Does she look stunning.
There’s something about her this morning—soft but glowing, eyes a little brighter, lips a little more pink, mouth a little morerelaxed, like it’s been kissed thoroughly. Whatever happened last night didn’t dim her. It lit her up. For a moment, I allow myself to imagine her sounds, the way she might arch into my touch, the taste of her mouth, the feel of her fingers as they thread through my hair—
Lawson snaps a finger and points at Beau without even looking at him. “Don’t even fucking start.”
Beau raises both hands, still grinning like a fool. “Wasn’t gonna say a word.”
“Mhm. Sure.”
Abigail shifts slightly, her gaze flicking between us, and I catch it. The moment of hesitation. The fear that she’s done something wrong just by wanting more.
By choosing.
Something protective curls deep in my chest. Whatever happened between her and Law didn’t take her away from us. If anything, it’s made me want her even more. Pouring another cup of coffee with a splash of cream, I walk past my brother and hand it to her before softly kissing the top of her head. “Mornin’, Sweetheart.”
She stutters for a moment before taking the mug from my hand and looking up at me. “Morning, Lincoln.”
“Sleep okay?” I can’t help the grin that tugs at the corner of my lips.
“Slept great,” she rushes out, trying to hide her face behind her mug as she takes a sip.
“I’m sure you did.” I wink at her, and Lawson huffs a low laugh before clapping me on the shoulder and toeing off his boots.
“Oh shut up,” she jabs, but there’s no real heat behind it. “Go back to ignorin’ me.”
Now it’s me who laughs. “Don’t think that’s gonna be happenin’ any time soon, Abs.”
Abigail rolls her eyes and shoves past me. Well, tries at least. Her small frame doesn’t so much as move me a fraction of an inch.
“So,” Law says as he pours himself the rest of the coffee and goes about making another pot. “What’s the status?”
Holding her head high, Abigail makes her way toward the table where she kicks Jasper’s legs off a chair and takes a seat. I grin to myself because he doesn’t even fight her on it.
“Upstairs was just tossed,” I say, getting straight into it. No reason to sugarcoat shit. “Downstairs by the horses looks like it was left untouched, and all the horses are fine.”
I clock the way Abigail’s spine stiffens. The way her shoulders pull tight, and her fingers grip her mug tighter. Jasper does too, because his knee nudges hers under the table, grounding her without a word.
“Anything taken?” she asks.
“No,” Beau answers from his spot in the kitchen next to Law, and he crosses his arms over his chest. He may look calm, but I know him well enough to hear the edge in his voice now. “Not a damn thing missing. No cash. No paperwork. Nothing.”
“Which means they were here for something else,” Lawson says quietly.
“To remind us they could get in if they wanted,” Jasper adds.
“Who would do something like this?” Abigail asks.
The four of us share a look before Lawson finally nods in my direction. Taking a deep breath, I give her the highlights. About how Hearthland Development and their CEO, Miles Keller, have been trying to buy our land to build some bullshit housing development. About how we found out about everything Miles Keller has done to the pieces of land he’s bought. About how he somehow manages to avoid all kinds of red tape to cheapen the cost of construction, regardless of how it impacts the wildlife around it. About how he continuously uses threatsand blackmail to get his way. And about the Coates brothers, they’re failing farm. How all three of them have been in and out of jail since they were teenagers, and about how they’re a literal shitstain to the community around here. Then I tell her about how it’s been made abundantly clear that Keller has hired those three dipshits to fuck with our ranch, in hopes that their constant threats will get us to fold.
He couldn’t be more fucking wrong.
We all watch as Abigail takes a moment to process everything I’ve just said. And for a moment, I expect her to panic. To be afraid. But I’m pleasantly surprised when the words out of her mouth are, “What a bunch of fucking morons.”
“Ayyyyy,” Beau says with a grin a mile wide. “So she does have a feisty side. Knew she was in there somewhere.”
“Never questioned it for a second,” Jasper adds with a wink. “Anyway, they didn’t break anything. Didn’t vandalize. That’s not panic, Law. That’s confidence.”
“That’s testin’ us,” I say. “Seein’ what we’ll do.”
