Chapter 5
Ville
Iwoke up early, not very long after Emery left the cabin.
It had been a good night, and part of me was surprised that he was okay with his family knowing about us having this… whatever friends with benefits thing we’d call it.
Since I had a long day ahead of me, I made myself a cup of coffee and then grabbed my tablet before going to sit on the porch stairs.
It was early enough that the only sounds were some moos from the cows in the distance and the rustling of the breeze. There was a bird somewhere, making itself known, too. A barn cat yowling and another one answering it.
It was all very calming and beautiful, but it also meant anyone could sneak in.
If someone wanted to do harm to this family and was determined enough, they could.
Of course, nothing could mitigate the risk completely, but if there was someone trekking across the pastures somewhere with a few Molotov cocktails in their backpack right now, who would know?
A light turned on in the cabin next to mine. I saw Crew walk past the window that had to be the kitchen.
I looked at my map, zooming in and out of it, and trying to place Bodhi’s business on it. I had an approximate location, but I’d need to go there and see where he planned on putting everything. That meant having to actually have discussions with the man.
I really, really needed to stop gritting my teeth.
Looking at the list of people who were outside of the core group of Harringtons, spouses, children, and Russ, there were three hands living on the property in the bunkhouse.
There were others who didn’t live on the property who needed to be able to come and go freely. All in all, there weren’t quite as many staff as one would think, mostly because this wasn’t a cattle operation, nor did they grow anything other than the hay for their own animals.
I decided to tackle each separate business as their own unit.
The ranch was one big puzzle formed from smaller puzzles with various amounts of pieces.I found myself smiling as I thought of the challenge.
It was very different to what I normally did and what I’d done for the past decade. I was looking forward to it.
Jenn had let me know in no uncertain terms that I was expected at the house for breakfast and lunch, and if I chose to, dinner, as well. I wasn’t going to deny the matriarch.
As I stepped out of the cabin, dressed in my comfiest jeans, boots, and flannel, Crew peeked out of their cabin.
“Morning! We’re not joining you at the house this morning, but I’ll see you at lunch?”
“I thought breakfast at the house was mandatory?” I grinned at him.
He chuckled. “It used to be, but there are certain allowances for our little family units. We tend to have breakfast at our cabin most of the time.”
“Makes sense. See you later!” I raised a hand, and saw Payton waving madly through the window.
That boy was special. His idea about dogs was actually really good, and I needed to call my buddy who raised and trained guard dogs for a host of situations.
But I could do that after breakfast, because as soon as I walked closer to the house and caught the scent of cooking bacon wafting through the cracked open kitchen window, that was all I could think of.
I made sure my boots were clean, then knocked on the door twice before stepping in.
“Good morning, Ville,” Jenn said, smiling over her shoulder as she piled pieces of bacon onto a large plate. She’d made them in the oven, which made total sense, given how many people there would be around the table.
“Morning, Jenn.”
Mike walked into the kitchen and greeted me, then went to his wife, embraced her from behind and smooched her cheek, making her giggle.
I grabbed one of the already lined up mugs from the counter and poured myself a coffee as they whispered to each other. It was easy to see where their kids got their loving nature.
I took a seat at the table and sipped at my coffee, humming happily. Gemma was the next one to appear, then Fern right after her. Quiet morning chatter filled the kitchen. Then finally Emery came into the room and the way he seemed to light up when he saw me made me grin.
“Morning,” I told him, unable to keep my voice from being a bit huskier than when I’d greeted his sisters.
“Morning.” He went for the coffee while Fern helped Jenn with the rest of the breakfast.
“Is this everyone?” I asked, a bit surprised at the lack of people.
Mike nodded behind his mug. “On average, yes. Hawk tends to grab breakfast at Carter’s place.
Demi, Luke, and the kids live in town, so they take every morning as it comes based on their schedule.
Crew, Mal, and Payton come for breakfast occasionally.
At the moment the younger twins are home, but I don’t think they’ll be getting up this early. ”
I’d forgotten the youngest siblings momentarily. Then again, there were so many, who could blame me?
Bodhi walked in through the front door, which seemed to surprise nobody. He gave me a glare and greeted everyone else quietly.
Emery sat next to me with his coffee after he filled his plate and dug in without paying attention to me. While we ate, Emery pressed his knee against mine. It was very cute, and I found that I enjoyed the contact.
I chatted with Mike about the ranch, and then Gemma told me what time Hawk arrived most days, in case I wanted to chat with them about the security. Apparently they were less busy the next day, so I made a mental note of that.
One by one, everyone finished eating, took their dishes to the sink, and left to do whatever it was they would occupy their morning with.
When Emery got up, he squeezed my shoulder in a way that lingered as he stopped to finish his conversation with Jenn while standing next to me.
Bodhi, who was still nursing his coffee, clocked it and his jaw ticked.
Mike, in turn, noticed that and followed Bodhi’s eyeline to Emery’s hand on my shoulder.
It might’ve been read as a friendly gesture, but then Emery’s thumb started to rub circles on my collarbone. Pretty certain that he wasn’t conscious of doing it, I cleared my throat and his attention snapped to me.
“Yes?” he asked, then realized what he was doing, and huffed with amusement. His expression turned into a theatrical “oops” face.
I laughed and shook my head fondly. He went to take his plate to the sink.
As I watched him get ready to leave for work, I decided to bite the bullet. I turned to Bodhi.
“I heard that you’re starting a new business on the northwest side of the property. I didn’t have that information before, so would you mind if I came with you so I can see what you’re working with and where your security needs might be?”
He seemed a bit surprised for a split second, but then his face turned into a mask of indifference again. He cleared his throat. “Sure.”
“Great.”
“I might come with you, if you don’t mind. I haven’t been to the site in a couple of weeks,” Mike said in his calm, even tone.
“I don’t mind,” I replied and Bodhi echoed my sentiment.
The site was far enough from the main part of the property that it felt like a wholly separate one. If you looked toward it from the ranch’s side, there were acres upon acres of land before you ever came to what would become The Yellow Ribbon.
I knew what it meant, the name, of course. Mike told me a bit about what Bodhi planned on doing there while he drove me over in his truck. Bodhi had taken his own just moments ahead of us.
“He’s… protective of his brother,” Mike murmured.
“I understand that.”
He hummed thoughtfully. “I get that that’s his reason for his attitude toward you, but what’s with yours to him?”
Well, I hadn’t expected the Harrington patriarch to be this direct, yet here we were.
I didn’t want to lie to the man, so I simply replied, “Wren.”
“Ah.” There was understanding in his tone.
I wasn’t sure if he just didn’t feel the need to talk more about the issue, or if we just got to Bodhi’s patch of land too fast, but Mike parked next to Bodhi’s truck. I grabbed my tablet and got out, then walked to where Bodhi was standing, ignoring us as he surveyed the building site.
Mike headed to inspect something, while I got the map out and tilted the tablet toward Bodhi.
“Can you show on the map where your property lines are and where everything goes?”
He took the tablet and examined the map. “Is this a picture of the map I can draw on?”
“Yeah. Let me….” I grabbed a stylus pen from my pocket and handed it over. “There you go.”
He quickly scribbled things on the map, while explaining to me where each of the buildings would be.
Some of it, like the main one where the inn part would be, was already in a pretty good shape. The horse barn was also framed on top of a sturdy looking concrete slab.
“Your dad told me what you’re doing here,” I said almost-conversationally. Then I had to go and ruin it. “I don’t understand why you couldn’t tell Wren.”
Bodhi scowled. “He’s busy enough. He needs to concentrate on his career.”
Well okay, then. There was something more going on here, but I wasn’t sure what and didn’t want to speculate. Because I sure as hell didn’t need to tell Bodhi Harrington that Wren, a person who wore his heart on his sleeve, would have wanted to know.
That’s what made me be an asshole. “I’m sure he’d be proud as fuck if he knew about this.”
He thrust the tablet at me hard enough that the stylus he’d placed on top rolled and dropped on the ground.
Then he marched toward Mike, who was examining something at the barn structure.
I, meanwhile, went to lean on Mike’s truck and examined the lines Bodhi had drawn.