Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
When I crossed the invisible boundary between the Fletcher Ranch and mine, I skirted around the jobsite and made my way into the trees leading up the hill behind the house. I knew the builders were finishing the insulation and beginning to hang drywall, so there wasn’t much to see from the outside, but just knowing I would soon have a home of my own always gave me a sense of happy relief. Of rightness and belonging.
I waited for that feeling to come over me now, but it didn’t.
Instead, as I looked at the house, I felt… lonely.
I’d built the place with space in mind. Multiple large bedrooms, several large gathering areas, plenty of room for the brotherhood to come and visit without us tripping over each other. But how often would they come, really? And what would I do in that big house the rest of the time?
For a second, I let myself imagine having Lellie with me. Hearing her baby-babble to the horses as she had with Buttercup earlier. Showing her the wildflowers in the pasture. Teaching her to ride, when she was older. Taking her to Final Night and all the other town events—because obviously, I’d force myself to stop isolating so much, for her sake. Making sure she was safe and healthy. Giving her a home she could always, always come back to. Reminding her every day that she was loved unconditionally, no matter how bad she fucked up or how many choices she made that I didn’t agree with.
But that wasn’t right, either. That was about me wanting her with me, and as I’d told Tully repeatedly, me wanting her wasn’t the issue and never had been. Lellie had already lost her mother. Was I really going to saddle her with a father who had no idea what he was doing and, as my parents liked to remind me, a really shitty track record when it came to taking care of his family?
It wasn’t right to do that to an innocent child. I couldn’t expect her to fulfill me when it was a parent’s job to give rather than take.
I loved her too much to keep her.
The sun made its way through the trees in warm golden shafts as Trigger picked his way along the deer trail. Fat bees hummed nearby on golden lupine, purple bellflowers, and a patch of deep coral flowers that might have been Indian paintbrush.
There wasn’t a question about whether I wanted to settle here in Majestic—I’d already made that choice. But inheriting Lellie and realizing I couldn’t keep her was causing me to question myself in a way I hadn’t before.
Something about this town had felt like home to me from the beginning, and having the easy friendships with Silas, Way, Foster, and their family gave me a support system that grounded me just like my brotherhood did, but in a more immediate way. And still… I’d held myself back. I’d insisted on solitude and distance. I’d clung to my privacy.
I needed to tell them the whole story about Lellie.
With roundup only a few days away, I’d have to find someone I trusted to help with her. Tully had agreed to watch her, but I couldn’t rely on him. His life was back in Dallas, and I didn’t want to keep him from it.
And part of me knew that the longer he stuck around, the more tempted I’d be by his presence.
After calling on the radio to confirm Silas was home, I turned Trigger around and headed for the Fletchers’ farmhouse. Trigger was used to hanging out in the small fenced area next to Way and Silas’s garage, and he immediately went to work picking at some weeds with his teeth.
I jogged up the steps to the ranch house and let myself in. “I’m here. Put your clothes on,” I called, heading automatically to the large kitchen in the back, where I could hear the familiar rumble of Silas’s laugh.
As soon as he saw me, Silas shoved a cold glass of lemonade in my hand and gestured for me to sit next to Way at the large kitchen island. Thankfully, both were fully dressed… which wasn’t always a guaranteed thing.
Silas nodded toward a pile of ingredients and supplies on the counter. “I’m making a crumble with some blackberries Sheridan picked up at Final Night. Way decided to come home from work early to supervise me.”
Way reached out and stole a fat berry from the basket. “Not true. I came home to check on Indigo and make sure he knew what to do since Dev was obviously busy with other things.”
“Where the hell’d you find that guy again?” I asked before taking a sip of the lemonade. The cold, sweet tang was exactly what I’d needed after the dusty ride.
“University of Colorado at Boulder,” Way said with a straight face. “He’s in town this summer to take advantage of the outdoor adventure sport and wanted a place to crash.”