by Rosie Harper
“Maybe, but she seems sane enough,” he countered.
“Why do you want a wife anyway? You’ve never been the romantic type before, why now?” Sherry asked. Jared shrugged and didn’t answer right away. “Jared.” Sherry said, drawing his name out in a motherly tone that warned she was going to get her answers from him one way or another. Jared sighed and tossed his head back.
“Because it was conditional in Dad’s will that in order for me to continue to claim my inheritance and keep the ranch I needed to be married by 35. So, here I am about to turn 35 and wifeless. What else was I supposed to do?” He asked, giving her an accusatory look before she could even answer. Sherry threw up her hands in exasperation.
“I don’t know, go meet people normally?” She suggested. Jared rolled his eyes and began to push her out of the kitchen door and back to her car.
“Yes well, that hadn’t really been panning out and you know I hate meeting people. This seemed fast and easy—which I like,” he said, grabbing the empty bags off the counter as he continued to shove her gently out the door.
“But—” Sherry said, trying to push against him to continue the conversation.
“Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the food! Always good to see you, sis.” Jared said, raising his volume to drown out whatever she had been about to say. He opened her car door and effortlessly lifted his sister into the driver’s seat. She gave a huff as he closed the door and she shook her head at him. She rolled down the window and he handed her the bags.
“If you end up getting this girl to come out here, please promise you’ll give it at least a week before marrying her,” she cautioned, giving him a pleading look. Jared looked into her deep blue eyes that mirrored his own and sighed.
“Fine. I’ll give it a week to get to know her. Happy?” He agreed. Sherry smiled victoriously and nodded.
“Yes. And I want to meet her!” She yelled after him as he turned to go back into his house. Jared didn’t say anything but just waved at her over his shoulder to indicate that he heard her. He closed the kitchen door and leaned against it, letting out a weary breath.
“Looks like I’ve got an email to write and a plane ticket to buy,” he muttered to himself.
***
Emily got off the plane and looked around nervously. She couldn’t believe she had allowed Felicia to talk her into it. She had to admit, her friend was constantly surprising her. She’d think that after knowing each other for eight years she’d know all there was to know about her, but Felicia was always capable of shocking Emily. She had gone from trying to talk Emily out of moving altogether, to finding her a potential husband and helping her pack. Not what Emily had expected at all, but she supposed her friend was a romantic. She scanned the crowd around baggage claim again, looking for a man that fit his description. When he had written her back he had told her he’d pay for her to move out to Texas and give them a trial week before any marriage ceremony would take place. She was glad for that. If she had to get off a plane and instantly into a white dress she wasn’t sure she could go through with it.
Finally, she spotted him. He was taller than she expected and far more muscular than his picture had alluded to, but she was certain it was him. His skin was tan from working outside but the darker complexion made his stunning blue eyes even more captivating. She couldn’t see his hair under the cowboy hat he wore, but she remembered that it was straw-blonde color from the picture. She walked toward him, trailing her two suitcases behind her, and he gave her a smile. Well, she assumed it was meant to be a smile. His thin lips turned up at the corners but that was about it. She stopped in front of him and he politely held out his hand.
“Emily Winethrope?” He asked, verifying it was her. Emily nodded and accepted his hand. He shook her hand professionally with a tight grip and a little squeeze.
“Jared Smith. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said politely. Emily smiled at him and brushed her brown hair behind her ear. She suddenly felt shy, embarrassed, and completely out of her element. She was typically the quiet one among her friends, but shyness was new to her. She had never minded meeting people before, but with his towering frame and gorgeous eyes she was struck with the sensation.
“It’s very nice to meet you, too, Jared,” she managed to squeak out. Jared gave her another pressed smile and reached for her suitcase.
“Is it just the two?” He asked, picking them up with ease. Emily watched his biceps bulge a little and her mouth dropped open in admiration.
“Y-yes. My other belongings are being shipped. I sold most of my furniture to my roommate and just had about four large boxes of personal things,” Emily explained, following him as he turned to exit the airport. He didn’t reply to her but just gave her a simple nod to show that he had heard her. Emily chewed on her lip, her heart racing and her stomach doing flips. Perhaps this had been a bad idea. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but she thought he would be a little warmer toward his future wife. Maybe he’ll warm up once we get back to his house. Maybe it’s just the crowds, she hypothesized. She followed him silently to his truck, trying to decide on how to start a conversation. Once in his truck, the silence was overwhelming and she couldn’t handle it anymore.
“So… how long have you had your ranch?” She asked. Jared didn’t look over at her and just continued to drive.
“I inherited it from my father when he passed away six years ago,” he answered. Emily waited for him to say more but when it became clear that he had no intention to do so she began to search her brain for another question to keep the conversation going.
“You said that you raise and train horses, how many do you have?” She asked, hoping that this line of questioning might get her a longer response.
“Twelve, but two are just for breeding,” he retorted. Emily felt the conversation die again and let out a sigh. She wanted to get to know him better but he obviously wasn’t the forthcoming type. She opened her mouth to ask something else when he reached over and turned on the radio. Taking the hint, she turned to look out her window and watched the city fade and turn to countryside in the dim light of the setting sun. They drove the rest of the way in silence, listening to the radio. Jared glanced over at her while she was turned toward the window. She was very pretty but in a subtle way. Her brown hair was straight and fell just past her shoulders and her dark hazel eyes matched perfectly. She was of average height, which he dwarfed by at least five inches, but he kind of liked that. He just didn’t know what to say to her. She had been asking about the ranch and he answered but he was never good at small talk. At least he knew she could be quiet for prolonged periods of time—he hated incessant chattering. It was a 45 minute drive and the sun had gone down by the time they pulled up to the house. Emily looked at the large ranch and was shocked by its simplistic beauty.
“I know it’s not what you’re probably used to seeing in New York, but here we are,” Jared said without emotion. Emily smiled at him and her eyes showed her excitement. Jared frowned in confusion at her appreciation for it. It’s not like it’s the freaking Empire State building or anything, he thought to himself.
“I love it,” she said genuinely. She stepped out of the truck and looked around. The wind rustled through the trees and gave her a chill. She looked up and gasped, her smile broadening.
“What’s wrong?” Jared asked, hearing her gasp. He came around the truck and saw her staring upward. Wondering if there was something in one of the trees he looked up, searching for what she saw. Unable to see anything out of the ordinary, he gave her a strange look and waited for her to answer.
“Nothing. There’s just… stars…” She said, her voice trailing off in awe. Jared turned back to the sky and couldn’t help the smile that came to his own face. That was one thing he loved about living so far away from the city. The sky was aglow with thousands of tiny pinpricks of light and it had been so long since Emily had seen it that it was almost overwhelming.
“I haven’t seen the stars sin
ce I moved to Manhattan,” Emily confessed, unable to turn away. Jared grabbed her suitcases out of the truck and frowned.
“I thought you were from New York?” He asked. Emily shook her head and turned away from the sky.
“No, I mean, I’ve lived there for the past ten years and was moving from there. I didn’t grow up there, though,” she explained. Jared nodded and started walking toward the side kitchen door that he predominantly used. Emily followed him, unsure what to do. Would they make dinner? Would they just go to bed? Was she expected to sleep with him? There were too many questions running through her mind so she remained standing just inside the door and waited for him to take the lead. Jared turned on the lights in his house and took her bags to the guest bedroom. He figured that while they were getting to know each other it would be more appropriate. Emily followed behind him and relaxed a little when she noticed that this was clearly not his room.
“You’ll be staying here for now. There’s an attached bathroom right through that door there. There’s a closet, and my room is just down the hall if you need anything. You have free reign of the house so feel free to watch TV, use the kitchen, etc,” Jared said, pointing to where all her amenities were. Emily nodded and smiled appreciatively at him. They shared an awkward moment together, neither knowing quite what to say.
“Okay. Well I’ll see you in the morning then,” Jared said, walking out of her room and toward his own. Just before he closed the doors he heard her soft voice carry down the hall.
“Good night,” she said. Jared closed the doors and sighed. Tomorrow he would see how well she could handle herself on the ranch. Emily watched him leave and pursed her lips. It was after nine o’clock, and her internal clock felt like it was closer to eleven, but she wasn’t ready to sleep just yet. All the anxieties of getting to this point had increased her adrenaline levels so she was restless and a little hungry. Deciding to look for some food, she went to the kitchen and started rummaging around to see what he had. It looked fairly well stocked but it was obvious that they would need to go shopping soon. Deciding on a sandwich, she pulled out a couple of slices of bread and began to get the meat and fixings. Jared came out of his room to grab a glass of water when he saw her in the kitchen. He stood behind the corner, observing how she handled herself. She looked down at the bread and noticed a little bit of mold growing in one corner. Jared watched her open several drawers before finding a knife and, to his surprise, cut the moldy corner off and throw it away. A slow smile spread across his face and he backed away to return to his room. Maybe they had more in common than he thought.
***
There was a loud sound coming from the other side of her door, which caused Emily to groan. She peeled open one of her eyes and looked at the clock beside her bed. It was only six in the morning and she was still exhausted. She propped herself up on an elbow and looked toward the door, her brain trying to get the wheels turning to decipher the sound.
“Time to get up! We’ve got things to do!” Jared said, knocking on her door. Emily groaned and threw the covers off of her. She wanted nothing more than to just roll over and go back to sleep, but she knew he was right. Horses didn’t care that she was jet-lagged and she was just going to have to suck it up for a little while until her body adjusted.
“Alright, let me shower real quick and I’ll be right out,” she said, her voice hoarse with sleep. Jared, seemingly impressed, stopped knocking. He wasn’t expecting it to be that easy. He thought for sure she would do something similar to what Sherry would do when he would wake her up. Sherry used to open the door and throw things at him until he ran away and left her alone. Once she just glared at him and slowly closed the door in his face and locked it. It surprised him that Emily didn’t fight him at all. That certainly made his morning that much easier. While he waited for her to emerge, he began cooking breakfast. It was going to be a long day with arduous labor taking care of the horses and showing her how to handle them. She may not be from New York, but he doubted she knew anything about the creatures. Twenty minutes after he woke her, Emily emerged from her room fresh and ready to start the day. She dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with her hair pulled back. Jared looked her choice of apparel up and down and nodded in approval.
“That’ll work. I’m not sure about the shoes, though,” he said, eyeing her sneakers. Emily looked down at them and shuffled her feet insecurely.
“I know boots would be better but these are the only half-way appropriate shoes that I have,” she said, looking back up at him. Jared seemed to consider this a moment and then turned back to the stove. Emily sighed and walked toward him. The bacon and eggs he was making smelled delicious and her stomach gave a hungry rumble. Jared glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and turned off the stove. He handed her a plate and they sat at the table quietly.
“So what are we going to be doing today?” Emily asked in between bites. Jared met her eager eyes and felt something stir within him.
“I’m going to show you how to feed and brush the horses and I have to run through some of their routines,” he said. Emily nodded, excitement bubbling within her. She’d missed working with horses and while she was tired, she was very glad to get the opportunity again.
“Great! I can barely wait,” she said, eating a little faster. Jared stared at her contemplatively and finished his breakfast as well. They didn’t speak as he took her out to the stables. Emily’s heart felt like it was about to burst at the sight of all the beautiful creatures. She identified the two mares he used for breeding immediately and went up to them first. They were so gentle and one of them looked pregnant. She stroked the mare’s nose and got a pleased grunt in return from the beast. Jared watched her, his intrigue growing with each glimpse of her growing confidence.
“How far along is she?” Emily asked, turning toward him. Jared’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and he walked toward her and the mare. It was impressive that she could tell the mare was pregnant, she was barely showing.
“She’s about six months in. Just five more to go and I’ll have a new colt, hopefully,” he said, patting the mare’s neck. Emily smiled and continued to stoke her nose.
“She’s beautiful. They all are,” she noted, turning toward the other horses. Jared nodded and walked to the other end of the stables knowing that she would follow. She threw off his routine a bit by going to the breeding mares first, but he was going to get them back on track.
“I always start at this end, otherwise Shifter here gets impatient and starts kicking,” Jared said, gesturing toward a tall, black stallion. Emily nodded and followed him to the shelves just past the stall. Jared pulled on his work gloves and handed her an extra pair he kept on hand. She shoved her hands into them and hoped they wouldn’t fall off because they were at least one size too big.
“Over here is where I keep the hay. I usually grab an armful and give one to each,” Jared explained, scooping up about half the bale. Emily’s eyes widened, wondering how on earth she would manage to carry that much. He opened the gate to the stallion’s stall. Jared walked in, brushing the stallion from neck to hind in one smooth motion with one hand while the other arm cradled the hay. “There boy,” he said his deep voice soothing the horse. He took the hay to the opposite corner of the stall and as soon as he dropped it the horse began to eat. While he munched on his hay, Jared took a brush off the side of the stall and began to brush him, following the same path his hand had taken. He looked up at Emily and handed her the brush.
“Here. Brush in the direction of the hair,” he intructed. Emily took the brush and began to smooth it over the horse’s hair. The horse gave a grunt in appreciation and continued to eat. Jared watched her, amazed by how quickly she picked it up. He went to toss out the old bucket of water and brought it to the facet to refill.
“So where did you grow up if not New York?” he asked. Emily looked up from her brushing and smiled.
“I grew up in a small town in Kansas. My family had a small farm and a c
ouple of horses,” she answered. Jared was shocked to say the least. He didn’t expect her to be a small town girl and he especially hadn’t expected her to have experience with horses. That explained why she knew how to care for them. He’d still have to show her how to train them though, that was a whole different ordeal than simply caring for them.
“What made you move to New York?” He asked, genuinely curious. He couldn’t imagine a reason for wanting to move to such a huge city. It’s noisy, dirty, and way too many people and smells. City life seemed like hell on earth to him. Emily shrugged, pleased that he was engaging in a conversation with her.
“Adventure, I guess. I wanted to see the world and experience things I knew I couldn’t find in Kansas so I moved. I loved living there; it was exciting and thrilling all the time. But, that gets really exhausting after so many years and I was ready to come back to a simpler life,” she explained. Jared nodded and remained silent. He supposed it would be a unique life experience, but he was just fine never having it. This ranch was his home, and he had no desire to leave it for thrilling excitement in a city. Jared moved to the next stall and Emily followed, closing the gate to Shifter’s stall behind her. She scooped up an armful of hay like he had shown her and brought it in while he emptied out the water. She tossed it in the same corner that Jared had used in Shifter’s stall and began to brush this horse. Jared started cleaning out the stall and while they were quietly working Emily chewed on her lip, debating whether or not to ask her burning question. Eventually, she gave in.
“So, what made you want to post your ad?” She asked, trying to sound flippant about it. Jared glanced up, his eyes meeting hers for a brief moment.
“It was a legal obligation to maintain property rights,” he answered bluntly. Emily was taken aback. She had been expecting, well hoping, for an answer far more romantic than that. She’d spent the entire plane ride coming up with different scenarios. He had had too many failed relationships and just wanted to spend his life with someone who wanted the same things—like she did. Or, he was shy and didn’t get out to meet people very much. Or, he was the only single man left in the whole town! Something other than “legal obligation.” Emily looked away from him disappointedly.