Twenty minutes later and I still can’t shake Mandy’s words—or maybe I just can’t shake how she’s right. I am still me. Six years away and I’m still playing the Colonel’s head games, still playing with dangerous attractions. I lose my head when Ellie’s around—exactly how I acted with Mandy. It would be pathetic if it weren’t so annoying.
No. Check that. It’s still pathetic.
My cell vibrates and I check it again—it’s a text from Sam about tomorrow’s hay shipment. He’ll be busy with the vet and he needs me to handle it. Fine, no problem. I’m actually glad he feels like he can ask.
Even before I left for Ireland, I made sure never to ask a staff member to do something I wouldn’t do—or more importantly hadn’t done myself. This means yeah, I’m the boss’s son, but I’ve also mucked stalls, scru
