For a second, Ivy couldn’t gather her wits. She hadn’t expected Judd, hadn’t expected a cattle prod, and certainly hadn’t expected to be called a lazy cow.

Before she could dodge the prod, he poked her again, this time in her stomach. “Past time for you to get on up and quit feeling sorry for yourself.”

The end of the prod dug hard, giving her no choice but to jump up from the bed. “C’mon, Judd! This ain’t funny.”

“I ain’t trying to be funny.” His legs were spread as though to block her from getting around him. He wasn’t a large man, but he was as wiry and tough as old leather. She’d watched him wrestle plenty of steers to the ground and knew she couldn’t get past him even if she tried her hardest.

She locked gazes with him, putting on her fiercest glare. In her nightgown and with her hair hanging in tangled waves over her shoulder, she guessed she looked about as menacing as a pup growling at a coyote.

He held the prod out, and the glint in his eyes told her he aimed to use it again.

She tried to take a step back, but the bed was in her way. “What’s got you all riled up?”

“I’m afeared we ain’t gonna be ready for winter, that’s what. Now let’s go. We got a heap of work ahead of us.”

Ready for winter? Heap of work? “What are you talkin’ about? You’re sounding as crazy as a bedbug.”

“We’re gettin’ to work on that ranch of yours.”

She started to shake her head, but he aimed the prod for her thigh. She jumped out of the way, but barely. “Stop! I ain’t gotta ranch.”

“You surefire do. And as your foreman, I’d rather live in a cabin come winter than in a tent.”

“Foreman?”

“Yep. And I’ll be skinned alive if I’m gonna sit back and suffer on account of you acting like a lazy cow.”

This time when she met his gaze, his eyes brimmed with love and affection that brought an ache to her throat. And she finally understood what he was telling her. He was aiming to leave Wyatt and Greta and the home he’d made at Healing Springs so he could help her get a fresh start.

Tears sprang to her eyes, and she blinked them back. She’d shed too many blasted tears in recent weeks. And she didn’t want to cry a single drop more. But Judd’s offer was something that went beyond the ordinary. As generous and kind as it was, she couldn’t accept it. “It’s too much, Judd. I can’t let you sacrifice like that—”

“Wyatt don’t need me no more.”

“You love being here. The kids. The family—”

“They ain’t goin’ nowhere.”