Page 17 of Bronco
“Our family’s legacy has never been this building. It’s always been the people in it. If I have to sell the building to protect and care for the people within it, then that’s what has to be done. Besides, I’ll have clauses added. You and I will stay on. I just won’t…be in charge anymore.” The way she says the last sentence guts me. She’s trying so hard to hide her heartbreak, to be strong. I swear to myself that I’m going to fix this. I’m not going to let the place go under. I will sell every single one of those cowboys at auction.
“We’ll get through this,” I reassure her.
“Damn straight, we will,” she gives me a nod even as her chin wobbles. “I’ll be gone over the weekend. Bree and Dalton will be handling everything. But you can call me if something requires my attention.”
I nod, knowing the center is in good hands with Bree and Dalton. Bree’s medical knowledge and Dalton as a handyman means no problem will be unfixable.
“Try to have fun on your trip,” I insist and give her a peck on the cheek. “We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone.”
I walk Aunt Elaine to her car then come back in to find Ryan at the security desk, rubbing gritty eyes.
“Another double?” I ask him, my heart going out to him. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him here most nights too. I don’t know when he’s sleeping anymore.
“Other guy called out,” he answers, not bothering with the new security guard’s name. We’ve had a revolving door of them over the last few months. It’s a boring job with low pay and a few decent benefits in a sleepy town that the world has forgotten about. It’s not exactly easy to find people that want the position in the first place.
Ryan is about my age, but I’ve never seen someone as dedicated to this place as Aunt Elaine and I are. “That’s the third time this week. Most people would say that isn’t your problem.”
Something flickers across his expression, and he glances around the lobby where various residents are engaging in their favorite activities. “Someone has to stand guard.”
“You seem to love the people here as much as I do,” I answer, thinking of the time he took Mr. Dunn fishing on his day off.
He looks like he’s going to say something but before he can, there’s a rap on the lobby door. He lets Bronco in, and I frown. I wasn’t expecting to see him again today. He has a backpack slung over his shoulder as he marches inside.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised to see him without his toolbox. The last few times he’s shown up, he’s been here to fix something.
“I’m here to spend the night with you,” he answers as if it’s obvious.
I blink slowly, certain I’ve misheard him. But no, he’s still standing there with his expression completely serious. I don’t think he’s teasing me.
“About time,” Mr. Dunn says, looking up from his game of checkers with Mr. Humphrey. I took the chess game away from them earlier when Mr. Humphrey jokingly threw a piece and nearly hit Mr. Dunn in the eye. They both cackled about it, but no one is going blind on my watch.
“Go get you some!” Joyce calls loudly from her recliner in front of the daytime talk show. She’s enjoying a red velvet cookie with cream cheese icing that she won off one of her friends.
My cheeks flame. “You guys! Do not encourage the crazy hot cowboy!”
Kill me now. I just called Bronco hot. I did it in front of him and a room full of witnesses. My cheeks are officially hotter than the sun’s surface.
I risk a glance at Bronco, but as usual, his face is impassive. Gah, why can’t that stoic expression slip for even a moment?
“Three nights and three days. That was the promise, and I plan to deliver in full,” he says loudly, his voice booming across the reception area. Hoots and hollers go up like these residents are a group of high schoolers.
I grab his thick bicep and tug him down the hall. “What’s this about? I work here! Heck, I live here, Bronco!”
“That’s why I brought my overnight bag. Figured you’d want to stay close by.”
Bronco crammed into my tiny apartment for three days? And nights, my inner voice reminds me. That’s all it takes for my head to fill with dirty images of the two of us together. He could share my bed, his big frame crowding me. Touching me. Holding me. I nearly whimper at the thought.
Bree comes out of her office, bringing me crashing back to reality. Which is precisely what I needed.
“What’s going on?” She asks shooting a curious glance Bronco’s way before focusing her attention on me.
“She won me in a contest, but now, she doesn’t want me,” Bronco somehow manages to put the right amount of glum into his voice.
“That’s not quite?—”
“We’re supposed to spend three nights and three days together at my place,” he explains.
“Aunt Elaine is gone. I can’t just?—”
