I shrug.
I don’t know, man.
Reggie sets our duffel bags at our feet. Everything we own is in these bags, and it isn’t much.
“You’ll be staying in the bunkhouse with the hands,” Ray says, still looking us both over. “I have six hands hired for the summer, including Dusty, my manager. They’ll get you situated. You all come up to the house every night for dinner.”
Gideon and I both nod.
“I have one hard rule,” Ray adds, narrowing his eyes, and then he gestures to Deb. “This is mywife. The love of my life. The only reason I do anything. No one sasses her on this ranch. You treat her with the kindness and respect that she’ll show you. You’ll get no second chances. If I find out that you even look at her sideways, you’re out of here. Everything else we’ll figure out as we go.”
Deb rubs her hand up and down Ray’s arm, as if to comfort him, and it makes my chest kind of feel funny.
“Yes, sir,” I say.
“Yes, sir,” Gideon echoes.
“Who are you?”
We turn as a girl with shiny blond hair and the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen rides over on a horse. She looks like she might be about our age.
“Oh, this is my niece, Willow,” Deb says and gestures for Willow to climb off the horse. “She’s here for the summer.”
I want to learn to ride a horse.
“Willow, this is Gideon and Ryker.”
“Hey,” she says with that smile that dims the sun, and she offers us a little wave before flipping her blond hair over her shoulder.
Now my chestandmy stomach feel funny.
“Hi,” I reply.
“Hey,” says Gideon.
“Same rule applies to Willow,” Ray says sternly, and we both nod.
Nobody hurts the girls.Got it. I wish someone had clued the fuckers who used to kick the shit out of my mom in to that rule.
“You’ll love it here,” Willow says, bouncing on her toes. “I wish I could be here all year, not just in the summer. I mean, I live an hour away, so I visit sometimes, but I get to be hereall summer longevery year, and it’s the best.”
“They’re not here to play,” Ray reminds her. “They’re here to work.”
“Aw, Uncle Ray, they can’t work every minute of the day.” Willow kisses the older man’s cheek, and his face softens as he smiles down at her.Ray isn’t an asshole.“Can I show them around?”
“We’ll both show them. Let’s start at the barn, and you can put your horse away,” Ray says.
“I’m headed inside to get started on that chicken,” Deb says. “Welcome to the ranch, boys. Go get hungry so I can feed you.”
I’m always hungry.
First, we’re shown to the bunkhouse, where we each set our bags on a bed. I’m on the lower bunk, and Gideon is above me. It’s pretty nice in here, with a kitchen and a living room with a big TV. It’s clean, and the blankets and pillows on the beds look new.
I wonder if we can watch hockey when the season starts.
We head outside and are introduced to some of the guys in the barn, along with the horses. The afternoon goes by fast, and I sneak glances at Willow, who seems to be thehappiestperson I’ve ever met. I don’t think she’s stopped smiling once. She practically bounces when she walks, and she keeps touching me and Gideon as if we’re old friends, pushing on a shoulder, hip checking us when she makes a joke.
I don’t really like to be touched, but it’s not so bad when she does it, as long as it keeps her smiling.
