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He shrugs. “Fair point.”

Valerie’s smile is electric as she watches us. “God, it makes so much more sense now that you’ve found your way back to each other, and just in time,” she says, placing her hand on my stomach.

Easton steps in front of me on instinct. “Mom. Maybe ask before you touch her stomach.”

I place a hand on Easton’s forearm. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just your mom.”

His brows remain pinched, but my reassurance softens his expression.

Turning back to Valerie, I say, “You know, before we got together, I never realized how protective your son could be.”

Valerie’s lips curl up in a knowing grin. “Oh, sweetheart, I was already aware. But who he directs that protectiveness toward is the key here.” With a wink, she reaches for my hand as I try not to read into her gesture too much.

Easton clears his throat, adjusting the baseball cap bearing his family’s ranch logo. “Where’s Owen?”

“Over at the stables. The vet is here doing a checkup on Jasmine.” Valerie turns to me. “We’ve got two pregnant mares right now, so you’ll fit right in.”

I try not to groan at the reminder of my ever-changing life and body, and luckily, Easton cuts through my thoughts. “I’m heading over to say hello. You gonna be okay?” he asks me, his voice low.

Valerie wraps her arm around my shoulder and turns us toward the house. “Oh, she’ll be fine. Besides, I have plenty to talk about with my new daughter-in-law.”

I glance up at Easton, finding him studying us and then his eyes dip down to the ring on my finger. “I’m sure you do, Mom.”

Then, surprising me, he leans over and kisses me on the lips—right in front of his mother. “Just text me if you need anything. You know, like a foot rub…” His smirk should be registered as a lethal weapon at this point because I think he might be trying to kill me.

“I think my feet will be okay.” Besides, the man has given me a foot rub every night since the football game we attended, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t getting used to it.

However, the last thing I would do is ask him for that while in his mother’s house.

I do have some control over my hormones still—thank God.

Valerie laughs under her breath. “Don’t worry, Easton. I’ll take good care of her. Besides, there’s one thing I know Lennon will want the second we walk into the house.”

“And what is that?” he asks.

Valerie smiles. “Some of my famous peach iced tea.”

***

I smack my lips as the taste of Valerie’s peach iced tea hits every nook and cranny of my memory, and my mouth. “Oh my god, I forgot how good it is.”

She laughs as she takes my glass and refills it from the pitcher sitting on the kitchen counter between us. “Happy to remind you of a simpler time.”

Her words stir unease in my chest, but I take a moment to soak in my surroundings before I prepare myself for the inquisition I know is coming.

The Buckley Ranch hasn’t changed much since I was here as a kid. When Valerie moved to Garnet Valley with her two boys, someone else owned the ranch and let them live in the small house on the back half of the fifty-acre property as part of her compensation. After she’d worked here as the barn manager for several years, he offered to sell her the ranch when he retired to Florida, and Valerie couldn’t say no.

At the time, though, she wasn’t sure she could handle the entire ranch on her own. Fortunately for her, Owen fell in love with the horses and operations as much as she had, so he agreed to help her run it when he graduated.

The ranch itself? It’s like something out of a movie—vast fields full of green grass and wildflowers, horses of different breeds roaming around freely, wooden and iron-rod fences enclosing pens where foals prance around, and training facilities used for breeding racehorses and providing horseback riding to the public.

Valerie and Owen have built an empire here in Garnet Valley, and returning after so many years leaves me even more in awe.

The house is just as warm and inviting as I remember, with hardwood floors, dark wood furniture, and pops of green and violet throughout the common living space.

Valerie hums before meeting my eyes. “I don’t even know if I remember the last time you were here, Lennon. It had to be during your senior year of high school.”

I lift my glass to my lips. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”