38
Gordon had been busy all day and had not seen Talia once.
That should have helped.
It did not.
If anything, work only gave his body something to do while his mind returned, over and over, to the same place.
His bed.
His sheets.
Talia.
He had left her sleeping there that morning because he had kept her up most of the night and because waking her would have made him late, reckless, and entirely useless to the ranch.
It had taken every ounce of will he possessed to get out of bed when his alarm sounded.
She had been lying on her back, one arm bent above her head, curls a wild mess around her face.
She snored a little. Not loud. Just a soft, uneven sound that should not have been endearing and somehow was.
The sheet had slipped low enough to leave one full breast exposed in a way that nearly ruined him before sunrise.
He had stood there like a fool, jeans in one hand, boots near the bed, staring at the woman who had changed everything and did not yet know how much.
Beautiful did not cover it.
Beautiful was what a man said when he had manners.
Gordon had felt far past manners.
He had wanted to crawl back into that bed, kiss her awake, and learn whether her morning voice was as soft as he imagined. He had wanted to feel her hands reach for him before she was fully alert. He had wanted to make her forget she ever planned to return to Houston.
Instead, he had showered quietly, dressed quietly, found her phone charger, gathered her clothes, then slipped out to get what she would need from the lavender suite.
He got Talia’s laptop, purse, notebook, and a change of clothes without waking anyone. Then he returned to his cottage, arranged everything on the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room, and wrote her a note on Stanley Ranch letterhead.
It was not foolproof.
He knew that.
Her car had been in his drive all night. Anyone passing by would see it. Anyone with sense could guess. On this ranch, sense was abundant and privacy had to be defended with both hands.
Still, he wanted to protect what little he could.
Her dignity.
Her choice.
The space between what had happened and what people had the right to know.
After that, he had left for work.
The day had not given him room to breathe.
A thunderstorm was moving in faster than expected.
The whole ranch had shifted in response.
Luke had moved the cattle drive up by a day so the crew would be out of the area before the worst of the storms rolled across the county.
That meant every preparation that should have stretched into tomorrow had to be finished today.
The storage buildings were open. Trucks moved back and forth.
Men hauled gear, checked tires, counted supplies, secured tack, and made sure anything that needed to travel was loaded or staged.
Horses were checked. Equipment was checked twice.
Cody had a list in one hand and a glare on his face for anyone moving too slowly.
Dwight moved with quiet precision, adjusting, inspecting, correcting.
Travis argued with Cody about something near one of the trailers, both of them pointing at the same latch as if it had personally offended them.
Luke was everywhere.
Not rushing.
Never rushing.
Just present.
A word here. A decision there. A glance that made men straighten without knowing why.
Gordon worked beside Eli through most of the afternoon, moving equipment before the sky turned. Sweat soaked through his shirt, and dust clung to his skin. His arms ached. His back pulled. His hands were scratched from hauling metal and rope and supply crates.
Still, beneath all of that, Talia remained.
Talia laughing against his mouth.
Talia touching his face.
Talia in his kitchen, barefoot and stirring sauce.
Talia saying she would stay.
Gordon lifted one end of a heavy crate while Eli took the other.
“You’re smiling again,” Eli said.
“I’m lifting.”
“You’re smiling while lifting. That’s worse.”
“I am not.”
“You are. It’s unsettling.”
Gordon grunted as they set the crate down in the back of the trailer. “Maybe I like work.”
“No man likes work enough to smile through moving this much equipment unless something better than work happened to him.”
Gordon gave him a look.
Eli grinned. “Or someone.”
“Eli.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You never have to. You make your face do it.”
“That is one of my gifts.”
Gordon turned away, grabbing a coil of rope.
Eli followed, still annoyingly cheerful. “So how was dinner?”
“Good.”
“Just good?”
“The food was very good.”
“And the company?”
Gordon kept walking. “Also good.”
Eli laughed. “You are terrible at being subtle.”
“I’m not trying to be subtle.”
“No, you’re trying to be silent. Different skill. You’re still bad at it.”
Gordon slung the rope into place. “We have work to do.”
“We do. And I am working. I am also making sure you don’t start floating six inches off the ground and drift into traffic.”
Gordon shook his head, but he could not stop the small smile that came anyway.
Eli saw it and softened.
For a moment, the teasing left his face.
“Just remember,” Eli said, voice low enough not to carry, “good things still need careful hands.”
Gordon looked at him.
Eli picked up another rope coil. “That’s all I’m saying.”
Gordon nodded once.
“I know.”
And he did.
He knew everyone was worried. Luke. Edye. Eli. Probably Elise, Earl, and half the ranch by now. They were all circling in their own ways, careful not to grab too hard but unwilling to let him walk blind into heartbreak.
He understood.
He even appreciated it.
But they did not understand Talia the way he did.
They saw risk.
He saw her.
They saw a reporter who might leave.
He saw a woman who had been leaving places her whole life because no one gave her a reason to stay.
Gordon wanted to be that reason.
No.
Not wanted.
Intended.
The sky growled sometime after two.
Low thunder rolled beyond the west pasture, still distant but close enough to make everyone look up.
Luke called for a short water break and gathered the nearest group beside the equipment shed. Gordon pulled his hat off, wiped his forehead with his sleeve, and took the bottle Dwight handed him from a cooler.
The water was cold enough to hurt his teeth.
He drank half of it anyway.
Luke stood near the truck, phone in one hand, jaw set. “Weather’s shifting faster than predicted. We’re moving the drive up. We leave at first light tomorrow.”
A few men muttered.
Cody nodded, already adjusting the plan in his head.
Dwight looked toward the trailers. “We can be ready.”
“We will be,” Luke said. “Everyone going or staying needs to be at dinner tonight. Six sharp. I’ll go over the updated plan then. Routes, assignments, contact points, emergency procedures, who stays, who goes, who answers to whom.”
Gordon listened, already sorting through his part.
Staying behind meant he needed to know every person remaining on the ranch, every section he had to check, every repair that could wait and every one that could not.
If the storm hit while Luke was away, fences, drainage, backup generators, and the livestock closest to the main property would need attention.
He would be ready.
Luke’s eyes moved to him. “Gordon.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You and Earl go through the generator checklist after dinner.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And make sure Talia knows dinner is required tonight.”
Gordon nodded.
Luke’s expression did not change, but Gordon felt the weight behind that statement.
Make sure Talia knows.
Not ask.
Not suggest.
Tonight was ranch business, and everyone connected to the ranch needed to be at the table.
Eli leaned closer and murmured, “Guess that means you have to call her.”
Gordon ignored him.
Mostly because he had already pulled out his phone.
He stepped away from the group, closer to the shade of the shed, and dialed Talia’s number.
It rang once.
Twice.
On the third ring, she answered.
“Hello?”
The sound of her voice hit him so hard he turned farther from the men, as if they might see it on his face.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.”
Just that.
One word.
And suddenly the day felt less loud.
Gordon gripped the phone a little tighter. “You all right?”
“I’m fine.”
He smiled faintly. “That still isn’t always an answer.”
“It is today.” Her voice warmed. “I’ve been working.”
“At my place?”
“Yes. I even opened the laptop, so your cover story has evidence now.”
He looked down, smiling.
Behind him, Eli made some kind of noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
Gordon turned his shoulder more.
“Good,” he said. “Did you eat?”
“You sound like Elise.”
“Answer.”
“Yes, Gordon. I ate leftovers.”
“Good.”
“Did you?”
He glanced at the half-empty water bottle in his hand and thought of the lunch he had skipped. “We worked through lunch.”
“Gordon.”
“There’s weather coming.”
“So food stops existing?”
“No. But we’re busy.”
She was quiet for a second. “What kind of weather?”
“Thunderstorms. Maybe heavy. Luke moved the cattle drive up by a day. They’re leaving tomorrow morning now.”
“Oh.”
“And he wants everyone going or staying at dinner tonight. Six sharp. He’s giving details about the change in plan.”
“Everyone?”
“Yes.”
“Including me?”
“Yes.”
A pause.
He could almost see her face, the way her mouth would tighten as she calculated what it meant. Returning to the table after spending the night at his cottage. Sitting in front of Luke and Edye. Pretending she did not know people could put obvious things together.
“Talia.”
“I’m here.”
“You don’t have to worry.”
“That is a sweet lie.”
“It is not a lie.”
“It is at least optimistic.”
He smiled. “Be there with me.”
Another quiet moment followed.
Then she said, “I’ll meet you there at six.”
Gordon did not like that answer.
Meet you there.
Not ride with you.
Not I’ll come when you do.
Still, he did not push. Eli’s voice was in his head again.
Careful hands.
“All right,” he said. “Six.”
The call ended.
Gordon lowered the phone slowly.
For a few seconds, he stood there with thunder muttering in the distance and the whole ranch moving around him.
She had finished a rough version.
She wanted Luke and Edye to read it.
She wanted them to know what she had written before she left.
Before she left.
The thought tried to sour everything.
Gordon shoved it away.
Not yet.
He would not borrow pain from a future that had not arrived.
Eli came up beside him, water bottle in hand. “She coming?”
“Yes.”
“You look like that was good news and bad news.”
“She finished the article.”
Eli’s expression shifted. “Ah.”
“She wants Luke and Edye to read it before they leave tomorrow.”
“That’s probably wise.”
“I know.”
“But it scares you.”
Gordon looked at him.
Eli lifted one shoulder. “Good things can scare a man worse than bad ones. Bad things are familiar. Good things make promises, even when nobody says them out loud.”
Gordon looked away.
The thunder rolled again.
Closer this time.
Eli clapped him once on the shoulder. “Come on. We’ve got to finish before the sky gets dramatic.”
Gordon tucked his phone away and reached for another crate.
His body went back to work.
His mind returned to Talia.
At six, she would sit at Luke’s table.
Soon, Luke and Edye would read her article.
Soon, Gordon would read it too.
And after that, something would change.
He could feel it moving toward him like the stormfront moving in.