Holding Haley (The West Contemporary Romance Series) by Jill Sanders Read Free Book Online Page A

him. “Chase is fixing up the ranch homes?” When he nodded, she continued. “You know, I’m always the last to find these things out.” She looked a little upset, so he changed the subject.
    “What about you? What have you been up to since I left?”
    She turned back to him, looked him in the eyes, and shrugged her shoulders. “Same old stuff, I suppose.”
    “I hear you’ve had a winning calf the last three years in a row at the state fair,” he said, playfully, reaching up to tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her shoulder. She’d always kept it long, but this was the longest he’d ever seen it.
    She shrugged again. “Yes, and I think I found number four just today.”
    He smiled. “You have always had such a talent with animals.” He pulled her closer, until they were a breath apart.
    “ Wes, I can’t do this.” She swallowed and pushed away from him. “I understand why you left. I was just as scared as you were.” She took a few steps away from him. “But you hurt me.” He could see the hurt as her eyes pleaded with him. “Can you understand that I can’t take that chance again? I’ve moved on.” She started walking back towards the house and all the lights. “You should, too.”
    He watched her as she made her way to the house. She stopped on the back deck and talked with her family for a minute, then disappeared into the house. He stood there against the fence until he watched her bedroom light turn on, then a half an hour later, turn off.
    As he made his way slowly towards the house that he was calling home for the next few weeks, he couldn’t stop wondering what it would take for her to trust him again.
    He’d never imagined how it had been for her, staying in Fairplay while he went off to basic and then overseas. He’d been too preoccupied with keeping himself alive to think of how she’d been alone in the small town.
    He loved Fairplay, but there just wasn’t a lot to see or do if you didn’t have someone to share it with. Sure, she had her family, but now that both her sisters were happily married, maybe she was feeling some pressure to get hitched as well. Maybe that’s why she was letting Tom stick around? That thought almost had him turning back around and knocking on her bedroom window. But he could already see the porch light of his little place and continued on.
    When he finally lay down in bed, he stared at the ceiling for hours, thinking of how he could convince Haley to give him another chance. He knew one thing—moving slowly wasn’t going to work anymore. He had to up the stakes and fast.

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Five
    T he next few days, Haley stayed busy with work around the ranch. She didn’t have a major role in how things ran around the pace, but she did all that she could. She enjoyed mucking out the stalls and feeding and watering the animals. But her favorite job was riding the fences, checking for breaks in the barbed wire.
    Dash wasn’t the fastest horse, but he knew the routes to take by heart, and he was smart enough that when he saw a hole for her to fix, he’d stop. Most of the ride she could let her mind wander; since she had a lot to think about, she hardly paid attention to the job.
    When lunchtime rolled around, she parked the horse under a tree and leaned up against the large trunk. She ate a sandwich and a bag of chips, and washed it all down with a bottled water. After eating, she fell asleep, lying in the cool shade. She jumped when she heard something.
    “ Sorry.” Wes looked down at her, smiling. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
    She shook her head, trying to clear her foggy mind. “No, you didn’t. I was just resting my eyes.” It was a lie, since she still couldn’t focus her eyes; she knew she must have been in a very deep slumber. She wanted to stand, but he surprised her by taking the spot next to her under the tree. His knee pressed up against hers, causing her heart to flutter.
    “It’s