The door closed behind me with a solid click, shutting out the rain, the barn, the sound of Rose’s voice sayingMy parents died when I was twolike it was a fact she’d stopped feeling years ago.
I peeled off my soaked shirt and stood in the middle of the room, staring at nothing.
She’d trusted me. Let me see something real. And this entire time, I’ve been lying to her about who I am.
The guilt was immediate and total, the kind that sits in your gut and doesn’t move.
I grabbed dry clothes from my bag. Jeans, a hoodie, warm socks. Changed mechanically. Toweled my hair. Tried not to think about her body against mine when I’d caught her. Her parted lips. The way she’d looked at me before she shut down.
You don’t have to be made of steel every second of the day.
I had actually said those words. How fucking stupid was I?
I pulled on my boots and headed toward the main house. Maybe Dex would have whisky. Maybe sitting by the fire with normal people doing normal things would reset my brain.
The lounge was warm and loud when I walked in.
Dex was in an overstuffed armchair nursing a drink by the fire. Olivia was gathering her things from the couch, tablet tucked under her arm.
“I’m still damp,” she announced to no one in particular. “I’m going to go change for dinner.”
She headed out toward the cabins, leaving the place quieter.
Jamie was on the other couch with Denise, both of them bent over Jamie’s phone, talking in low voices. They looked up when I walked by, and Jamie’s expression went bright and innocent so fast it felt rehearsed.
“Graham! You changed. Feel better?”
“Warmer, anyway.” I grabbed a towel from the stack by the door even though I didn’t need it, just to have something to do with my hands.
“Denise was just telling me about the ranch’s social media,” Jamie said. “She used to do content creation before working for Rose.”
“Lifestyle stuff,” Denise added with a dismissive wave. “I wasn’t any good at it.”
The way she said it made my skin prickle. Modest delivery, but her eyes were sharp. Like she knew exactly how good she’d been and had decided to downplay it.
“What kind of social media?” I asked. “Rose seems pretty private.”
“Mostly videos and pictures of the horses. The mountains.” Denise took a sip of wine. “Nothing too personal. That’s Rose. She keeps everything close to the chest.”
Her tone sat wrong. Not critical, exactly. Not fond either. More like a woman cataloging someone else’s weaknesses and filing them underuseful.
Jamie stood up suddenly. “I need to use the bathroom. Be right back.”
She headed down the hall, leaving her phone on the couch cushion beside Denise.
Denise settled back with her wine, watching me.
“Rough day?” she asked. “You look like you’ve been through it.”
“The storm.”
“Mmm.” She took another sip. “Rose can be intense when she’s stressed. Don’t take it personally.”
“She wasn’t intense. She was honest.”
Denise’s eyebrows lifted slightly. A small smile played at the corner of her mouth.
“Well, good,” she said. “I’m glad you two are getting along. She could use more people in her corner.”
