Espino, Stacey - Midlife Ménage [Ride 'em Hard 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Online Free PDF

life.
    Wade supposed he was more a fool than her. He’d held off from getting into serious relationships, waiting for the day Wendy couldn’t hold out any longer. They’d had some fun times in the past during corn roasts and holiday events, but she’d only get so close to him before raising her shields. He could admit to himself he’d fallen in love with her years ago, but nothing he did was ever enough for her.
    By lunch hour the sun was merciless. Just stepping outside of his air-conditioned ranch was like walking into a solid wall of dry heat. He donned his Stetson and drove out to the McCay ranch to check up on his neighbor. She’d skin him for not minding his own business, or concerning himself with a so-called married woman. Wendy was just as lonely as him, a widow stuck in a time warp. Wade had heartache in his past, too, but together they could make a future for themselves. If only she’d open her eyes to the possibilities.
    Her truck was in front of the house, so he knew she’d be home. He parked to the side of the barn, and then knocked on the front door, getting no answer. A farmer would be crazy to work his fields at this hour, on a day like today, so he checked the barn and outbuildings. Her tractors were in the equipment barn. Where was she?
    “Wendy?” he called out. Maybe she was with the livestock or hanging laundry around back. Sometimes he’d see her riding out into the fields alone, just wandering aimlessly. Wade walked around the side of the house to the rear yard, finding it abandoned like the rest of the property. “Wendy?”
    He was about to leave, guessing someone had picked her up and drove her into town for errands, but then his peripheral vision caught some movement. There was a figure way off in the apple orchard. He mopped his brow with a cloth from his front pocket, and then walked across the crisp, burnt grass.
    When he reached the young trees, he noticed how parched the land was, the soil eroding from the dry spell. He weaved his way through the trees until he found her. Wendy was wearing a white tank top, transparent from sweat. She had on jean shorts with cowboy boots, her hair up in a messy ponytail. He’d never seen a woman so beautiful, yet worn at the same time. Her face was red, eyes heavy, and body close to collapsing. The fool was carting buckets of water from the well. He could see the drip trail from where she’d just come from, and the well was a good two-minute walk one way.
    She poured the contents of the large bucket over the roots of one tree, the soil barely darkening and too dry to absorb the water.
    “What in God’s name do you think you’re doing?” He snatched the bucket from her and tossed it. Her eyes followed the metal container as it rolled away. “Answer me, damn it.”
    “They’ll die if they don’t get water. I can’t lose my orchard,” she said. Her voice was hoarse, her lips dry and peeling.
    “How long have you been out here?”
    “Since sunup, I suppose.” She tried to push by him to get to the bucket, nearly falling over she was so shaky on her feet. Wade wanted to make things better for her, take care of her, if only she’d allow it. There was no way she could save her trees by continuing to water them by the bucketful. No sooner than she’d dump the water, the heat would evaporate it.
    “Stop this nonsense. You can’t make a difference with a few buckets of water, Wendy.”
    “Watch me. This is my land, and I won’t watch it burn to hell.”
    He stood back as she staggered down her dusty path toward the well, dragging her boots as she shuffled along. All these years he’d given her the upper hand, kept his manners, but this was too much. Just when he’d decided to put an end to the spectacle, to demand she stop her foolish efforts, she fell forward onto the earth. He raced over, dropping to his knees, and rolled her to her back. Her eyes were closed, her parched lips unable to close.
    “Your stubbornness will be the death of