Chapter Three
Late summer was one of the busiest times on the ranch, and for Caleb, he couldn’t believe that an entire month had already passed with Maddie being in his home. Food was always on the table, and she even made enough for the ranch hands when they worked late, or when it was a long day and they arrived early. During the weekends, Paige was out in the pastures with him while Maddie tended the house, cooking and dealing with the following week’s plan.
She worked all the time, and he also knew for a fact that she was awake most nights. She did sleep though. There had been a couple of occasions he’d seen her passed out, curled up on her bed. She’d left the door open, and he’d been unable to resist sneaking in, putting a blanket over her and spending a few minutes just watching her sleep.
“Well, fuck me hard,” Mike said, coming up beside him on his horse.
“No, thank you. That’s your wife’s job.”
Mike burst out laughing.
Caleb watched as his daughter circled the pen on her horse, where she was training with one of the more expert ranch hands, Ryan. In just a month of having Maddie in his home, his daughter had changed in a way. Her hair was no longer falling all around her shoulders, causing a mess and getting all manner of things in it. She had it neatly brushed and tight to her head in one of those fancy plaits that started at her head and ran the length of her hair. She also didn’t run everywhere in the house. She’d take her boots off, wash her hands, and he’d stand outside of the kitchen door, listening as she spoke to Maddie about her day.
The two had become close friends, and he liked that.
His mother had said to give Maddie a chance, and he’d even checked out her references from all of the families she’d been with before. Her work ethic was impeccable, not that he’d doubted it.
He found he wanted to know everything about her, to understand her more.
“That nanny you’ve got back at your place sure knows how to cook. My Martha was saying as well that Paige is growing up so fast, and she’d stopped many of her boy traits.”
Martha was Mike’s wife.
“I should have known she needed a woman’s touch.” Just thinking about Ivory left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“You can’t blame yourself for everything.”
“If the condom hadn’t broken, I wouldn’t have had to marry her.”
“If the condom hadn’t broken, Caleb, you wouldn’t have one amazing daughter. She’s a gem, and I see that she makes you smile. Now, none of us liked Ivory. She was a first-class bitch who only wanted to have fun, and we all know this is not how a ranch works. Without her, you wouldn’t have Paige.”
And without Paige, he wouldn’t have the few stolen moments with Maddie. They were few and far between. She always made sure he had a mug of hot chocolate to take to bed at night. His home was always sparkling clean, and his mother was so damn happy. She’d been struggling to deal with the keeping of the house and the cooking duties, not to mention taking care of Paige.
Within a month of Maddie being with them, that had all turned around. Even her principal had called him, and said that Paige’s attention had seen a marked improvement. He knew it was all to do with Maddie. The moment they got home, and Maddie was dealing with dinner, she helped Paige do her homework.
Once that was done, Paige would come out and find him, telling him all about her day. Of course, he loved hearing about it, but it was the time she talked about Maddie that got him curious.
She’d become the woman he thought about all the time. He wanted her; there was no doubt about that. He wanted her more than any other woman in his life.
“I know.” He nodded at his brother but didn’t say another word.
Time was getting away from them, and he waited for Paige to finish her lesson before they took their horses back to the stable. Maddie had already laid the table outside, and men were eating the food she’d placed on large serving platers.
All of the men adored Maddie as well, and they certainly appreciated her food. He saw Martha was there as well, and his brother’s kids.
When the ranch hands left, and it was only his family, they stayed outside as it was a Saturday evening. Maddie sat watching them all.
Mike and Martha were curled up in a chair together as all the kids laughed and danced. Moving his chair, Caleb sat down beside Maddie so she was no longer alone.
“It’s not always this crazy, I promise,” he said.
“I don’t mind at all. I like to keep busy.” She sipped at her iced tea and stared toward the fire.
“You like it here?” he asked.
“Yeah, I do. It’s so peaceful, and beautiful. I love watching the sun rise and set.”
It was the first time, besides his mother and Martha, that a woman liked being at his ranch.
“I never thought of moving, you know. Even when the work was so tiring, and all I wanted to do was drop into bed.”
“I imagine it’s not the easiest life for a lot of people. Getting up early, dealing with food, taking care of the animals. I love your chickens, and the cats and dogs.”
They were always fed by the time he got into the kitchen, and she always had coffee waiting for him.
“You don’t sleep a lot?” he asked.
She waved a hand in the air. “Not really. I’ve always found sleeping to be a little boring. I know it’s lame, right? The moment I wake up though, I’m up, and I don’t like to go back to sleep. It’s made it perfect to be a nanny though.”
“Why are you a nanny? Don’t you want to have kids of your own one day?”
“I want to have kids of my own. I love kids. They’re amazing people. Your daughter is a lot of fun. I’ve always found grownups to be way too boring and serious all the time.” She looked toward him with a frown. “Haven’t you noticed that most adults have that very stern frown on their face?” She rubbed the area between her brows, and he simply smiled.
“Yeah, most adults have that.”
“Being a nanny, it got me away from my parents and their judgment.”
He thought about what his mother had said with her being jilted at the altar. “I’m sorry about what happened to you on your wedding day. The guy was crazy for leaving you behind.”
She chuckled. “You’ve not seen my sister yet. You wouldn’t be surprised that he left me. I’m not exactly the cute one.” She shook her head. “If you’ve heard then you know it’s because I’m the fat, ugly one.”
He saw her pain, the humiliation she tried to hide.
“I’ve been around beautiful women. Paige’s mother should have been a model. I know some of them are nice, but I’ve seen the damage they can do. You’re a beautiful woman, Maddie. Inside and out, and that is a rare thing these days.”
He wanted to say more, but Paige came and dropped into Maddie’s arms. They all laughed as she yawned, and seemed to fall asleep.
“Come on, time to get you ready for bed.” She excused herself, and he was surprised to see that Maddie could lift his daughter.
His brother and family also made their excuses, so there was only his mother and himself sitting in the garden looking up at the stars.
“She’s a keeper,” his mother said.
“Mom, she’s my nanny, and I’m not going to ruin that for Paige. You can see she adores her.”
“Are you going to try and tell me that you don’t like Maddie?”
“Of course not.”
“I’m old, son, but not blind. I also know a thing or two about sex. I’m not a virgin, and I had to do the dirty at least twice to get you and Mike.”
Caleb covered his ears. “I do not need to hear this. I’m scarred for life.”
His mother laughed. “Don’t waste an opportunity because of Ivory. Not all women are like that. You need to move on. Find a woman to love and to call your own.”
“You’re asking me to try and chase the nanny?”
“I’m telling you not to fight your feelings.” His mother got to her feet. “I’m going to use the spare bedroom tonight.”
He watched her enter the house, and minutes later Maddie came out. She wore a pair of jeans and a shirt that clung to every single curve. His cock hardened at the sight of her. He wanted to touch her, but he also didn’t want to frighten her off.
Maddie had gotten under his skin, and she didn’t even realize it.
****
Routine was something Maddie loved. Being on the ranch, she got her dream job. Each day there were jobs waiting for everyone, and she got to build her life around each job. On the weekends, she cleaned the animals, brushed the dogs, and made sure they were all well-kept. During the week, she cleaned the house, doing the upstairs twice and the downstairs three times to keep everything looking clean.
Every single day, she cooked.
Five days a week, she drove Paige to and from school. Grocery shopping was once a week, and then of course fantasies that starred Caleb Pole happened all the freaking time. She had no control over her body or her needs.
She’d never had to deal with real attraction before. Chad, her previous boyfriend, hadn’t fired her blood or made her want to throw caution to the wind and just get down and dirty. Her fantasies with Caleb though took on an entirely different life. When she woke in a sweat after dreaming of him tying her up in the barn and having his wicked way with her, she knew something had to stop.
Caleb wouldn’t look at her the way she hoped he would, so she vowed to go on the first date that a guy asked her on. Not only that, she also gathered up her reading material ready to take to one of the bookstores in town. She’d boxed them all up and was about to carry them downstairs as Caleb left his room, bumping into her. She dropped the box and all the books came tumbling out, showcasing her love of romance.
“Shoot, sorry, Maddie.”
“It’s fine.” She bent down and tried to pick them all up and dump them back into the box. They were everywhere, so Caleb, being the gentleman that he was, bent down and began helping her.
She’d seen his gentlemanly ways up close and personal. From opening the doors for her, to holding out her chair, to helping her pick something off the top shelf in the pantry. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her, and she loved it. His gentlemanly traits didn’t help her though. Nope, it only made her fantasies a little harder to deal with.
He held one book up, and her cheeks heated at the sight of a large, muscular man holding a woman. It was one of her favorites. The hero was a bit of a dick. Actually, he was a large dick, but he loved his woman, and through many trials and tribulations, he finally learned to love, and not only that, he was a possessive bastard as well, and that made it even better.
“You like this kind of stuff?” he asked.
“Please, don’t laugh.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“You are.” She took the book out of his hands, and placed them in the box. “I … I like romance.”
“Then why are you boxing them up?” He lifted the flap of the box. “And sending them to the bookstore?”
“Because they don’t do me any good, and so far, my experience with romance has been awful so I’m taking a new approach to life.”
“And that is?”
“No romance books that give this preconceived notion of what men are like. They’re not good at all.” She placed the last book in the box and lifted them up, ambling her way downstairs, aware of how close he stood at her back.
“You don’t have to get rid of the books though. You love them,” he said.
Once she reached the bottom step, Caleb moved around her, grabbed the box, and dumped them on the coffee table in the sitting room.
Paige had decided to have a sleepover at her uncle’s. Martha had told her not to worry, and that she’d take care of Paige. It was Saturday morning, so Maddie didn’t mind. If it had been a school day, she would have. Paige was really excelling in school. She still had trouble with the girls calling her names, which really pissed Maddie off, but for the most part, school rocked, according to her charge.
“Why get rid of something you love?” he asked.
“Because I’m tired of being let down by the members of the opposite sex, okay?” She reached in, pulling out a book. “They want perfect, pretty women who like a lot of sex, and you know, don’t speak back. There’s no such thing as a possessive man, or someone who could only love one woman, and you know what? That sucks. Men don’t just love one woman, Caleb. They love many women, and as we get older, they like to trade us in for the newer, and more pristine model.” She shook her head, putting the books back. “The one thing I learned from Chad, you shouldn’t trust men.”
“You cannot group all of us together. We’re all different.”
“Really? You can group all women together because of your ex, but I can’t do it because of mine?” She began to pant as her anger started to build.
Just thinking about Chad made her angry and upset.
“Why are you reading that trash? Men are not like that.”
“They don’t give a fuck if a woman comes. It’s all about getting their dick wet.”
“You’ve filled your head with ideals that no man can ever match.”
She was done with the romance. Her job was far more important to her.
“I don’t believe all women are the same.” He pulled out his wallet. “How much do you want for them?”
“What?”
“I’ll buy them from you. How much do you want?” he asked.
She stared at the books, then at his wallet, and shook her head. “Nothing. Keep them.” Maddie didn’t look back as she left the house through the front door, and took her time to move to the back, and sit down near the chickens that were happily pecking away. She wrapped her arms around her legs and watched them.
When she’d been getting the groceries for them the day before, she’d bumped into her mother. She’d found out from her that Chad and Emily were back in town. That they’d bought a house together and were the perfect couple.
Her mother had sounded so proud. Throughout the entire ten-minute conversation not once did she ask about Maddie or what she’d been up to. No, it was all about Emily and Chad. Her parents didn’t even think they’d done anything wrong. Her life had started to feel like a soap opera where she was the only one that saw how stupid it all was.
Chad cheated on her with her sister.
He ditched her for said sister, but it was all her fault?
“It’s not like you to look so sad.”
She looked up and saw Ryan, one of the ranch hands, approaching. Forcing a smile to her lips, she greeted him.
He took a seat beside her on the steps. He was a lot bigger than she was, and made her feel small against him.
“I really do love it here,” Ryan said. “I could never have had one of those nine-to-five jobs, you know. The work is hard, but I love working with my hands.”
“I love it here as well.”
“I heard about your sister and her fella being in town. I hope you’re not hurting too bad.”
She tilted her head, looking at him. Tears filled her eyes, but it wasn’t because of sadness. “You’re the first person to care about how it’s affecting me.”
“I saw what happened that day. I heard what got said, and how your parents reacted. It fucking sucks, and I’m sorry. Personally, I think they’re both scumbags, and I wouldn’t have blamed you for setting fire to the church as well.”
“I think that would have guaranteed me a spot in hell.” She ran her fingers over her face, and through her hair.
Since her dream had startled her awake, she’d not put it up, and the red lengths were a mess around her. She had to get her focus back on.
“You know I wasn’t even upset about them being together. It was that they lied. I wanted to have a family, and Chad had made a promise,” she said.
“You still want a family?”
She nodded her head. “Yeah. I liked Chad. He was nice, and he seemed to want the same things that I did. I just can’t believe he decided to cheat on me with my sister, who happens to hate my guts. I’m better off without him.”
“Good for you. Your sister is a bitch as well.”
She chuckled. “Thank you. Believe it or not, you’ve made me feel better.”
“Good, because I’m about to ask you something, and I don’t want you to freak. I want you to think about it?”
“I’m listening.”
“There’s a dance next Friday at the bar, and it’s the last summer festival. I was wondering if you’d be my date.”
The event was a local fair where they brought together the last of the fruits. There were always rides, and a lot of fun. Tourists came to enjoy the party, and people from neighboring towns joined in the fun.
“Yes,” she said.
“Yes?”
“I’ll go with you.”
It was time she moved on, and she intended do it without thinking about her boss or putting her job in jeopardy.