They smile like they’ve been waiting for that.
“So,” Olivia starts, “welcome to the town. We’re very loud, and we feed people emotionally and literally.”
“And we brunch,” Lani joins in.
“And we’ll absolutely help you hide a body,” Olivia adds again.
Penny rolls her eyes. “She means bake cookies.”
“I mean what I said,” Olivia insists.
Ivy beams at me. “You’ll fit right in.”
And now…
I believe I really might.
CHAPTER SIX
Caleb
Evening settles differentlyon the ranch than anywhere else.
The light gets soft, gold bleeding into purple, and the animals quiet in that way that makes you feel the whole place is finally letting out the breath it’s been holding all day.
I enjoy this time.
Less talking. Less expectation.
Just the barn, the horses, and a couple of barn cats stretched out near my boots, bellies up. One of them flicks an ear like she’s listening to the pages as I turn them.
Yeah. Pages.
I read the same paragraph again, even though I could probably quote it by now.
He held her like she was something precious, not like a burden, not like a chore to carry. Like she was a choice he would make again and again.
I snort under my breath.
“Must be nice,” I mutter.
There’s a hay bale under me, the light overhead is too yellow, and the book is a little dog-eared from going in and out of my jacket pocket. But I’m here, and I’m reading, and nobody knowsbut me, the cats, and a gelding in the next stall who keeps blowing curious snorts through the gap under the door.
“Mind your business,” I tell him.
I don’t get far before I hear bootsteps on the barn aisle. Boone’s got a different rhythm than the hands. More weighted. More responsibility in every step.
Shit.
I stand, brushing stray bits of hay off my flannel, and slide the book between two old feed charts on the shelf behind me.
The door creaks a second before it opens.
Boone fills the doorway with that presence he carries around as armor. “There you are.”
I shrug. “Where else would I be?”
“Fair,” he says. “Dinner’s almost ready. Figured I’d come drag you in myself before Sadie starts a search party.”
