FREY'S MATE (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline Book 3)

by Dalia Wright

  She stared at the man beside her. “You’re, like, a cowboy.” That was what cowboys did. They worked around the ranch, they took care of the pets, they kept the place running.

  Ben turned to Jasmine, his eyebrows raised. “Uh, yes. I’ve been called that a couple times, what made ya figure it out?”

  “I mean, you don’t look like one.” She stammered. Her cheeks burned the second she said it. He laughed loudly.

  “Sorry to disappoint.” His eyes sparkled. “It’s the fact I’m not wearing a hat, isn’t it?”

  “Or the boots!” She said it before she realized he was poking fun at her. She felt the blush on her cheeks darken and was suddenly glad for her dark skin. Most people missed a blush against her complexion.

  “I only wear them on special days.” His eyes sparkled.

  “You’re making fun of me.”

  “Only a little.” His eyes sparkled. “And all in good fun, I promise you that. Don’t worry, you’re not the first one to have this conversation with me.” Still, he was grinning as he spoke. “Not all cowboys come in the same shape and size- or wear the same boots.”

  They fell silent for a couple of seconds. It did make Jasmine feel a little better to know that she hadn’t been the first one to have the conversation with him, but she still felt silly.

  “Tell me, what made you decide to come out here? I mean, I’m sure you passed other ranches on the way out here.”

  “Your website said something about it being a family business. Four generations, and on your family’s land- right?”

  “Yup. This was my grate-grate-grate- grandparents land when they got married. They got it from her father as a wedding gift.

  “That’s so sweet.”

  Ben tilted his head, as if he didn’t quite agree.

  “It is, other than the fact that I’ve gotta guess most of my family is buried out here somewhere.”

  Jasmine snorted in disbelief.

  Ben turned to her, a soft smile over his lips. “There’s a patch of trees out a few meters away from the house, all in a line. I figure that might be their graves. After all, a tree was common place for a grave marker.”

  “That… that has got to be freaky. I mean, have you ever… seen any of them?”

  Ben shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on if you’re looking to them for explanations or if you’d rather find a more… lifelike explanation to them all.”

  “And what would you rather?” I asked as the horses started to take us up a hall.

  “Well, life ain’t no fun if you don’t have a few crazy explanations.” He didn’t turn to Jasmine when he said it, but she could see the smile widen over his lips. “Hand me your reins,” He said holding his hand out.

  “What? Why?” Jasmine reached for the reins but didn’t give them up.

  “I’d like to take us off path. But Frodo will want to stay on the path unless I lead him.”

  Jasmine bit her lip handing the reins to Ben. She knew she could be pig headed sometimes, and she knew it bothered most men, but she didn’t care. She liked knowing what was going on around her.

  Ben led them along the hill, and then down it. The sound of rushing water surrounded them.

  “A lot of people don’t realize that this part of the land is here. We’ve done special tours with it, but for some reason my dad never wanted it to be part of the main walk. I never was sure why until a few years ago.”

  Ben wasn’t sure what made him bring Jasmine here of all places. Maybe it was that he thought she would like it, or maybe it was just that he was missing his dad.

  The small stream flowed into a large pool, the water sparkling- just deep enough for swimming in. The green grass was hidden by dozens of white flowers and. A hawk flew out of the grass as the horses neared the small pound.

  “This is beautiful.” She said beside him, her eyes trying to take everything in.

  Three trees grew by the water's edge, one smaller than the other two.

  It felt good to come here every now and then, but Ben had never brought another person with him unless it was part of the tour. Which this is. He reminded himself.

  This was just a special walk. A walk with just one client. A client he brought here on a whim.

  He pulled the horse to a stop and hopped off before circling around to Jasmine and holding his hand out for her. “Jump.”

  “Jump?”

  “Well, be careful, but yes you’re going to have to jump. There isn’t a stood here for you.”

  She snorted. “Gee, really? You didn’t bring one?”

  Ben smirked at her smart ass comment. “Sorry sweetheart. I must’a forgotten it.”

  She laughed as she, carefully, dismounted the horse, taking Ben’s hand for support.

  Her cold fingers felt good against his hand. He padded over to the spring and sat down.

  “Why didn’t your dad want this as part of the walk? It’s so beautiful. I've sure people would have loved it.” She asked him as she followed him to the spring.

  Ben sat down staring at the two large trees. “60 years ago… my dad brought my mom out here.” He pointed towards the trees. “See those two trees. He brought them with him. He told her he wanted to go out here and plant a couple trees. He had to fight tooth and nail for her to agree to come all the way out here.

  She couldn’t figure out what he wanted to go all the way out here to plant the trees when they could just do it by the house. I mean, that way people would be able to see them. Well, when they got out here they planted the trees. My mother stood and my daddy, the sneaky man he is, slipped his hand into his pocket, still down on his knees. He pulled out his grandma’s wedding ring and when my ma turned to him she saw him there, kneeling in front of her with a ring and a grin on his face.”

  Oh my god.

  That was the most beautiful story Jasmine had ever heard. She stared at the two trees. Then, she glanced down at the other smaller tree.

  “Do you have siblings?”

  “Na. I was an only child.” He stared off into space.

  “So, that third tree… that’s for you?” Unless his parents took on another wife, which wasn’t very common in these parts.

  Ben turned to her, a grin spread over his face. “Yes. That little tree is for me. When I was born my daddy went out and planted a tree without tellin ma. The next time they came out here she saw it. She thought it was God, or the universe, or something. Daddy never corrected her. She was just so happy about it he couldn’t bring himself to.” He fell silent. “Then she died twelve years ago.”

  Jasmine’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  He’d lost both of his parents already. And no siblings either. He was in it all alone by the looks of it. It must be so hard.

  Ben shrugged, brushing off any emotion that he had just shown. “Nothing no one can do about it.”

  He said it as if he’d said it dozens of times before, and Jasmine was willing to bet that he had- mostly to himself.

  “Anyways, we’d best get back to the ranch.” He pushed himself up and held his hand out to her. “I’d best get some food in me, and I’d be willing to be you’re damn hungry.”

  “I could go with food.” She admitted as they headed back to their horses.

  “We’ll circle back around to the barn and you can get cleaned up and meet me in the mess hall. Of course, it’s a little bigger than need be these days- but there was a time this place was packed.”

  Ben helped Jasmine up onto her horse. She didn’t doubt his words. The place was nice, though a bit outdated the land was perfect, and that was what would keep people coming back. She watched as he climbed onto his horse and they headed off- this time Frodo happy to follow Ben all the way back to the trail and the barn.

  When Jasmine dismounted for a second time she headed to her small room. She hadn’t realized how dirty she’d gotten, or how sweaty she had gotten.

  For now, a change of clothes would do, and befor
e bed she would have a shower. Or maybe soak in the pool. She’d seen something about a pool on the website, right?

  Jasmine changed into something a little more relaxing. Yoga pants and a cashmere sweater, she tied her red hair into a ponytail, needing a few bobby pins to keep some of the layers out her face. The rest she just let fall into her face without worrying too much about it. She slipped into a pair of running shoes and headed out of her small room to the mess hall just like Ben had told her to.

  When she got there the lights were still off.

  “Hello?” She called out into the dim light. Nope. No answer.

  She flicked the lights on. Well, guess I beat him here. She thought as she padded throughout the long room. It wasn’t so much big, but it was very long. At the back she could see a kitchen. It looked outdated like most of the ranch was, but as she made her way back there she discovered it wasn’t so bad. There was a large fridge, filled with some food and that was what mattered the most.

  Jasmine pulled out a couple of stakes from the fridge and set them out on the counter. I know he said he’d make something- but if he’s going to take forever to get here then he will have to suffer with my cooking. And if he doesn’t like then that’s just too damn bad for him. She thought as she pulled out two types of veggies- corn and green beans.

  As she let the steak come to room temperature she peeled and cut some potatoes before getting the water on to boil.

  The door opened just as she was adding the potatoes to the water.

  “Hello?” He called.

  “Back here!” Jasmine called back.

  Seconds later Ben was standing in the doorway. “I thought I told you I was going to make dinner?” He smirked, his arms crossing over his chest.

  Jasmine shrugged, dismissing his comment. “I figured I’d get started since you weren’t here.”

  His eyes sparkled as he closed the distance between them. “Well thank you, I have to admit, it’s nice having a set of hands around here to help out.”

  Jasmine’s heart skipped a beat. I could do that. She thought.

  Wait, why? What would make her think that?

  Sure, she could stick around here. With her blog she could pretty much work wherever she wanted, but why would she want to come here? I mean sure, it was pretty. But… Jasmine stared at the man in front of her. She swallowed dryly.

  Sure, he’s cute. But he probably isn’t interested in someone like me.

  Maybe it was the level of success, most men didn’t like a woman who could afford to buy herself things. Or maybe it was just her, she was probably too much of a city girl for his liking, hell for all she knew it could be the color of her skin- it wouldn’t be the first time that happened. Whatever his reason, he probably wouldn’t be interested. And that was fine, it’s not like they even knew each other.

  “You know,” She cleared her throat. “I’m sure you could get the place up and going again. With a little help of course.” She looked away from him, suddenly the corn became very interesting. She studied every cranny of it.

  Growing up, Jasmine’s mother always said she had a bad habit for trying to take on projects and fix everything. Maybe that’s just what this was. Just the ranch, though. She told herself. This was about the ranch, not about the man who owned it.

  Jasmine cleared her throat. “What I mean, is that your website is kind of outdated. And with a little refreshing, it would be perfect. I also noticed, you guys don’t have a Facebook page.”

  Ben stared at her blankly.

  “Er, what?” He finally said.

  Jasmine laughed softly as he looked up from the corn. “See, that’s the issue.” She smiled. “You’re not marketing. That’s all businesses are about these days. You used to get by on hard work and providing something good for people, now it’s all about the marketing.”

  Ben stared at her blankly.

  She could tell, the words were going in one ear and out the other. She smiled. “Uh, I used to run a business with my ex.” She swallowed dryly. “I picked up a thing or two. I wouldn’t be against sharing those things.”

  After all, this place was cute, and Ben was working hard. It wasn’t fair that he had to struggle. She wanted to help him out. He deserved to be successful.

  “I thought you were on a vacation.” He’d used that line on her already.

  Jasmine turned her attention to dinner. She shrugged, dismissing the comment. Some people had a hard time leaving work at home on their vacations. She couldn’t help it. She liked staying busy.

  “But you know, you’re right. I don’t even remember the last time I got a website done up for dad… well, that says it all. Dad was still around.”

  Jasmine didn’t dare ask how long it had been. After all, it was none of her business.

  “I guess, if you have someone you could put me in contact with I’d consider getting a new website. But I’d have to figure out what to even put on it.”

  He laughed softly.

  Jasmine's eyes sparkled. She already had a couple ideas, and she knew just who to contact about it.

  Ben padded into the kitchen. “So, a business with your ex?”

  “Yes.” She picked up on the hint for more information. “I did the bookkeeping for him and, well pretty much everything else though he won’t admit it.” She grinned. “We worked really well together, until he decided he wanted an assistant. And then he decided he wanted the female one, and then he decided he wanted to fuck her.”

  It was so cliché Jasmine felt like it was right out of a book.

  “Wow. What an idiot.”

  Jasmine snorted. “The worst part? It actually took me months to see it. Three friends told me what was going on before I was willing to look close enough and see if for myself...” She tried not to sound as hurt as she still felt. “So I quit. I let her to clean up all his messes and I hope she’s having a hell of a time.”

  “You quit? Just like that?”

  Jasmine turned to see Ben seasoning the steak. Her heart skipped a beat. Her ex had never helped her cook. And despite the fact that they both worked the same hours- well actually Jasmine normally took her work home- he always expected her to have dinner ready for when he wanted it.

  It was nice seeing a man in the kitchen.

  “I always kept a steady savings going. You know, just in case something happened. I didn’t think it would be that Eric and I broke things off but… well, that’s what it was. When I quit I decided I was going to take a risk and try to…” She trailed off realizing she was about to tell him about her blog. Everyone laughed when she told them.

  “Try to what?”

  Jasmine could already feel the laugh coming. No. That was her making things up.

  “Well, if I tell you, you’ve got to promise not to laugh at me, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ve always wanted to work for myself, and a few years back I read a blog about a woman who makes her income off blogging. Her blog did so well that she actually gets paid to write on other people's’ blogs. I thought that was just amazing. I’d been thinking about doing it for ages, but I worked 14 hour days. I didn’t really have time and then on the weekends I would have to deal with you know, other life stuff… so I kept putting it off. When I broke up with my ex I decided I was going to give this blogging thing a shot.”

  No laugh. Not even a snort.

  “That’s amazing. A lot of people aren’t willing to give their dreams a shot.”

  “What about you?” Jasmine took the chance to get the conversation away from her. She got a pot of water boiling and added the corn, then got a pot going for the veggies. She stared down at the beans. “These are so fresh.”

  “My dream is the ranch,” Ben admitted. “We get all our fruits, veggies, and meat from the farmers market. That way we are sure they are as fresh as they can be.” He sounded proud of that.

  A smile touched Jasmine’s lips. Good to know. She thought as she set the beans in the pot and checked the potatoes. That would
be something to add to the website.

  Ben headed over for the grill and got the stakes going.

  It didn’t take long for everything to cook, and soon the two of them headed outside to a small dining table.

  “It’s where the staff used to sit for their smoke breaks.” He explained as if that would allow Jasmine to make sense of the rough shape it was in.

  They ate in silence for a long time, until Jasmine was done her meal.

  “I’ve got to admit, that was one of the best meals I’ve had in a very, very long time. Thank you. The stake was amazing.”

  Ben shrugged as the sun set around him. “I can’t take credit for most of it. The guys who raise the cattle do a wonderful job. When a lot of ranches in the area started switching to big chain stores my dad thought they were stupid. I tried to convince him to do it too since it would be a lot cheaper. But my dad wouldn’t have any of it. He said we had to keep the money in the pockets of the ones who deserved it. I was young then, I thought he was stupid and I told him so- now… now I get why he did it and I wouldn’t think of ever changing over to a big chain store.”

  He was probably right. It would probably save them a lot.

  “One of the reasons I picked your ranch is because I saw a lot of bad review about food for other places.”

  “Reviews? Online?”

  “Yea.” It didn’t seem like he even understood the internet fully.

  “Huh.” H sounded so impressed.

  “They have websites dedicated to it.” She said almost teasing. “I didn’t see much about this place, but I decided to take that as a good sign. People are more likely to leave a bad review than a good one.” Jasmine paused. “And I have to admit, I’m glad I picked this place.”

  Being here, the only one. It was something that she would never forget.

  “Since we’re admitting things.” Brian paused. “I gotta admit, it’s been nice to have ya around.” His accent had vanished for a little while, but now it was back in full swing. “It’s been a long time since I had someone around the ranch. A long time since I have a good tour like I did today. The schools in the area still come ‘round here for classes once in a while. But that’s about the most attention we get these days. Except a few old friends of my dad’s.”