How many days had I thought about her? How long had I spent wondering what would happen when I saw her again for the first time?
Josie pushed to her feet, murmuring something to her sisters as they tried to follow her. It was enough to make me believe she was going to bed.
Almost.
But then the older one, Cleo, I think, looked my way, and I knew it wasn’t that simple. I couldn’t have her slipping away just because she didn’t want to share the same space as me.
If she wanted to run away after we’d talked, fine. I’d give her all the space she wanted after she gave me the answers I was looking for.
“I’ll be back,” I told Bishop, rising from the log bench I’d parked my ass on for the past hour. His only response was a gruff nod before returning to his beer. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was damn sure about to find out as I set a leisurely pace behind her.
The fire pit stood in front of the main cabins, all of which were occupied by additional staff and guests attending the clinics. It was a halfway point between our lodging and the stables. Josie was already a solid thirty feet ahead of me, her head down and hands in her pockets. She dipped into the barn, not daring to look behind her.
When I rounded the corner, I saw her standing near the end. The moonlight slipped through the windows, just enough to see a dappled grey horse poke its neck out of its stall. It bobbed its head, reaching forward to nuzzle its velvet nose into Josie’s open palm.
“He yours?” I asked, resting my shoulder against a rough cedar beam.
Her body stiffened at the sound of my voice, but she didn’t run away. “She,” Josie corrected. “Her name’s Silver.”
“Silver, huh? How’d you come up with that one, I wonder.”
Josie’s lips quirked, and I took it as a win. “In my defense, I was only seven when my dad brought her home. It was either Silver or Princess Unicorn Sugar Blossom.”
“Well, with two absolute contenders like that, I don’t know how you ever made a choice.”
“Don’t be a dick,” she laughed. “Blame my parents for giving me free rein. I think they thought I’d name it after my favorite movie or something, but I was really into princesses and unicorns as a kid.”
I pushed off the beam, making my way to her side. “What prompted the swing toward Silver?”
Josie hummed, running her hand over Silver’s forelock. “I suspect my sister swayed my decision. I distinctly remember a barn cat named Mr. Stubby Butt.”
“I assume he didn’t have a tail?”
“Nope,” Josie said, popping the p. “He had a long, bushy tail. It makes no sense, but none of us ever questioned it.”
We both laughed, falling into a companionable silence. Josie ran her hands up and down Silver’s nose, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
When I was in Tennessee, it’d been easy to pretend I hadn’t missed her—that she was nothing more than a temporary distraction, a fling—but standing here in her presence was entirely different.
I’d forgotten how goddamn beautiful she was or how her laughter made me smile. I’d forgotten how she chewed on her bottom lip when she was nervous—a habit that would get me in a hell of a lot of trouble, seeing as all it made me want to do was kiss her.
“Why’re you here, Lincoln?” Her voice was soft, a whisper I almost hadn’t caught. And there she went, pulling that damn lip between her teeth.
“Here as in?—”
“As in Texas,” she said, facing me for the first time. “As in my family’s ranch. As in my barn.”
I blew out a breath. “There’s a bunch of reasons, Josie. I don’t know which one you want.”
“I want the truth.”
The truth was complicated and messy. Did I even know what it was?
Yes.
No.
Maybe? I mean, I’d come here for Frank, to try and make sense of my life before I died an old man with a ranch, a bar, and no one I loved at my side.
