnik heels. Unfortunately, this was her best outfit, and she wouldn't be able to replicate it after her first day of work. But that would change soon enough after she started to get paid, and she could dress to the nines the way that she should for her new position.

  She took the elevator up to the fifteenth floor and walked into the lobby of Black and White Financial.

  She was greeted by a statuesque receptionist who told her that the personnel manager would be with her shortly. She took a seat in the lobby decorated in tasteful modern furnishings and waited. Several minutes later, the receptionist told her to follow her through the office suite, down a hall, past cubicles, and into a corner office with a view of the Denver city skyline.

  The entire office suite was full of natural light, towering plants, and a water feature. It would be an incredibly pleasant place to work—not to mention the salary and the bonus structure.

  The HR manager, Wendell Wright, stood, shook her hand, and indicated for her to have a seat. He took a seat at his mahogany desk and opened the folder in front of him.

  “You have quite an impressive résumé, Ms. Winter. You have an excellent employment history. But I'm afraid the scandal of your divorce and bankruptcy has followed you.”

  “I made the mistake of trusting my ex-husband with our finances. He hid his poor choices from me for a long time. And like most people, it's only natural to trust the person you're in love with.”

  “I can see how that would be true,” he said. “The fact is that your record at your previous firm was exemplary. You were constantly breaking records, and the portfolios you managed were extremely healthy. It's just unfortunate that you weren't as stringent with your own finances.”

  “I couldn't agree more. It was a hard lesson to learn. But just like with clients, you can't advise them if they don't listen to you. My ex-husband didn't tell me about the investments. In fact, he purposefully covered them up so that I wouldn't know about it.”

  “My one concern is that the scandal would follow you. Otherwise I'd hire you on the spot.”

  “It was proven that I had nothing to do with his mistakes. Unfortunately, I had to pay the price anyway. I'm afraid there's nothing else I can say or do about the subject. For me, what's done is done. I learned my lesson, and I will never make that mistake again.”

  “I am going to discuss this with upper management, and I will get back to you shortly. Despite the scandal, you are quite a catch. Any firm would be lucky to have you. I, for one, believe that we should all be allowed to make mistakes. It happened in your personal life, not your work life. So that is also something to be considered.”

  He stood and shook her hand before showing her to the door. After the interview was concluded, Rose felt as if she was on the cusp of regaining everything she’d lost. The HR manager believed in her. He'd said that he wanted to hire her. She felt as if she was a shoo-in for the position, but she didn't want to get her hopes up. When she made it home and opened a celebratory bottle of wine, she saw she had a text message on her phone from Heath.

  Chapter 13

  Rose had left a message in the barn that she would be gone for a few days, but she hadn't answered any of her text messages. Heath was beginning to worry. He had felt as if they were so close to coming together, but then, they’d fallen apart again.

  He sat on his porch in the early autumn night, looking up at the stars that spread out across the sky. He'd been so full of tension and anger that he knew he needed to relax.

  He had been nursing a beer for the last fifteen minutes. Two empty bottles sat beside the porch swing. He wasn't much of a drinker. He preferred to keep his mind clear and his body strong so that he could maintain his work schedule and give the best to his family and the ranch. But these last few days were making it hard to maintain his clean way of life.

  Coming so close to love and having it snatched away again was doing him in, and he couldn't work out a way to be okay with losing Rose.

  He saw a headlight winding up the road toward his house and the high rumbling sound of a motorcycle. He frowned. It was Gunner. At least he was coming home before midnight. Heath was so confused by Rose that he didn't even know what to think about Gunner anymore.

  He didn't have the energy to fight. Maybe Austin was right. Maybe he had to just leave it alone. God knew it wasn’t doing him any favors. He'd given his life to the ranch, to his family. It was taking every last thing that he had.

  He sipped his beer as the headlight drew closer. To his surprise, Gunner pulled his motorcycle into Heath's driveway and cut the motor. His twenty-two-year-old brother parked his bike, stepped off, and approached the porch. Heath raised an eyebrow, wondering what this was all about. Then Gunner’s face caught the porch light. A blooming purple bruise marred his young face, and blood stained his nostrils.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Nothing good,” Gunner said.

  “What are you doing here, Gunner?” Heath wasn't in the mood to fight, but his brother obviously was.

  “I was hoping I could talk to you.”

  “What about?”

  “I just want to apologize,” Gunner said, stepping up the porch steps. He pulled a bottle out of Heath's cooler and asked if he could have one.

  Heath nodded once, and Gunner popped the cap and took a seat beside his brother on the porch swing.

  “I know I’ve been an ass lately.”

  “That's an understatement. But I'm glad we agree on something.”

  “You're not making this easy for me.”

  “Why should I?” Heath picked up another bottle and popped the cap.

  “Look, Heath, I'm trying.”

  “Okay. Speak your piece.”

  “I'm sorry about the way I’ve been acting, not showing up to do my chores. I know it isn’t fair to everyone else.”

  “Would this change of heart have anything to do with what happened to your face?”

  “As a matter of fact, it does. I was down at Squad Goals, watching the game. Abe McCoy came into the bar. He started talking shit about Shane and Montana, loudly. I couldn't listen to it. So, I confronted him. One thing led to another, we got into a brawl, and we got kicked out of the bar. Long story short, it made me realize how important my family is and where my loyalties belong.”

  “At least something good out came out of McCoy nastiness for once.”

  “I've been lost since I moved out on my own. It made me realize how little of my life I’ve chosen for myself. Everything was decided for me from the day I was born because of my last name.”

  “A lot of people in the world today would love to have that.”

  “I know I'm lucky to have my place in the world. But the fact is I don't have anything of my own. Nothing for myself. It's all part of the family. And I don't even know who I am. It’s like I’m trapped in this life.”

  “Why didn’t you talk to anyone about it, Gunner? You know we’re all here for you. We’re all here for each other, no matter what.”

  “I usually talk to Austin about this kind of thing. But he's been so busy with the baby. I didn't feel like he had any time for me anymore.”

  “Austin might be busy, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have time for you. You could have come to me or Shane or Dylan or even the twins. You don't have to go through this stuff alone.”

  “But I do. That's the point. I haven't done anything for myself. It's all been part of the family. And being the youngest, I have the most set path of anyone. You and Austin both accepted that this was your life, and Shane has so many passions of his own. Same with the twins and Dylan. But me? Who am I? What am I? I'm just the baby of the family. I felt like that was all I would ever be.”

  “Why don't you take some classes or pick up a hobby? I'm sure you must have some interests.”

  “I don't know if I do. I just spend my life following the six of you. Didn't feel like there was anything about me that was any different.”

  “Well, Montana's taking classes at the community college. Maybe you could go with her and check out the campus. Just try some different things. That's all anybody can do in their life. You're just starting a little bit later than some, sooner than others.

  “I always knew I wanted to be a rancher. And that's it. I love working with my brothers and maintaining our family's legacy. It's what I'm all about. But it doesn’t mean that it has to be what you're all about. You need to find a life of your own. But it shouldn't come at the expense of the farm. It's your job, and the man takes care of his responsibilities.”

  “I get that,” Gunner said.

  “Austin has been talking about bringing in some interns. When they come, it will take some of the pressure off us. But until then, we have to pull our weight, or we’re putting the entire operation at risk.”

  “You're right. I won't keep acting so selfishly. I just needed a little break to try to figure out who I am. And even though I'm gonna have a massive shiner in the morning, I'm glad I got in that fight with Abe McCoy. It made me understand what really matters.

  “Even if I've spent my whole life living in my brothers’ shadows, I still know that I am a Wilde. I'm proud of my family, our pack, our ranch. I know that now. It's not just what I've been told. I can feel it in my own bones. I don't think I'll ever forget it.”

  “So, tell me Abe McCoy looks worse than you.”

  “He's got two shiners instead of one,” Gunner said, tipping back his beer.

 

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