Chapter 22 Lina
lina
The sound of voices—one sweet and lilting and the other deep and rumbly—pulled me from the haze of sleep.
The smell of bacon and coffee made my stomach growl as I stretched out in Penn’s bed.
My eyes sprang open. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep in her bed, but when she started missing her dad, I had lain down beside her and we’d both fallen asleep.
I was alone in her twin-size princess bed now and I sat up, adjusting my hair in its messy bun before tiptoeing out to the kitchen where I heard Penn and Reed.
I stopped at the couch. They hadn’t noticed me yet.
Reed’s back was to me, holding Penn on his hip.
He flipped bacon in the pan while Penn was talking his ear off about the movie collection I showed her in our basement.
Her eyes had grown into the biggest saucers when I’d turned on the lights and she saw the floor-to-ceiling shelves of DVDs and old VHS tapes.
My heart did a little flip, and my ovaries made that funny little twinge again watching them together. To see a man as gruff and grumpy as Reed go completely soft for his daughter was absolutely panty-melting and heartwarming all at the same time.
“Hi,” I said, approaching the kitchen island. Reed turned, his eyes growing wide for a moment before softening and traveling over my frame.
“Hi,” he said back, his gaze returning to mine. Even with that one simple word, I could feel it reverberate through me and scatter goose bumps all over my skin.
My cheeks warmed.
“Lina!” Penn wriggled out of her dad’s hold to rush to me. I bent down for a hug, which allowed me to hide my blush.
“Hey, Princess Penn.” I grinned brightly.
She smiled wide. “You remembered!”
She insisted I call her Princess Penn last night after we finished watching Beauty and the Beast. One of my favorite princess movies.
“Of course, milady.” I exaggerated a curtsy, causing Penn to giggle and jump up and down in her kitty slippers.
Over Penn’s head, Reed was frozen, tongs in hand. He bit his bottom lip as if attempting to keep himself from saying something. His dark eyes glinted in the early morning light, a sheen I hadn’t noticed before, and it made my breath hitch.
“Can we ride horsies after breakfast?” Penn asked, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the kitchen to stand beside her dad.
I had trouble pulling my eyes away from him.
It was as if our gazes were locked—connected in a way I couldn’t explain.
The air seemed to thicken now that I was this close to him, making it hard to breathe.
His Adam’s apple bobbed on a swallow, and the muscle in his jaw ticked.
I wanted to ask him if he, too, felt as though he couldn’t breathe.
Reed cleared his throat, forcing himself to break free from our stare. He seemed to recover quicker than me, noticing now that Penn had a hold of both of our hands. I gulped, seeing our hands gripped in her little dimpled ones.
Nerves flipped my stomach. What was this? What could this be? Could I take on a relationship with a man who was a dad?
“We can’t today, princess,” Reed was saying. “We’re going to the big house after we eat.”
“Is this about last night?” I asked, my stomach going from flirty flutters to shooting right into my throat.
I needed something to drink. To shake all these crazy, fucking feelings.
To push it down until my nerves could settle.
Instead, I spotted the coffeepot, dropping Penn’s hand to open the cabinet above to grab a mug and pour myself a cup.
“Milk’s in the fridge,” he said casually. “Your dad wants us all over there. He said we should talk. I’m assuming it’s about what’s happening on the ranch.”
“At least he’s roping me in on it this time,” I said.
It was meant to be a sassy little comment, but instead, it sounded bitter.
I needed to get some coffee and then get the fuck out of here before I said or did something stupid.
“Let me just have some coffee, and then I’ll take off. I can meet you over there.”
Reed was already fixing three plates with bacon and toast. “Sit, Lina.” He jerked his chin to the stools at the counter.
“Oh, you don’t have to feed me. I can get something back at home.”
Reed glowered at me, two plates in his hands, while Penn skipped over to climb up on one of the stools. “Sit by me, Lina!”
Penn was patting the stool beside her, her face eager and excited.
“Just sit and eat, then we can go over there together.” Reed set the plates down in front of the stools.
Both of them were looking at me expectantly, but Reed gave me a more pointed look … like this was not a request and it was better that I listen. A thrill ran through me. I hated to admit it, but seeing him in bossy dad mode was making my libido go haywire.
“Fine.” As soon as I was sitting down at the counter, I crossed my legs, hoping it would keep my pussy from clenching.
It didn’t help when he slid into the stool beside me, his knee pressing into mine like he knew exactly what he was doing to me.
It felt weird walking into the house I’d grown up in with Reed and Penn in tow, as if we were a unit and they belonged to me. It was still my house, but something had shifted, and now it felt like a transition was happening that I wasn’t quite prepared for but didn’t entirely hate.
Dad seemed totally unfazed that I hadn’t slept at home, walking into the living room with Reed and Penn. In fact, he had an annoying smirk on his face.
“Shut up,” I told him.
“I didn’t say anything.” The knowing smile still on his face. He was liking this a little bit too much.
“It’s the look.” I dropped into my usual, leather-bound chair.
Dad was still sipping his coffee, settling into his own recliner and turning down the walkie that was on the side table.
Reed sat down on the couch, pulling Penn onto his lap.
“What’s this all about, Dad?”
“Let’s wait for Jude and Romy to get here.”
Hazel shuffled in then, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She had jeans on, covering her ankle monitor, and a Willows Rodeo T-shirt. She shifted a glance at Dad for a split second—she either knew something or something was up. I didn’t take the time to question it, ready to get on with my day.
“They better hurry up. I have a rodeo to prepare for,” I said impatiently.
“Want to do a warm-up after this?” Hazel asked, her brows raised, eyeing Reed’s sweats—I had to roll the waistband up three times to keep them on—and my beat-up tennis shoes.
“That would be great. As soon as this is done, I’ll get dressed and meet you out at the arena,” I told her, tapping my fingertips on the armrests.
The rodeo-day energy was already buzzing through me, making it nearly impossible to stay still.
Not to mention, I was dying to know what Dad wanted to share with all of us.
“Get any sleep this morning?” she asked, sitting down beside Reed as if they were old friends now. That was Hazel, though. She could turn anyone into a friend, even her own worst enemy.
For the first time ever, I felt annoyed by Hazel. A feeling of possessiveness washing over me. Or was it jealousy? I really needed to figure out my shit.
“A couple hours. Before this one decided to wake up.” He bounced Penn on his knee, causing a little giggle to escape her.
“Can I go down and look at the movies again?” she asked.
“Great idea!” Hazel exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. “I can take her downstairs, if you don’t mind.”
“Aren’t you going to miss what Dad needs to tell us?” I questioned.
Hazel was already getting up, taking Penn’s hand. Her smile never faltering, she said, “Chuck already apprised me of the situation. Y’all stay. I got her.”
“Thanks, Hazel,” Reed said, letting her take Penn.
Just then, Jude and Romy walked in, baby Charli asleep in the carrier on Romy’s chest.
“It’s already getting hot out there,” Jude commented as he took the seat Hazel had just vacated.
“Have a seat, darlin’,” Dad said, offering up his own for Romy.
“I better not. She has some sort of sixth sense. As soon as I sit down, she screams.” Romy stood behind the couch, patting Charli’s bottom while she rocked back and forth.
“Do you want me to take her, honey?” Jude offered.
She shook her head, resting her other hand on his shoulder. “I’m good. Let’s hear what your uncle has to say.”
Dad leaned forward, relaxing his elbows on his knees and lacing his fingers in front of him. “When all of this started happening, I went to talk to your grandpa,” he began, exchanging glances with Jude and I.
Grandpa Lloyd had been in assisted living for about a year now. His dementia was getting worse. Guilt shot through me, knowing I needed to be better about visiting him.
“I needed to speak with him before he couldn’t remember anything.
” Dad cleared his throat, a solemn look on his face.
“The Matheuses used to ranch some of this land nearly eighty years ago. When I was a kid, with the success of the Willows Rodeo, your grandpa was looking to grow Thornbrush. Old Ernest Matheus passed and the family needed to pay off debt, so they held an auction for the land. Some of the land was claimed by the state, but the rest was bought up by Dad.”
“The Matheus family—like Junior and Jesse—are from here?” I asked, surprised. I hadn’t heard of them until Jesse came to work on the ranch.
Dad gave a brief nod. “Your grandpa agreed they could remain on the land and work for him … until, that is, about thirty years ago when they lost everything in a fire.”
“Where was that?” Jude’s jaw clenched, as if he already knew the answer.
“Where the burn pile used to be,” Dad said quietly, his eyes bouncing between Jude and Romy.
Jude flipped his hat around, his knee starting to bounce with nerves. Romy rubbed his shoulder to help ease his tension.
“The construction company that laid the foundation for our house excavated some old pipe,” he commented. “Pipe that ran to an old well.”