Her eye-roll had the flair of someone ten years older and so over him. “That means you want to talk adult stuff, and my ears are too young and innocent to hear it. At least that’s what Papa always says.”
Shylo burst out laughing. “Oh, you sound like I did at your age. My mom used to say something similar to me.”
“When did she finally let you stay and listen?”
Her glance at Seth for help earned nothing but a not-my-problem smirk and a lazy shrug. She mouthed, “Thanks,” to him before turning her attention back to Ari. “Uh... If I remember right, I was about eighteen.”
Ari let out a heavy sigh. “That’s what my parents say too.” She flopped her head back and stomped off like a kid auditioning for the role of Most Dramatic Exit Ever. “That feels like forever!”
Seth belly-laughed at both Ari and Shylo. The latter glared at him as she smacked his arm. “Thanks a lot. I’m not used to kids her age. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.”
Putting a hand over his aching abdomen, he grinned. “I’m sorry, but you did fine. Drama’s kinda her thing lately. I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Well, as her mother said, wait until she hits puberty. Your ears will probably bleed.”
“I’m sure they will.”
The clanging of a loud cowbell interrupted their conversation, announcing that dinner was ready. It didn’t take long for everyone to line up at a buffet table. In addition to burgers, hot dogs, steak, and chicken, plenty of side dishes were provided. A half-vat of Bar None’s chili was also standard fare for the Triple-R’s barbecues. Seth let Shylo go ahead of him in the line and then pointed to an empty table nearby to sit at after they filled their plates. The other chairs quickly filled with some of the other ranch hands and two of their girlfriends.
In between stuffing their faces, the conversation flowed, and Shylo seemed to grow more comfortable with the crowd as the afternoon wore on. When Seth picked up their empty plates to toss them in the garbage, Shylo stood, grabbing her purse and hanging it from her shoulder. “Is there a bathroom I could use?”
“Yeah, of course.” He pointed to the back door of the main house since it had the closest, cleanest bathroom—he wasn't about to send any woman to the ones in the bunkhouse. “Go straight through the kitchen and make a right. It’s halfway down the hallway on your right.”
“Thanks.”
He paused a moment to watch her walk away, admiring her ass. Beside him, Jamie nudged his hip. “She’s nice, man. I like her. She’s not your usual one-night stand or two-week fling, though.”
“Yeah, I know.” For the first time in his life, that knowledge didn’t bother him.
Chapter 9
Another woman with a little girl waited in the hallway to use the bathroom, preventing Shylo from sneaking around and peering into the rooms behind the closed doors. Shane had to have an office in the house, even though another building was where the Triple-R's staff handled the business end of the ranch. Seth had pointed it out among the other structures. From what she'd seen during her walk through the kitchen, the dining room was to her left, while beyond it an open den led to another hallway she assumed ended at the nanny's quarters. Off the foyer sat a formal living room, with a staircase leading to the second floor. The rooms were enormous—the entire apartment she'd grown up in could probably fit inside the den alone.
While she waited, her gaze drifted over the framed photographs lining both walls. The people in them spanned multiple generations—some captured in black and white, others in the faded tones of past decades, and the most recent ones bursting with vibrant colors. In several photos, a woman other than Paige stood between Shane and Tucker, sometimes with a much younger Arianna. She had to be their first wife, and Shylo was a little surprised Paige kept the photos of her up. She thought about how Seth said his stepmother threw out all the pictures of her husband’s first wife, and her respect for Paige climbed another notch. It took a strong woman not to be intimidated by one who loved her man before her—or men in their situation.
Someone exited the bathroom, and the woman and child entered, but Shylo was absorbed in studying the photographs to notice who passed by. Her gaze fell on a picture of a couple who appeared to be in their late forties, standing with a younger version of Shane, probably in his early twenties. She recognized her father from the PI’s file and assumed the woman was his wife, Helen. Stepping closer, she inspected the photo. It was taken outside near a corral, with horses in the background. The trio looked happy, and she felt a kick to her gut again.
Why didn’t her father want to be a part of her life? She wasn’t ashamed to admit to herself that she would’ve treasured rare visits, phone calls, birthday cards, or anything that acknowledged her existence to him other than a bank account she didn’t know about until it dried up.
Glancing down the hallway and toward the staircase, she realized she was alone. After a moment’s hesitation, she stepped toward one of the closed doors farther down and on the opposite side of the bathroom, reaching for the knob.
“Oh, hi, Shylo.”
She spun around to face Mya, hoping she didn’t look like a deer caught in headlights. “Uh. Hi. I was... um... looking for the bathroom.”
Holding a teary-eyed Ashley on her hip, the older woman smiled and pointed to her right. “It’s this door, but I think someone’s in there. If it’s an emergency, you can use the one at the top of the stairs. I cleaned Arianna’s bathroom this morning, just in case.”
On the verge of declining, she realized it gave her another opportunity to snoop. Maybe his office was upstairs. “Oh, thank you. I'd appreciate that.”
Mya stepped back, giving her room to pass, and pointed to the bottom of the staircase by the front door.
“Thanks again.” She hurried past the housekeeper.
“No problem. I just need to find Ashley’s stuffed elephant. She won’t go down for a nap without Elliot. If you see him up there, please holler.”
“I will.”
Upstairs, the doors to all the rooms were open, and it didn’t take long for her to discover that four of them were bedrooms and another was the hall bath. Two of the bedrooms were obviously Arianna’s and Ashley’s. The remaining bedrooms appeared to be guest suites. All were neat and clean.
