Laila had been working on Dan's cattle ranch for three summers now. Dan had inherited the property off his grandfather who had finally decided to retire in early April and hadn't wasted any time kicking into action to give the place a decent and thorough tidy up since his ownership began.
It was a decent sized property with at least a good couple of hundred acres to turn the cattle out into the hills and every spring and summer there was a fair bit of work to be done, first making sure the cattle all calved well and then later in summer to bring all the livestock back in from the hills, count em up and get them properly finished to send off to the sales. In the midst of all of that there were horses to break in and get some miles on, yearlings to sell, and chores to be done. Laila had first come across the farm as a young fresh out of university for the summer twenty two year old who'd done her fair share of work on a farm but hadn't thought she'd ever return to it after she left her own family farm straight out from college and left for the city for four years.
The summer job that had opened up on Dan's farm to break in the young stock and ride them out to check on the cattle day in, day out couldn't have come at a more perfect time. She'd crashed and burned at university, dropped out and picked up a local cafe job which she'd hated and had been buying her time to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. From the first day on the first summer she'd arrived, it had felt like home.
Since then she'd gone back to the city for the rest of the nine months she wasn't on the farm, attempting to pull up her socks and make her parents proud by finishing her lawyers degree with honours, and every summer since she'd been back to the farm in-between.
This summer was the last though, Laila reflected, as she drove up the dirt road to the back of the barn. Her lodgings were up in the loft above the horses and it was a piece of solitude there for her. She lugged her bags from the back seat up up to her room, her heart feeling a little heavy as she did so. She was twenty five and graduated now. Officially a lawyer and ready to go out and get a job that would make her mother's heart burst with pride. If only it would make her own heart swell with excitement or pride in her accomplishments the same way.
With a sigh she pulled on her old blue jeans and boots, shaking the last of the city from her for the next few months and breathing in deeply the fresh country air. Life felt easier already. Faintly she could hear the rumble of another vehicle bumping along the driveway, sounding like it had gone past the farmhouse and so therefore must be on route to the barn. She glanced out the window and saw Dan's familiar pick up truck and grinned. Bring on summer.
Taking the stairs two at a time she leaped down them, barrelling on out the front of the barn to meet his truck.
"Well, well would you look what the wind blew in?" Dan's ute was barely parked a second before Laila advanced on the door, pulling it open and drumming on the side of the door with a few excited whoops and squeals of elatement.
"Far better the wind blowing me in than the cats dragging me, I'd say," Laila replied, her eyes creased at the corners in amusement.
"Last summer Dan - I hope you've lined up a good one for me," she said, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder.
"Ah, don't think you'll catch me being too sentimental yet, for all I know this is just your ploy to get me to hand over the reins to ol' Chocky, and I think I'd rather give up everything I own before that happens now."
Dan's favourite mare, and undeniably the best mare on the property, was a bronze quarter horse called Chocky who Laila had been pestering him about sneaking a ride on for at least the last two summers now.
"Well I've got the whole summer ahead of me to convince you Dan, there's still a few secrets up my sleeve that might convince you yet." Laila tried out her best mysterious look to which Dan just chuckled and shook his head at.
"Dreams are free Laila," he told her with a shake of his head as he climbed back into his truck, unable to stop a grin from sliding onto his face.
"Holler if you need anything or if the water's not working. I fixed it all up last week so should be good to go. I'm headed out to the front paddocks to just check on a few cattle I've got down there and will swing by to make sure you're all settled later but otherwise we're starting at 8 tomorrow."
His ute engine turned over with a shudder and he shut the door, winding down his window as he prepared to leave.
"Glad to have you back Laila," he ended with, giving her a casual wave out the window as he retreated back down the driveway.
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The first two weeks and then the first month suddenly flew by. One minute Laila was easing into it, riding out a couple of last year's break ins to put some more miles on them and the next she was working five horses a morning before spending the afternoon's out on the ranch checking cattle and calves or fixing fences or whatever else there was to do. It was a busy yet simple, rewarding way of living and Laila loved every second.
Dan was often busy doing other things on the farm but the two of them would spend three or four afternoons a week riding out together to check the cattle.
One particular Friday afternoon the two of them happened to have been particularly efficient and finished the work early and were riding back from the one of the back hills casually in the evening sun, chatting and laughing away.
"You still got that fancy hotshot boyfriend of yours Laila?" Dan asked, as the conversation turned away from the cattle they'd been checking on that afternoon.
Laila made a face and shook her head. "That relationship ran its due course," she replied, not feeling particularly like revealing any more details. "What about you huh? You find anyone to keep that big old farmhouse of yours from feeling too lonely yet?"
Dan also shook his head now, "Ah, you know me Laila. Just a bit rough round the edges to find anyone that'd find me half acceptable to bring me home to their parents."
"You mean too casual at sleeping around Dan?" Laila quipped back with a chuckle and Dan shrugged with a smirk although it died off his face quickly.
"That was me Laila, I certainly won't deny it. I've had many a good roll in the sheets with many a lass but the ole reputation's certainly found its way into the township well and proper by now that Dan Lansdowne is known as hot stud of a bachelor but only ever destined for the bachelor life I think."
He seemed a bit disappointed by saying that and Laila watched his expression carefully. "You're just too good at hiding all those charming, good qualities and keeping them on the inside Dan," she told him, her own voice surprising her by how sincere and serious she sounded. Dan and her had grown a fast and very solid friendship working together over the years and she'd seen probably every part of him. Yes, he was a goddamn stud in his own right but it was more than that. She'd seen how devoted to his farm he was, how hard-working and honest he was despite the weather or any other circumstances. She'd seen him with his grandfather, how he valued family. She'd seen him serious and business-like and by god had she seen him playful and spirited. The man had more sides to him than she suspected many of the women in town saw or would ever see. They would only see the hard-to-get prize of the most eligible bachelor in town fucking them for one night and elusively disappearing by the next morning.
He glanced at her and the air was suddenly thick and heavy as they locked eyes, an unexpected amount of charge between the two of them.
Laila cleared her throat and broke her gaze first, feeling a little flustered which surprised her. She didn't think she'd ever felt flustered in Dan's company before. Trying to shake herself from the feeling she clicked her horse up into a canter and looked behind her back at Dan with a cheeky grin on her face, "Race you?" she called back at him to which she saw his own face seem to shake out of it too as he asked his mare Chocky to extend her stride into canter too and he quickly swallowed the gap between them, determined to win the race.
Chocky and Dan won the race of course, not that there had ever been a question about the mare's athletic ability. Laila came trotting in to the stables to see Chocky cross-tied in the aisle with Dan already swinging the saddle off her back.
"What took you so long, slowpoke?" Dan teased over his shoulder as he disappeared into the tack room with Chocky's gear.
Laila laughed, and jumped off her own horse, tying him near the mare and undoing the girth. "I hope you know every time you win a race it's on your horses merit and not your own riding," she said with a laugh, sliding the saddle off and following Dan into the tack room.
They near enough collided as she entered and suddenly they were very close with only her saddle between them, Dan's tall muscular frame towering taller than her.
"Do you not think I have any riding ability huh?" He asked with a small smirk in his tone, daring her to challenge him.
The mood had shifted as their gaze was locked onto each others and Laila struggled to find her wits about her. "I'm just saying if you didn't have Chocky, I think I'd be able to outride you," she countered, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Sounds like I need to prove to you just how well I can... ride." Dan's voice dropped lower on the last word and his intention behind the word nearly swallowed Laila whole.
Trying to shrug it off though she laughed and rolled her eyes, forcing herself to keep moving to put the saddle down and get back out of the room to hose down her horse and put her back in her stall.
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