Chapter 1
Chapter One
Ayden
PRESENT DAY
“Taylor Alison Swift,” Mallory singsongs, skipping into the stables in her pink cowboy boots.
At only eleven years old, she’s the youngest in the Hollis family and not coincidentally, the loudest. I shouldn’t even be surprised she’s an obsessed Taylor Swift fan who named her quarter horse after the singer since she was born and raised in Tennessee.
“She’s in the pasture,” I tell her when she looks over the gate. “Her stall needs to be cleaned.”
“Can you saddle her for me?” she pleads, folding her hands into a praying gesture.
“I’m busy, Mal.” I make a show of holding up two large buckets of feed. “Ask Noah.”
“Where is she?”
“Trainin’.” Where else? Noah’s as passionate about horse training as Mallory is about Taylor Swift.
As soon as the word leaves my lips, Mallory bolts out the way she came in. Blond hair flies through the wind as she belts out the lyrics to “Love Story.”
I shake my head with a grin. Mallory moved to the ranch a year ago after her parents died in a car crash, and the Hollises became her guardians.
At the time, I’d been working here for nine years, and I’d never seen Mr. Hollis cry until the day of his wife’s sister and brother-in-law’s funerals.
It was devastating for everyone, but especially for their only child.
Mallory’s gone through a lot in her short life, but ever since learning to ride here at the ranch, she’s been back to her happy, free-spirited self.
It also helps that there’s never a dull moment at the Sugarland Creek Ranch, which keeps her busy. The Hollises are a big family who shower her with plenty of love.
Once I finish feeding the horses, Noah walks in with Foster, the horse she’s training, and Mallory skips behind them.
Noah shoots me a glare, and I hold back a chuckle at the annoyed expression on her face.
She grabs a lead rope, hands it to Mallory, and then tells her to bring in the horse so they can saddle her for a ride in the corral.
In the meantime, she puts Foster back in his stall.
Mallory isn’t experienced enough to put one on by herself, so she’s required to ask an adult for help. We usually don’t mind, but we’re short two ranch hands this week, and since it’s early June, we’re at the start of our busy season with guests and boarders.
“Where are the others?” Noah asks as she hauls a saddle from the tack room.
“Trey’s in Georgia for a family wedding, and Ruby is on some romantic getaway with her boyfriend to celebrate their six-monthiversary.”
She stops walking and stares at me.
“Her words, not mine,” I clarify.
“Who approved her vacation time for that?”
“Take a guess.” I laugh.
“Of course. My father, right?”
“Yep.”
Noah shakes her head. She’s like me—all work and hardly any play.
If I’ve learned one thing about Garrett Hollis, he’s a hopeless romantic. During the first week of my training, he talked nonstop about meeting Dena and falling madly in love the moment he laid eyes on her. They were engaged and married within three months of meeting.
“Maybe you should take a week off and go find your Mr. Right,” I tease, grabbing a shovel and taking a wheelbarrow to Miss Swift’s stall.
“If I’m takin’ a week off to do anything, it’s to be alone with my rose vibrator in a whirlpool tub and drinkin’ expensive wine.”
I grunt at the unwanted visual. “One of those things I didn’t need to know.”
“Hey, when you find something that snatches your soul, you’d be open about it too.”
“What’s a vibrator?” Mallory asks. She has her horse next to her, waiting.
Noah’s face pales as she quickly spins around. “Um, nothin’. It’s like a back massager.”
“Cool! Can I get one?”
“No!” Noah blurts out, grabbing the saddle pad and placing it on the horse’s back. “It’s for adults only.”
Mallory frowns. “That’s not fair. I’m gonna ask Uncle Garrett. He’ll buy one for me.”
Noah turns and scowls at me for not warning her Mallory was behind her. Laughing, I continue shoveling and keep my mouth closed.
“You wanna learn to do this on your own someday, then I reckon you pay attention,” Noah scolds when Mallory continues rambling about getting a vibrator.
“Yes, ma’am.”
As soon as Miss Swift is brushed, saddled, and Mallory’s situated on top, Noah leads them out to the corral, and I finish up her stall.
“How are things goin’?” Waylon asks, mud covering his face and soaking through his clothes.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“Four-wheeler got stuck, so I pushed from behind while Wilder steered, and well, ya see how that turned out.”
I chuckle. “Damn, wish I’d witnessed that.”
Wilder comes strolling in with a shit-eating grin on his face. He’s as clean as a whistle.
They’re identical twins, but their personalities couldn’t be more different. They’re the oldest of the Hollis kids but not necessarily the maturest.
“Not sure that’s only mud,” Wilder taunts.
“It better be or—” Waylon sprints toward his brother and tackles him to the ground.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Wilder fights back, and unless there’s blood, I don’t get involved.
Wilder’s known as the rowdy twin for a reason, and even if he doesn’t start the fights, he’s sure to finish them.
“Hey!” Noah shouts, rushing back in. “What in the Sam Hill are y’all doin’? We have guests here!”
You’d think this would cause a scene, but it’s a common occurrence. The twins messing around, and their little sister telling them to get their shit together.
“Quit pitchin’ a fit. All the guests checked out, and the new ones haven’t arrived yet,” Wilder tells her.
“I don’t care,” Noah snaps. “Hush your mouths and grow up.”
“You first,” he shoots back.
Noah rolls her eyes as she takes the shovel from my hand and threatens to flatten them to the concrete.
“Who licked the red off your candy?” Wilder growls.
Waylon laughs, and if they keep pushing her buttons, I’ll let her do as she promised.
“Go be useful. We’re short-staffed as it is. Help Ayden finish up in here.”
“Nah, don’t stick me with the twins. I got this,” I blurt out, taking the shovel from her death grip.
“I gotta get back to Mallory, so make sure they get to work,” she tells me before storming off.
You’d think a bunch of teenagers were managing the ranch, but the twins are only a year younger than me.
Noah’s the youngest of the Hollis siblings and handles them like she’s their mother.
It’s quite comical. Took me a bit to get used to the dynamic, but the Hollises became the family I wished I’d had.
“The goats need to be moved to the other pasture. Think one of you can manage that?” I ask, heading to the next stall.
“Wilder will do it,” Waylon offers for his brother. “While I go shower.”
Just as the twins are having a stare off, another Hollis sibling enters on a dirt bike.
“We havin’ a family meetin’ or something?” Landen asks. He looks nothing like the twins and is the middle child but acts the most like Wilder out of the brothers. Both are rowdy playboys who never take life seriously.
“Get that outta here. You know it spooks the horses.” I wave Landen away. As the breeding operations manager, he knows the rules.
“I was just comin’ to help. Noah texted.”
Jesus Christ. “I’m fine. If y’all would get the hell out and stop slowin’ me down, I wouldn’t need help.”
Wilder shrugs. “’Kay, fine. I’m off like a herd of turtles.”
He tends to the goats while Waylon goes to clean up, and Landen takes the trailer to the barn to unload hay into the loft. With the three of them out of my hair, I get back to shoveling shit so I can bring the horses back in.
An hour later, the stalls are cleaned out with fresh feed and water. When my phone rings, I see Tripp’s name.
“Yes?” I answer.
“I need someone for cabin call.”
“That ain’t my job.”
I walk to the back of the barn where my office and the restrooms are located. As the boarding operations manager, I oversee the stables, not the trail horses.
“Waylon ain’t answering, and six new guests signed up for the four o’clock riding session.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
Each person who stays in the cabins at the equine retreat and wants to go trail riding must use the same horse during their stay.
The Hollises wanted a curated experience for each guest and based on their riding knowledge and age, we select which horse we provide for them.
It’s Tripp’s job to oversee check-ins and tell Waylon which ones need to be saddled and ready for the afternoon tour.
“Go ahead,” I say once I grab a notepad and pen.
The twins manage the trail ride tours, which are twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. They’re usually good about being on time, but with them, you never know.
“Got it.” I’m ready to hang up and hunt down Waylon.
“Also, someone’s here for ya.” He hesitates before continuing. “A woman.”
“Who?”
“Not sure. She asked if you were workin’ today, and I said I’d see about findin’ ya. She’s a looker, too.”
Scoffing, I say, “Alright, I’ll be there shortly.”
I end the call and take the piece of paper with me as I walk out of the barn.
Noah’s in the corral with one of the boarders, but Mallory’s nowhere to be found. I was hoping she saw them. Though she’s just a kid, she’s a little gossip queen who keeps tabs on everyone.
Grabbing my phone, I click on Waylon’s name.
He picks up. “What?”
“You missed cabin call. I got the list.”
“Shit. Be right there.”
We end the call, and I turn to Noah. “How’s Brighton doin’?”
“She’s feisty today.” Noah clicks her tongue, trying to get her to move a certain way.
Noah’s a natural-born horse expert. Even at eleven years old when I first met her, I could tell she had a special gift.
She gets paid the big bucks for training show horses.
I don’t think Noah’s taken more than a day off a week in the past five years.
She’s already booked out for the next two with clients who want her to train their horses for competitions, barrel racing, and jumping.