Page 6

“Oh, Cruz is a sweetheart,” she says.

I wouldn’t use that exact word, but I’m not about to contradict her.

A shuffling noise has me turning to see Tate entering the room, followed by his wife, Lucy, and two adorable little girls—about the ages of six and two.

Tate greets me with a warm smile and a quick hug. “Addison, you’ve met my wife Lucy before, right?” he asks.

Lucy steps forward, pulling me into a hug as well. Wow, I forgot how big of huggers the Thatcher side of the family is. Can’t say the same for most of my other relatives. “Oh yes, we met at Levi’s wedding last year,” she says.

Levi. Tate’s brother. I do vaguely remember meeting her—along with dozens of other long-lost relatives. Typical wedding shenanigans.

“So nice to see you all again,” I say. “Thank you so much for letting me stay on the ranch for the summer. Seriously.”

Theresa waves off my comment. “Oh please, we’re thrilled you’rehere.”

Tate grabs a set of keys off the counter. “We all ready?” he asks.

I glance quizzically between him and Theresa. “Where are we going?”

“Dinner,” he says simply.

“We’re going out?”

He shrugs. “Kind of. We’re going down to the mess hall. Every month or so, we splurge on a nice dinner for all the staff—this month, it’s steak.” He widens his eyes, scooping up his youngest daughter and heading for the door.

Lucy chuckles, following. “I think he gets more excited about these dinners than the employees,” she says to me as she passes.

I follow the family out to the large sedan parked out front, watching as Tate and Lucy get the kids settled into their car seats.

“You said ‘mess hall,’” I say to Tate. “Do the employees normally get meals onsite?”

“The ones that live here, yeah,” he answers.

“You have people living here?” I don’t know why this surprises me so much. I suppose it makes sense for a ranch this size to have people living on site. It just seems so … fancy, I suppose. The ranch has certainly grown since we were kids.

“Oh yeah—dozens of people. The bunkhouses and mess hall are actually pretty close to your cabin. I wanted to show you anyway because you’re free to go down and eat at the hall anytime. You’re also more than welcome to come around the house too,” he adds, “they’ll just probably have better options down at the cafeteria.”

I nod numbly, suddenly thinking of the two encounters I’ve had with the ranch hands so far. Neither have seemed overly friendly. Not rude, exactly, just …

I huff. It doesn’t matter, really. I’ve dealt with worse.

Once the kids are settled in, the rest of us climb into the sedan, Tate taking the wheel and heading off down one of the dirt roads leading away from the house. It doesn’t take long for the bunkhouses to come into view.A smattering of cabins of various sizes are spread out around a couple larger buildings in the center.

Tate pulls up, jumping out while Lucy and Theresa work on unbuckling the kids.

“This center building here is the mess hall,” Tate tells me once I get out. “That road on the other side of the clearing? A five-minute walk up there and it’ll run right into your cabin.”

I nod. “Great.”

I can already hear the buzzing from outside the hall as we approach. Loud voices, laughter, the clattering of dishes. When we enter, I’m immediately met with the largest group of, well …menI’ve ever seen. And I don’t just mean the male species. I meanmen. Thick, muscular, tanned men. And while not every one of them might meet the requirements of a male model, they’re definitely all in good shape. Very good shape.

It makes me a bit self-conscious. Even the women—albeit there are less of them—are thin, fit, andmuscular.

I try my hardest to keep my jaw properly hinged as we step inside. Tate, Lucy, Theresa, and the kids immediately make themselves at home, greeting friends and chatting. I glue myself to Theresa’s side, feeling that she’s probably the safest to be stuck with.

“Addison!” Tate calls, beckoning me over to the other side of the room.

I glance at Theresa and then follow him, making my way over to where he’s standing with an older gentleman, an apron wrapped around his belly.