“Lena,” Willow finishes for her. She actually takes Lena’s offered hand, which surprises me. But she must squeeze it hard, because Lena gives her hand a little shake after Willow lets go, and looks up at me with wide eyes.
Fuck.
Ryker walks up behind Willow, his face grim, and he shakes his head. Aiden’s watching with a blank face from the living room.
“You have a lovely home,” Lena says. I can tell that she’s nervous, and I wish Wills would smile and put Lena at ease, the way I know she normally would.
But she doesn’t.
No smile. No warm welcome.
Fuck.
“Would you like something to drink?” Willow asks and turns to lead us all to the kitchen.
“Oh, I’d love some water, thanks.”
“Gid?” she asks and finally smiles at me.
“I’m okay.”
With a nod, Willow pulls a bottle of water from the fridge and offers it to Lena, who takes it but doesn’t open it right away. She sets it on the island and shifts on her feet.
“You can have a seat,” I tell her, gesturing to the stool, but she shakes her head and stays standing. Her whole body is tense. She doesn’t want to be here.
And based on the lack of welcome from the woman I consider my sister, I can’t blame her.
“What do you think of the ranch so far, Lena?” Ryker asks, cutting through the tension in the room.
“It’ssobeautiful,” Lena says with a smile. “The mountains take my breath away. That and the altitude. I’m adjusting to that. I had noidea that Gideon had a place in Montana, let alone a gorgeous ranch like this—”
“Why would you know that?” Willow asks, and I see anger in her cheeks.
Shit.
“Trouble—”
“Why would you think that you’d knowanythingabout him? All you ever were was a pain in his ass, making him work harder than he needed to, pulling him away from his family.”
“Wills—”
“You’re the little girl who hurt my guy,” Willow continues, and Lena’s entire body stiffens, her face goes white, and I step in front of her, blocking her from Willow’s wrath. Lena’s hands bunch into the back of my T-shirt, and then she pulls back.
“No.” My voice is granite. “You won’t speak to her like that, baby girl.”
“She’s inmyhouse, and I’ll—”
I hear footsteps, the front door opens and then closes behind me, the engine of the four-wheeler starts, and I look out the window to see Lena headed back to my place, the wind whipping through her dark hair.
“You’re out of fucking line,” I say to Willow. “Don’t ever do that again.”
I turn to follow Lena, but Willow grabs my arm.
“Gid—”
“You know, I love you,” I tell her, pulling away from her. I’msofrustrated with her. What the fuck does she think she just proved? “And you’ve been with me through a lot of shit. I don’t know where you ever got it in that head of yours that what happened to my leg was Lena’s fault. I never said or implied that.”
“You were protecting her, and—”
