You better believe, for the rest of our time there, all I can think about is Red calling me “his girl” and wondering why I like it as much as I do.
12
RED
Leah Barnes is many things. Smart, beautiful, and the best partner and soulmate to Colt. But she’s also the Bull Mountain Seer, which makes her a menace in my eyes. I’m also starting to think she’s part-sorcerer too because why me? Why now? Why doIhave to hear the Call andwhyis every part of my being telling me that Mags is my One.
When we left Justice and the wildlife center, I drove us to Ninilchik while Mags slept. A few hours later, we arrive at the cabin I've rented for us while we’re here.
Reaching over, I gently shake her shoulder, trying not to startle her. “Wake up sleepyhead. Time to check out our home for the next few days.”
She slowly blinks away, stretching her arms out in front of her before shooting me a warm sleepy smile. “Are we here already?” she says with a yawn.
The night I first met Anna, Mags was her married wing woman. When Anna and I got married, Mags was in between marriages number two and three. Anna used to tell me how soft-heartedand kind her best friend was, and how she had a romantic heart under all of the sassy exterior.
What I remember most though is that Anna’s biggest wish was for Mags to finally find a man who would see and protect her, someone who'd love her wholeheartedly, openly, and as fiercely as she always loved others.
After Anna’s passing, Mags’s sole focus was on helping me and Wyatt. She didn’t care that I was a mess, and he was lost. That I got angry, then sad, then shut down completely. Or that I buried everything down to make sure that my son had a momanda dad in me since I was all he had left.
I snapped at her, cried on her shoulder, ranted, and raved. You name it, I did it. Yet she was unshakeable.
All Wy and I had was each other, Mags, and the rodeo. So after a few months at home, we bid Spring Haven and Mags goodbye, and went back on the road together while Mags stayed behind. Every chance we got, we’d come back home to visit, and it would be like we had never left. The long and short of it is, I would not be the man I am today without this woman.
But right now, as she stretches out in the passenger seat of my truck, her hair tousled from sleep and a content smile on her face, it’s like I’m seeing her for the first time all over again. The lines on her face tell stories of laughter and tears, the freckles dusted across her nose are like constellations in the night sky, and her eyes...those eyes that have seen it all and never lost their spark. Those eyes spear right though me.
So yes, here I am, wondering if Leah Barnes has put a spell on me. All of a sudden, every time I look at my best friend, I'm having very non-best friend thoughts about her. In fact, I'mstarting to feel like a teenage boy with an unobtainable crush. Andthatjust confuses me even more.
Before I can give that anymore thought, Mags leans forward to look out the windshield. “You sure this is the place?”
I pull up the instructions on my phone to double check. “Yep, the map says this is it. Maybe we should keep goin’ through those trees?” I say as I inch the truck forward, driving down the narrowing driveway for another few minutes before coming to a stop in front of a rustic cabin nestled among tall trees that look older than the two of us combined.
“This is cute. I’m surprisedyouchose it,” she teases.
“I’ll try not to be offended by that. But at least the outside matches the photos online. Doesn’t matter about the inside, as long as it’s got a bed and a hot shower, I’ll be a happy man.”
Mags spins in her seat. “Is that all you need these days? A bed and a shower?”
I grin. “I’ve slept in far worse places, believe me. Hay in the back of a horse trailer, sittin’ on a barn floor surrounded by animals and manure, so anythin’ better than that is fine by me.”
“Easy to please, then,” she replies with a smirk.
Arching a brow, I look her over. “So that’s how it’s goin’ to be, huh? Offer my best friend the best road trip of her life and she gives me cheek.”
The woman’s grin widens. “I’vealwaysgiven you cheek. That’s one of the reasons you keep me around.”
“There’s more than one reason, darlin’.”
She winks. “It’s because I can cook, right?”
“You damn well know there’s a hell of a lot more to you than that,” I growl before I can stop myself.
“Oh.” Her body jolts and I know I’ve caught her off guard.
“And to prove it, for as long as we’re on this road trip, you’re not doin’ it.”
She frowns, scrunching her nose up. “Doin’ what?”
“Cookin’. Worryin’. Anythin’ you’d do at home if you were there right now.”
