Chapter 20
20
JOHNNY
The moment Wanda hangs up with the promise of catching a flight out here this week, I’m fixing all my focus onto Aurora. She’s tense in my arms, almost shaking with whatever it is going through her head. Disappointment or anger, maybe. I know I feel a lot of the latter.
Wanda grew up here in Cherry Peak with the rest of us. She’s the same age as Brody, so I never had the chance to get to know her all that well. Although it wasn’t necessary in a town this size where everyone knows everyone regardless of age.
It’s public fact that she’s accepting of strangers only when she wants to be, and if she does accept you, there isn’t much of a chance to grow close before she’s taking off on another one of her adventures. Nobody blames her for not wanting to stick around, considering the lack of tethers keeping her here. But that doesn’t make me any less upset with the way she spoke to Aurora on the phone.
Shock can have a negative effect on just about anyone. There isn’t a right or wrong way to handle something as heavy as learning you’ve had a sibling you never knew about. There is, however, a proper way to speak to someone, surprised or not.
Feel your emotions, but don’t take them out on others. My mom taught every one of my siblings that lesson when we were young. It’s stayed with me since, and I try to live by that rule as often as I can.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my voice half-muffled by Rory’s hair.
She breathes in and out and jerks her head in a nod. The fruity smell of her shampoo works its way up my nose as I press another kiss to her crown. Every minute that she stays in my arms, I grow calmer. More at peace. A sense of rightness settles deep in my subconscious, and I’m certain that this is exactly where I need to be.
Daisy wasn’t supposed to be here until after lunch, and if she truly hadn’t arrived until then, I wouldn’t have gotten this chance with Rory. It was fate that brought my sister here early to say goodbye before heading back to Calgary, and I won’t take a single fucking argument on that.
“Should I be okay after that?”
“You don’t have to be. Not with me.”
“What good will it do if I’m not? I wasn’t expecting her to be happy.”
The pain in her voice threatens to rock me back on my heels. It strikes deep, awakening instincts inside of me that I haven’t felt before for anyone besides my family. The drive to protect and defend.
“Happy or not, she could have been nicer.” Should have been.
I cup her hips and press us into the shadows, her back against the wall. She lets me move us, not letting so much as a peep escape her. It’s worrisome, turning my protectiveness up a notch.
Flexing my fingers, I drop my head, bringing my nose to brush her cheek. My hat bumps her head, and I consider tossing the thing into the wind before she surprises me by ripping it off herself and hanging it at her side. I laugh softly at her eagerness, and she shivers in my grip.
“Don’t laugh at me right now,” she scolds, but there’s no heat behind it .
“I’m not laughin’ at you, darlin’.”
“Right.”
“I’m trying not to lose my shit right now, actually,” I admit.
“Why?”
“Why am I trying not to lose my shit?”
“Yeah.”
I almost laugh again. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Clearly not,” she grumbles.
Pulling back enough to stare down at her, I curl a finger beneath her chin and lift it. With her red-rimmed eyes snaring mine, I struggle to breathe, let alone speak. It should be a crime for eyes this beautiful to be so sad.
“I don’t like it when you’re upset, Rory. Not one damn bit.”
Her shoulder lifts. “It’s not the end of the world.”
“Feels like it to me.”
She blinks, long lashes brushing the thin, still-wet skin beneath her eyes. I swipe at the wetness there with my thumb.
“You didn’t have to come save me, Johnny. I can take care of myself,” she murmurs.
“Do I look put out by comin’? Because I sure don’t feel anything but grateful to have been here for you.”
I hear her swallow before she tightens her arms around my waist and hugs me. Hugs . Me . With her cheek flat to my chest, I know she can hear the way my heart speeds to a dangerous tempo. I want her to hear it.
“Thank you,” she breathes against my shirt, my hat brushing my back from where she still holds it.
I close my eyes and hug her just as tight. “Anytime, Aurora.”
We stand here for minutes, hours, maybe. With my back to the world and her in my arms, I could have stayed here for a lifetime. Every noise around us is dulled, as if we’ve stepped inside a bubble meant just for us.
I never thought I could enjoy something so simple this much. And the guys would have my ass if they ever found out, but I’m almost inclined to make sure to tell them regardless. It’s worth it for the chance to let them know she’s my girl, even if she hasn’t accepted that just yet.
We’re getting there.
Slow and steady , I remind myself.
“Don’t you have work?” she asks after a few more moments of silence.
I don’t let her go just yet. “Nothing that can’t wait a few minutes. I was planning on taking an early lunch, anyway.”
It’s not completely the truth. I was riding Joker back from checking on that damn bull fence again when I saw Daisy rounding the house. My to-do list flew away the moment she told me Aurora was “having a mild nervous breakdown” and skipped off to the stable.
“You’re a shit liar, Johnny,” she says before unwinding her arms and swaying back a step.
The loss of her against me is a shock to my system, but I try to hide the effect it has on me with an easy grin. “Do you have a busy afternoon? I’ve got somethin’ to do that I think would help to take your mind off of Wanda.”
Intrigue lights her eyes. “Like what?”
“I know you said you aren’t the biggest fan of animals, but have you ever met a horse?”
After hooking up the horse trailer to the hitch of the truck, I hop out of the cab and wave Rory over.
She comes over instantly, appearing almost excited. Seeing the appearance of her smile after what happened earlier is like looking up at the sun after a week-long rain.
In blue jeans and a baggy shirt that droops over her left shoulder, leaving it bare, the only way this woman could look any more like a natural rancher would be a hat on her head and boots on her feet. It’s hard to want her to look anything other than herself, though. She’s damn perfect the way she is .
“Hop in and we’ll head out,” I tell her.
“I don’t know anything about horses,” she warns.
“I know. I’m goin’ to teach you. We’ve got a little over an hour on the road before we get there, so we’ve got the time for a rundown of the basics.”
With a small dip of her chin, she rounds the hood of the truck and slips inside. I roll my shoulders to disperse some of my nervous jitters and join her.
The truck we’re using today is not only big, but it’s loud as fuck. One twist of the keys and it’s roaring and puffing out plumes of black smoke. Aurora unrolls her window and watches the clouds of exhaust in the side mirror as I drive off the grass and onto the gravel road leading through the ranch.
Hanging my arm out my window, I ask, “Will you tell me more about your life in Calgary? Not including all the stuff with your mom, but everything else.”
“Anything specific you want to know?”
“Hard to be specific when I want to know everything, darlin’.”
She laughs, reaching out her window to run her fingers through the breeze. “Right. Well, I had a good job as a financial advisor for an auction company. It was boring, though.”
“What did you do there?”
“The basic things. Kind of like what I’m doing for the Steeles. Budget planning, advise on large purchases.”
I hum. “Did you enjoy it?”
“Enough that I worked there for six years.”
“Would you have stayed there if you hadn’t come here?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Sensing that I’m approaching one of her walls, I switch topics. “Are you close with your mom?”
“Do I get to ask you any questions, or do you just get to ask me them?”
I flash her a smile. “You can ask me anything you want. ”
“What are your mothers’ names? Eliza mentioned that you have two.”
“Goin’ right for my heart, I see,” I tease while we pass the ranch house. “Jennifer and Rachel. They’re two of the best people you’ll ever meet.”
“How do they feel about having so many daughters and only one son? You’re a bit outnumbered,” she says with a soft curl of her mouth.
“A bit outnumbered? Try a lot. I know more about periods and acrylic nails than I do cattle.”
“So, does that mean you aren’t one of those guys that gets sent to the store to buy tampons and has to send a thousand pictures of the different kinds for approval before finally grabbing one?”
I glance across the dash and wink at her. When I look ahead again, we’re approaching the Steele Ranch gate. “Nah, gorgeous. You send me out, and I’ll come back with all the top-of-the-line products, plus everything else you’ll need. No picture sending necessary.”
“That’s a big promise,” she muses.
“And one I can fulfill.”
“We’ll see.”
My stomach tries to shoot up through my throat at her answer. It takes all my focus to turn out of the ranch onto the second gravel road leading to the highway.
“You say that as if I’ll get a chance to prove it to you.”
Her smirk is coy and makes my cock stiffen in my jeans. I shift in my seat and attempt to subtly adjust my hard-on.
“We’ve only been on one date,” she points out.
“And your porch is nowhere near finished.”
“Exactly.”
I laugh, feeling it deep in my gut. “Let me take you out properly, Rory.”
“I don’t need to be taken out. I liked being at home.”
“You deserve to be wined and dined. ”
She snorts, the noise drawing my attention. I cock a brow when she rolls her eyes at me. “I’m a homebody. In case you haven’t noticed, people aren’t really my specialty. It’s easier to feel like myself at home.”
“Okay, do you have anything in mind, then?”
“Surprise me.”
Two words have never sounded so exciting. “That’s a dangerous request to make of a guy like me.”
“A guy like you?”
“Yeah, the type that wants nothing more than to impress a girl like you and is willing to do just about anything to accomplish it.”
“I’ve never known a guy like you, Johnny,” she admits softly, almost nervously.
I reach across the dash and drop my hand on her thigh. She glances down at it before looking over at me. I fucking love her pink cheeks.
“Seems we were both in for a surprise, then,” I reply before giving her thigh a squeeze and keeping it there.
A claim staked for only us to see.