“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Aria held up her hands and waved them emphatically in front of her as though she were fending off an attack. “You must be kidding!”

“No. Not kidding.” Darren’s expression was totally serious, but his words were almost laughable. “I want you to give Jaeger and Bella lessons. I’ll pay for both.”

“Jaeger is no problem.” Aria would be happy to have a little Hernandez in her program. It was pretty well guaranteed that genetics would at least provide the kid with some natural ability. The Hernandez brothers were riding like bronc busters by the age of three. “But I am not teaching Laredo Hernandez’s daughter without his permission.”

“Fine.” Darren’s mulish expression should have been Aria’s first clue that this was about to go south really fast. “Then we’re not selling you Smokey.”

“Pardon me?” Aria fell back a step and bumped into Charlie, who was probably disgruntled that she’d interrupted his nap. “I thought that was Jesse’s horse.”

“Sort of.” Darren shrugged. “The mare technically belongs to the Hernandez ranch, but you know how all of that goes right now with all this reorganization stuff.” Darren gave an airy wave of his hand.

Aria narrowed her gaze suspiciously and tried to put a few pieces of this ridiculous puzzle together in her head. “Oh. My. God!” she finally exclaimed. “You guys brought that mare here for Bella!”

“Maybe.” Darren cleared his throat. “So, now we’re going to pay board, and when I bring Jaeger for lessons three days a week, Bella will just come with me. I usually take her to dance class for Laredo anyway.”

“I’m going to burn in hell.” Aria covered her face with her hands. “Darren, you are killing me! Do you have any idea how bad it will be if Laredo finds out that his kid is riding without his permission?”

“He’s an ass.” Darren suddenly covered his mouth as he realized he’d said that with his son listening in. Fortunately, Jaeger was petting Charlie’s neck and giving the gelding a nice scratching and seemed to be paying little or no attention to their conversation. “My brother is going through some—some stuff right now.”

“What kind of stuff?” The words popped out before Aria could reel them back in.

Dammit. Why did Aria care? Laredo Hernandez was not her problem. The man was an epic jerk. He’d been that way since he was a kid. Still, for some reason, Aria felt like she had this soft spot for Laredo. It had a lot to do with one particular incident she had witnessed many years ago. It was when Laredo had first gotten married. But Aria didn’t like to think about that. She had been over at the Hernandez ranch visiting Jesse, and she knew she hadn’t been intended to see what she had witnessed. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop it from affecting her.

“Aria?”

“What?” She realized she’d been standing there slack-jawed for more than a few moments. “I’m not going to go behind his back, Darren.”

“Like I said. We’re boarding Smokey here. You don’t have to do anything. You won’t even know anyone else is here.” Darren was grinning broadly as though he’d just won the lottery.

Was this really such a big deal? Aria pursed her lips and thought about the smile on Bella’s face earlier that afternoon. The little girl had been bitten hard by the horse bug. That much was obvious. As a person who had also been bitten by that bug a long time ago, it was hard for Aria not to want to help. This was a kid who was being held back for reasons she would never understand. Unfortunately, Aria got it. She knew why Laredo didn’t want his kid riding horses. She just didn’t want to talk to Darren about it.

“Fine.” Aria finally sighed and pressed her lips into a thin line. “I know when I’ve been beaten.”

“Beaten?” Darren looked taken aback. “It’s not like that at all.”

“No?” Aria pointed her finger at Darren. “Do you know why Laredo feels the way he does about riding and horses and pretty much the rest of the ranch stuff altogether?”

“Not really.” Darren gave a shrug. “He keeps telling Maggie—you remember my fiancée, Maggie, right—Laredo keeps telling her that little girls don’t rodeo. They dance and do gymnastics and participate in other girl activities.”

“Ugh,” Aria grunted. “Bella must love that. She’s about as girly as Jesse and I were at that age.”

“Exactly!” Darren crowed. “Which is why you’re helping poor Bella throw aside the chains of gender bias!”

“Oh, do not try that crap with me!” Aria could not help it. She burst out laughing. Then she bent down to Jaeger. “Would you like to ride Charlie back to the barn?”

“Yes!” Jaeger said excitedly.

“Okay. I’m going to put you on his back, and you hold onto the saddle horn for me.” Aria swung the little boy up into the saddle and started leading Charlie back toward the barn. The horse really deserved a comfy stall and some extra hay after his crazy night.

“Aria, come on.” Darren was running along behind her.

Suddenly, Aria stopped moving. Charlie halted and turned his head to look at her with one big brown eye as though she’d lost her mind, and maybe she had. But right now, there were two Hernandez ranch trucks parked in front of her barn. And to Aria’s knowledge, Jesse didn’t get a company vehicle because she wasn’t really a Hernandez.

“What’s wrong?” Darren paused beside her.

Aria pointed to the gravel parking area in front of her barn. “Did you drive two vehicles?”

“No.” Darren had a huge frown on his face.

They walked a little closer, and Aria realized that the second truck had a sort of crumpled-looking front end. There were some weird dents across the bed too. It looked as if that vehicle had been in a war of sorts.

“Shit,” Darren muttered as soon as the damage came into view. “That’s Laredo’s truck.”

About that time, Aria had to suck in a deep gulp of air as she spotted Laredo Hernandez walking toward her from the direction of her barn. Charlie’s reins were suddenly sweaty in her hand. The horse flicked his ears as though he could not fathom the change in her emotional status although he could certainly sense it.

Laredo looked awful, and yet he was still just about as handsome as sin. His black hair was tousled and longer than she was used to seeing it. There was a good layer of scruff on his face as though he hadn’t found the time to shave that morning. His blue eyes were so intense that she felt an involuntary shiver run through her body. His swarthy skin gave him the look of an old-school cowboy. This was a man who could throw a steer without breaking a sweat while he whispered sense to a wild horse only a moment later.

Aria swallowed the lump that had appeared in her throat. Even her fingertips were buzzing. It had been years since she’d seen Laredo, and yet, for some reason, he still affected her. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t normal!

This was her business. Clouds End Farm was her place now. That meant it was time to step up and be the boss. With that in mind, Aria cleared her throat and marched right up to meet Laredo. “Can I help you with something, Mr. Hernandez? I don’t usually let people just wander around my property when they don’t have a reason to be here.”

“Is that right?” His murmur was neither rude nor condescending. Given that, Aria didn’t even know how to react. Then he dipped his chin. “I apologize for trespassing. I was actually looking for you initially, and then I saw that my brother’s truck was here and I was curious as to why.”

Darren had no problem speaking up for himself. The guy didn’t even bat an eyelash even though minutes ago he had been inducing Aria to go behind Laredo’s back to let his daughter ride. Darren made a gesture to Jaeger, who was still up on Charlie’s back. “I’m making arrangements with Aria to give Jaeger some horseback riding lessons.”

“Is that right?”

It was weird. Aria could have sworn there was something almost wistful about Laredo’s tone of voice and body language. What was going on? She decided it was time to get this situation well in hand. “Yes,” Aria said firmly. “I’m going to teach Jaeger how to ride. And for some reason, your brother here thinks his kid needs lessons three days a week like some competition junkie.”

“Three days!” Laredo raised his eyebrows and looked up at Jaeger. “You’re a lucky kid, my man.”

“I know!” Jaeger wiggled excitedly in the saddle, and Charlie flicked an ear.

Aria looked up at Jaeger. “Buddy, I really need to get this horse some supper. Can I help you down so you and your dad can head on home? I’ll see you back tomorrow afternoon right after school. Does that sound good?”

“Yay!” Jaeger gave a little fist pump that he must have learned from Darren.

Darren tugged his kid out of the saddle and then set him on the ground. He glanced at Laredo. “We’re going to go meet Maggie for dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow night when I drop Bella off after dance class is over, right?”

Aria marveled at the bald-faced lie that wasn’t exactly a lie. Dance class would indeed be over, and there had been zero insinuation that Bella would be there. This felt wrong. Aria sighed and wished she could go back to having no idea what was going on.

Darren and Jaeger disappeared, and Aria finally found herself left with Laredo. He was staring at her and it was very uncomfortable. She mumbled something about taking care of Charlie and headed toward the barn. Only a few of the kids remained after the last lesson of the night. The kids had been in lessons with her long enough to know how to untack and care for their horse after a lesson. It was one of the main things that Aria taught her students. Horses were not motorcycles. You did not ride them, shove them in a garage, and forget about them until next month when they needed an oil change. Whether a horse performed well or not, the animal was the responsibility of the rider.

“Good night, Miss Aria!” Lacey waved as she and her mom headed out of the barn for the night.

Aria waved back. “See you next week.”

She found Charlie’s halter and quickly dropped the horse’s bridle to put his halter back on. Then she strapped him into the crossties in the barn aisle and began the process of taking his saddle off. The entire time she was working, she could feel Laredo’s gaze following her every move.

“Do you have comments to make or something?” Aria finally asked. “You’re staring as if you’re critiquing every move I make. So, if you have suggestions, you might as well lay them on me now.”

“I don’t have any suggestions,” Laredo said quietly.

The low tone of his voice seemed to blend with the serenity of the barn. Her irritation began to fade. What was really happening here? Why was Laredo Hernandez in her barn, and what did he want?

“I need to ask a favor.” Laredo said the words. She was sure he did. But she could hardly wrap her mind around the implication behind them. “I need you to put some of our ranch horses in competition.” He sighed, and for a second, she was pretty sure she was going to fall on the ground in total shock. “I need you to help me put a couple of them in competition.”

Yes. She had to be hearing things because the other alternative was that the world had just gone completely crazy.