Backstreet Ranch

Chapter 3

Guy's POV

The first place we go to is the barn Mallory walks in first and we follow in behind her and the guys look up at the roof Howie looks at us "There are some holes up there we will need some shingles, tar paper, and some nails to fix that." The three of us nod and Mallory looks around him as Nick starts to approach the stall that contains Diablo he doesn't know what he's getting himself into. Nick walks over and Diablo gives the stall a hard kick which causes Nick to fall back on the ground Mallory walks over and starts calming Diablo down while Nick stands up. From there we go to the tractor shed Kevin finds the keys and tries to start it and it doesn't work he climbs down "I'd have to look at it to see what's wrong but you'll need tools and parts." One more thing to add to the list we walk outside and Nick looks at the fences "Some of these are broken you'll need some new posts and wire." Once that is done we show them to the bunk house and they look at us Kevin asks "When would you like for us to move in?" Mallory and Vanessa look at Stacey then she looks back at the guys "As soon as you can if that's okay." "Howie looks at the three of us." "Not a problem."

Mallory's POV

It takes a few days for the guys to get all of their stuff and get settled in the bunk house then the work begins after breakfast I put on my boots and walk out of the house and step off the porch. I walk to the barn and walk around it and get ready to walk in so I can check on Diablo then from out of nowhere something falls on my head and I feel pain shoot through it. I stop walking and put my hand on my head "Damn that hurt." I look down and see shingles laying on the ground by my feet.

Nick's POV

Oh shit I quickly climb down off the barn and walk over to her "I'm so sorry are you okay you should watch where you're going." She looks at me and glares at me with her green eyes "You should watch what you're doing I'm just trying to check on my horse!!!" I look at her "Are you always this careless how are you going to be able to run this ranch?" She looks at me "I knew it was a bad idea to hire the three of you to help us." She turns to walk off but I grab her arm and pull her back to me and look down at her "Sorry about your luck because we aren't leaving princess." This time she doesn't have a smart come back she pulls away from me then walks off.

Vanessa's POV

I walk out to the shed with a glass of lemonade in my hand I walk in and walk over to Kevin "Do you need some help?" He crawls out from under the tractor then stands up "No but thank you it's going to take a while to fix it." I nod my head then hold out the glass to Kevin "I think you might need this." "Thank you." He takes the glass then sits down on a hay bale I walk over and sit down next to him he takes a long drink then looks over at me. "So your grandfather owned this place?" I nod my head "Yes my sisters and I spent a lot of time here while we were growing up." He nods his head "He took good care of this place I've been on some ranches that were just falling apart." "He loved this place it meant a lot to him and my grandmother." Kevin takes another drink then looks over at me "I'm sure they were great people." I smile "They were really great."

Kevin's POV

Vanessa and I sit and talk for a while she tells me about what is was like growing up here and that she is the youngest out of her three siblings. I tell her about my family and the different types of work I've done on some of the ranches in the area a little while later the two of us stand up. "Thank you again for the lemonade." I pass the glass back over to her and meet her brown eyes then cough and take a step back. "I better get back to work." She nods her head "I'll see you later Kevin." I nod then she turns around and walks out of the shed.

Stacey's POV

I meet Howie out by the fence a few feet away from the barn he looks up at me when I get out of the truck "Hello Stacey." I wave and walk over then prop against the truck "Hi Howie." I keep looking at him and want to get closer to him it's like there is some invisible force pulling me to him but I resist and stay against the truck. I couldn't have feelings like that this soon especially for someone I barely knew I couldn't not now, not after my ex. He cheated on me all the time then turned abusive so I was more than happy when the three of us moved out here it was my chance for a new start but I wasn't looking for love.

Howie's POV

I wanted to say more to Stacey and I wanted to stop working on this stupid fence so I could look at her since I met her I had felt drawn to her. At the moment the last thing I wanted was a relationship my last one didn't go so well my girlfriend and I had been together for a while so I was ready to take the next step the night she dumped me I was going to propose to her. She said she wanted more than what I could offer her and I was still hurting over it I didn't want to go through that again for now I didn't want love. Maybe in the future I would meet the woman who wanted me and would be happy with what I could give her and she would be okay with me working on a ranch.