Chapter 26
Chapter twenty-six
Hayden
COOL NIGHTS AND OPEN HEARTS
My basket contains a horseshoe and a red ribbon, which are only two of the ten things I need to gather on this scavenger hunt.
Thankfully, the moment the guests all ran off to start collecting their items, I spotted one of the horseshoes the guys had hidden around the ranch hanging from a nail on the side of the mini barn, and the ribbon was tied to the branch of a nearby tree.
Next on the list is a feather. The sun is starting to set over the mountains, bathing the ranch in a warm orange glow that is a stark contrast to the chill that grows deeper by the second.
A van that I swear had a giant number seventeen on the side screams out of the ranch, and then I spot a tall blond guy in a dark blue suit walking out of the house and toward a shiny black car.
He’s on his phone but is far too far away for me to hear what he’s saying.
Then, he climbs into his car and kicks up dirt and snow sludge on his way out of the ranch, too.
A sinking feeling hits my gut as I realize that van could have been a reporter for some media channel.
Have they found Connor already? Did he call them?
He wanted to stop running, and his idea to use the company’s profits to help keep this place going, expand it even sounded amazing, but I could tell he was nervous about stepping back into that world.
Like he was worried that he would return to the person he was before he left all those years ago.
If it all gets too much, will he run again?
Now that I have him in my life, I can’t imagine my life without him, but I can’t tell him that.
He went into this thing with the same expectations I did; it was always supposed to end when Christmas was over.
But how do I walk away from the best thing to ever happen to me?
I walk up toward the chicken coop while texting Connor. He asked for my number after we sorted everything out, which is good because I want to make sure that was a news van I saw leaving the ranch, and he knows.
HAYDEN:
Hey, just saw a van that looked a lot like a news one pull out of the ranch. Just in case you were headed up to the house. Might want to keep an eye out.
His reply comes through in ten seconds.
CONNOR:
Thanks. Yeah, looks like my jig is up. The trucker at Levingston recognized me and informed the press. Dean kicked them off the property. I’m okay. Xoxo
Okay, he’s alright. Good. Now I can try to focus on the scavenger hunt to distract my thoughts from the fact that my time here is almost over.
I was hoping that I’d find a feather clinging to the fencing around the chicken coop, but I’m shit out of luck there.
The chickens have a solid roof over their chain-link fenced-in area, but it looks like they’re all keeping warm inside the red coop because I can’t spot a single one out here.
Can’t say I really blame them. Fresh snow has covered most of the ranch in a beautiful white blanket, but it has also kept the temperature way down.
My breath puffs out in a cloud as I fiddle with the gate latch.
Chickens don’t like to bite or anything, do they?
I think as the gate screeches open. The clucking inside the coop intensifies, and I close the gate behind me quickly.
The last thing I need is a bunch of chickens on the loose.
“Okay, I’m not going to hurt you or steal your eggs, I just need a feather,” I tell them as I open the small door at the side of the coop. Warmth flows out the moment I open the door, the noise growing louder, and then a flutter sails past me, and I jolt.
“What the fuck is that?” I call as the pink and brown hairless creature zooms past and then starts circling the ground under the coop like it’s building up speed for an assault.
“Are you okay in there?” someone asks, and I turn to find Skye standing with his hands on his hips, wearing what I have to assume is his favorite bright yellow overalls, given he’s worn them seven times in the last two weeks.
“What is it?” I ask, moving back slowly, hands raised as if that will somehow protect me should this thing decide to attack.
“It’s a chicken. You know you are in a chicken coop, right?” He laughs.
“Is it sick? Will I catch something?”
“It’s a naked neck chicken. They’re supposed to look like that.”
“It’s naked on more than its neck.”
“Yeah, but it’s harmless. Why are you in the chicken coop?”
I keep my eyes on the hairless bird scurrying around under the coop and make my way back to the open door.
“I needed a feather,” I say, reaching in and picking one that’s sticking out of the straw beds inside.
I notice then that there are a few more of the hairless birds in there mixed in with the regular chickens, and thankfully, the rest of them seem content to stay sitting in their nests and ignoring me, for now.
“How do I get it back in?” I ask, and the coop gate screeches open, and then Skye strolls up to the thing, picks it up like it’s nothing, and lifts it back inside the coop, closing the door behind it.
“Like that.” He smiles. “What else do you still need?”
“Next on the list is a pinecone.”
“You know you don’t have to do it in order, the mason jar of conserve will be in the house. You are right here, probably should get that one next,” he says, holding the gate open for me to pass.
“True, okay, any other hints you want to give me?”
“Ha, that would be cheating.” He laughs and then turns on his heel. “See you at the cuddle cove when you’re done. I’m off to wrangle a wayward llama.”
“Good luck,” I call after him, and then I follow the path between Sally-May’s place and the back door of the house.
It feels a little weird going in this way.
I know they told us at the start of the treasure hunt that we’ll find a few items on the ground floor of the main house, but this is their home.
The brothers’, anyway, and it just feels a little intrusive to be walking inside and looking through their things.
Luckily for me, I don’t have to actually look hard; the second I step into the kitchen, I see the collection of conserves lined up on the table, a note attached to each.
“Thank you for celebrating Christmas with the Beaker Brothers Ranch.”
I pick a cherry conserve and add it to my basket, then check the list for other items I might find in here.
A pinecone will almost definitely be outside, as will be a twig with three forks and a yellow flower.
The fresh snow on the ground might make that one more difficult to find.
Fifth on the list is a candle; surely they have some of those in here.
Oh, and seventh is a red book, ninth is a pen, and tenth is a garden gnome.
I am pretty sure I saw one of those near Sally-May’s front door.
Okay, where to start? I think as I walk through the dining room to the main hallway.
The place is eerily quiet, and the old floorboards creak with every step.
If this were one of my murder podcasts, the host would be explaining how this was the time the victim should have known to run.
Yet here I am, pushing on through the dark hallway, and a flickering orange glow to my right catches my eye.
“Hello,” I call, but no one answers. I walk slowly, my pulse increasing with every passing second.
“Hello, is anyone there? I’m just on a scavenger hunt…
” I step closer, the light flickers again, and I swallow the lump that’s risen in my throat.
“Please don’t be an axe murderer,” I say, and then I hear him chuckle.
“If it was, he surely won’t tell you now, will he?”
I jump and turn to find Connor leaning against the wall, a devilish grin on his lips.
“You scared me half to death,” I say, my chest burning as I struggle to catch my breath.
“Why are you on your own?”
“Wen’s boyfriend, Greg, came up, so she’s with him,” I reply, my heart rate finally settling into an almost normal rhythm.
“Well, how about I keep you company for a while?”
My stomach does a little swirl under his stare, and I nod.
I head toward the flickering orange glow with far more confidence and find a library, with three walls covered in bookshelves, and on the far-right wall, a big bay window overlooking the ranch and the mountains that have stolen the sun almost completely now.
“So what do you need?” Connor asks.
“A red book and a candle.”
“Blow that one out,” he says, nodding toward the candle glowing in a brass holder on the desk.
“If there’s a lit candle in here, it stands to reason there would be one not lit. Have a look at the shelves for a red book while I check over here for a candle.”
“Yes, sir,” he says playfully, but my cock wakes up a little in reply.
“There’ll be time for that later,” I say.
“Can’t wait,” he replies, pulling a title from the shelves, then changing his mind and pushing it back into place.
I open the top drawer of the desk, then the second, where I find a row of tall candles just like the one burning. I grab one, place a handful more on the desktop beside the lit candle to make it easier for anyone else who comes in looking for one.
“That’s cheating,” Connor says, handing me a book with a brown cover.
“That’s not a red book, and it’s not cheating if I’m helping everyone the same.”
“It’s red enough.”
“Nope, come on, I’m sure there is a red cover in here somewhere.”
I pick up the lit candle from the desk and hold it up, sweeping it across the room as my eyes scan the shelves for a red spine.
“There,” I say, setting down the candle and moving over to the bookshelves surrounding the door we came through.
I push up on my toes trying to reach the book that’s above the door, but I’m just a tad short.
Then Connor’s warm chest presses against my back, his large warm hands grip my sides, and then he’s lifting me up high enough to reach the book I need.
I tilt my head back against him as he lowers me back down, breathing in his delicious scent for a moment.
“What would you do without me?” he whispers in my ear.
“I really have no idea,” I reply, twisting in his arms and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
“Oh, sorry,” Wen’s voice comes from just outside the room, and she laughs. “I’m not sure a cute cowboy was on the list.”
“Funny,” I say, and Connor releases me, and I add the book to my basket.
“How are you going with your list?” she asks, and I cover my basket with my hand.
“Pretty good. I’ve only got a few things left.”
“Well, if you are looking for pinecones, there is a tree by the stables that has a bunch under it.”
“Thanks, if you need a feather, the chickens have some, but be careful, there’s a freaky one that will totally jump-scare you.”
“Oh, one of the nude ones?” she asks with a chuckle, and Greg’s face blushes as he looks anywhere but at me.
“Greg went in for me, jumped about ten feet high when it came running out.”
“Wasn’t that high,” he replies.
“Hey, man, it totally got me, too. At least you didn’t squeal.”
“Yeah, thing is pretty freaky,” he replies with a small smile. Maybe he isn’t so bad. Wen seems happy, and really, that is all I want, for her to be happy.
“Well, do you want to stick together for the rest?” I ask, and Wen’s face lights up, and she looks to him, and as much as I hate seeing her look for approval, his immediate nod has her bouncing on her toes, so I can’t stay mad for long.
“Here,” Connor says, reaching up and grabbing another red book down from above the doorframe and handing it to Wen.
“Thanks, oh, and there are the candles,” she cheers, slipping past us to grab one.
“Okay, we’ll get you the pinecone, then we should try to find this yellow flower. Maybe it’s a fake one in the house. There can’t be flowers outside with all the snow,” Wen says, tucking the book and candle away in her basket.
“Actually, have you ever heard of a snow crocus?” Connor asks, and we all look confused, shaking our heads.
“You’ll love this,” he says, and we follow him outside. He takes us around the front of the main house and over toward where the fence for the horse paddocks runs.
“It’s pretty dark up there,” Wen says, and he chuckles.
“Worried I’m going to lead you to your deaths?”
“I am now,” she replies, and we laugh, then Greg turns on his phone flashlight.
“Thanks,” I say, and he nods, though I think he did it just as much for himself as he did for me and Wen.
“You are giving off big serial killer vibes right now,” I say, and Connor reaches back to take my hand.
“Trust me.”
Surprisingly, I actually do. He could lead me anywhere, right now, and I would follow, light or no light.
“Look up ahead,” he says, pointing with his other hand, and Greg angles his phone in that direction to try to see better. With it and the moon overhead, I can just make out, along the road just past where the fencing ends for the horse paddocks, what appears to be small yellow and purple flowers.
When we reach them, Connor kneels in the snow, picks one, and holds it up to me.
“Will you accept this snow crocus?” he says, and I cover my heart with my free hand and pretend to swoon.
“Why, yes, kind sir, I will.”
He stands, kisses me just once, soft and sweet, then slides the flower to sit behind my ear.
“Beautiful,” he says, gazing into my eyes, and the flurry that swarms through my gut reassures me he doesn’t mean the flower.