Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
AUGUST
I’d been expecting a little country cottage, or an apartment in a small-town centre maybe, when Sienna had said she had a place in Lavender Creek.
Instead, my eyes widened when she made a turn off a well-kept dirt road and onto a narrower path labelled Ranch and Rescue on a crisp white sign.
The new path had white fencing running along either side and metallic mesh beyond that. Eventually, the road widened out again until we came to a large, circular clearing.
Saying that she had a place in Lavender Creek was like saying the White House was just a property.
I watched Sienna out of the corner of my eye as she pulled the truck to a stop at an angle outside a large lilac house. Were we really stopping here? I don’t know what I’d expected, but pop princess Sienna Slade owning a ranch of all things wasn’t it.
She stretched, relaxing her grip on the wheel after turning off the ignition, and I looked away when her top rode up to reveal a small glimpse of her pale skin.
“Are we here?”
She nodded. “Welcome to Lavender Creek.”
“I thought there’d be more… lavender.”
A small twitch of her lips made a rush of warmth curl inside my chest. “It’s not in season right now, but come the summer the local lavender fields will be purple.”
We sat in silence for a moment while she looked up at the house until Muffin meowed her displeasure at waiting in the car.
“Okay, baby.” Sienna reached back and brushed a hand over the cat’s head before pushing open the driver’s side door. “Let’s go inside.”
I nodded, desperate to stretch my legs and more than a little curious about this place Sienna had guarded, a well-kept secret all this time.
She hadn’t exactly invited me on this trip, but the fact that she hadn’t forbidden me from coming was, in my opinion, a good sign.
My brother, on the other hand, thought I was an idiot.
I’d been ignoring his texts since we’d left the jet.
I’d texted him to say we’d landed safely and he’d reminded me again that I owed Sienna nothing.
But it wasn’t about owing her, it was about…
Well, I wasn’t really sure yet. All I knew was that I wanted to be here with her.
Before we could get close to the door, it swung open and a petite woman stepped out, her smile as big as her face.
“As I live and breathe,” she drawled and Sienna laughed, tension I hadn’t realised she was still carrying easing away. The woman came down the front steps with the ease of someone who took them every day, and wrapped Sienna in a tight hug that ended only when Muffin complained. “Sorry, little one.”
“Wyn, this is Muffin. And the redhead is August.”
Wyn glanced over at me, blue eyes widening slightly before she nodded in welcome.
“Nice to meet you.” She scratched under Muffin’s chin and I chuckled as the cat’s purrs reached me from my place by the truck.
“You staying a while?” Sienna nodded but didn’t elaborate and Wyn smiled, her abundance of freckles making her look even younger than her laugh-lines suggested.
“I’m pretty sure Lisette was over at Pink, airing it out the other day.
” Wyn shook her head, strawberry-blonde hair slipping free from its braid and curling gently against her lightly tanned skin. “Woman’s a witch, I swear.”
Sienna laughed and the sound was good, right. I hadn’t realised I’d missed it until I heard it. “She always did have a sense about these things. There’s no fooling her.”
Wyn smiled, tucking her pale hands into the sleeves of her black zip-up fleece. “I’ll leave you guys to settle in. Oh,” she said, turning around again before she could walk past us. “I’m sure T will be happy to see you.”
Sienna’s answering smile made my throat tighten but I didn’t have long to dwell before she began walking away in the opposite direction to Wyn.
I grabbed our bags and followed, trying to smooth my frown. “Who’s T?”
Sienna laughed under her breath, glancing over her shoulder to make sure I was keeping pace as she followed a trail off to the right of the lilac house and that wound behind it.
“Tea,” she said, leading me further along a wider dirt path behind the property and into a field, “is short for Chantilly. My horse.”
“You have a horse.” I shook my head, a smile fighting its way to the surface as I relaxed. “Can I meet her?”
She seemed surprised by the question, but nodded and I let her dictate the silence as I took in the scenery.
The ground was a little damp, like it had rained recently, and a copse of trees sprawled out ahead of us and I wondered why we had traipsed through the mud and grass rather than following the drier trail.
Muffin meowed from her carrier, clearly eager to get out and explore, and I lengthened my strides as Sienna increased her pace.
A shimmer to my right made me wonder if there was a lake beyond the trees—it would make sense, we’d driven past several little outcroppings on our way to the ranch, and with the Rockies holding up the sky in the distance the terrain was overwhelming.
Beautiful. I could understand why she hadn’t wanted to share this with the rest of the world.
We hit the tree line and the shade was a welcome reprieve, my face ached from squinting against the bright sunlight.
Sienna’s steps were sure and confident, like she’d walked this path a hundred times before, and the sunlight peeking through the branches above us made her blonde hair glow like a beacon drawing me in.
I almost walked into her, too focused on her to realize she’d stopped.
I caught myself just in time and looked up to find a pale pink house sitting a few feet ahead.
“I’m sensing a theme.” Amusement colored my tone as I took in the pastel hue of the large ranch house and Sienna shrugged.
“I like color. Sue me.”
I chuckled and she grinned at me as we made our way up the dirt path and the few steps that led to the huge front door.
Was she housing the horses here? Or was her grandmother a giant?
My shoulders didn’t even brush either side of the door as it swung open with ease and I didn’t have to duck as I walked through into the entryway.
High ceilings and dark wood did a good job of making the space feel both airy and homey and Muffin wasted no time, trotting out of her carrier as soon it opened and nudging her face against everything in her path.
“So this is your place,” I mused as I set the bags down off to the side in the hall so that they wouldn’t block the entrance to the open plan kitchen and diner, or the opposite doorway decorated with cream sofas and a large TV. “You own the whole farm?”
“Ranch,” she corrected, and then nodded.
“Lisette — my grandma, said this place used to be in the family when she was a kid. She grew up here, until her father had to sell it. The first summer I came to visit her, it was up for sale and the whole town was pissed because there was talk of turning it into condos. So I bought it.”
“Just like that.” I shook my head, half in awe and half bemused that she could decide to buy a ranch at the drop of a hat. I had money, but Sienna had money.
She shrugged. “I thought it would make her happy and it’s too beautiful here to let all of this go to waste.
Plus it seems right somehow, that her father had to sell it and I could bring it back into the family.
” She glanced at me and then away. “It’s the best decision I ever made,” she added more quietly before scooping up Muffin and smushing her face against the cat’s.
“Except for bringing you home, of course,” she added, kissing Muffin’s nose.
“So do you have like, cows and stuff?”
She giggled and I felt my cheeks heat. “No, we’re not a livestock ranch. We’re a rehab and rescue for horses and in the summer months we have riding lessons for the kids in town.”
It sounded kind of… perfect. And not at all what I would have assumed from Sienna before we’d met.
“Come on, I’ll give you a quick tour of the house.”
I followed her into the kitchen, nodding as she pointed out various appliances that I promptly forgot all about and agreeing when she mentioned not using the fireplace until they’d had it inspected for birds nests and the like.
Our footsteps seemed too loud on the stairs as she pointed out the different bedrooms, four total, plus a family-sized bathroom.
“But your guest room has an ensuite,” she said, pointing in the direction of a room to the left of the staircase.
She opened the door and I smiled and nodded.
It was the same dark wood from downstairs on the floor here, the bed was big enough for three, complete with bright white sheets, and a bedside table and wardrobe stood on either side of the bed frame in the same wood.
“We don’t get a lot of guests, but this should be okay.”
I could feel her watching me, probably wondering the same thing that I was — how long would this be my temporary home? I didn’t know the answer, so I just turned back towards the door and headed downstairs, biting back the instinct to ask where her room was.
“Why horses?” The floor creaked beneath our weight as I paused at the bottom of the stairs, turning back to face her as she stood a step above me.
It felt intimate, despite the innocent nature of my question.
Her eyes watched me with a focus that felt consuming, the warmth from her body temptingly close.
There was a soft look in her eyes that made me want to know what she was thinking of at that moment.
“I didn’t know I even liked horses until I met Chantilly.
She was a runt that had been abandoned on the side of the road, cheaper to leave her than give her the care she needed I guess.
When she looked at me, it reminded me of the first time I saw Muffin.
I knew she had to be mine.” Her voice was gentle, and I was lost in her.
Brown eyes dropped to my mouth and back up again as she swallowed.
“Bronwyn runs the ranch, I couldn’t do any of this without her. I’m just the money.”
“I don’t think you’re just anything.” My words were low, quiet, but I knew she heard them from the way her pulse kicked up, fluttering in her throat and she sucked in a breath.
Sienna moved closer, the movement so small anyone else might not have noticed it, but I noticed.
The brush of her breasts against my chest, the tickle of her hair against my neck… Had she meant to move closer?
Something crackled between us, the bob of her throat making me want to bite the tender flesh there just so I could hear her gasp against my lips. I held still, keeping myself in check even as she lowered her mouth, the breaths between us joining together as she wet her bottom lip with her tongue.
“August—”
The door crashed open behind me and I jumped back like I’d been caught with my hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
An older woman stood on the threshold, beaming at us with enough energy to power the whole of Lavender Creek.
Her chuckle was throaty as she looked between me and Sienna, a sly look raising her eyebrows as she opened her arms wide.
“You really thought you could roll right into town and your grams wouldn’t know about it?” she quipped and Sienna laughed, brushing past me as she returned the woman’s tight embrace until her laugh turned into a sob.
Sienna’s shoulders shook and I didn’t know what to do.
I turned away, offering her what privacy I could, and instead strode back into the kitchen and rummaged until I found a glass. The water ran for a few seconds until it was icy and when I came back with it in hand, Sienna’s eyes were dry and she was nodding at whatever her grandma had to say.
She took the glass with a hand that trembled, thanking me quietly, and the delicate dampness of her eyelashes hit me like a punch to the gut.
“Now,” her grandma said, setting down her large purple purse as we made our way to the couch. “I’m guessing this must be August.”