5. Holden #2
She stops, turning in a slow circle, as if trying to absorb it all.
Despite my impatience, I give her a moment. When she meets my gaze again, she shakes her head. “This place just keeps going.”
I look over the barns and corrals that sprawl out around us. “This is the heart of the ranch.” I nod past the buildings to the country beyond. “Gets a lot emptier when you’re out riding fences.”
She falls into step beside me again, and I gesture to the next cluster. “Like I said, cattle spend most of the year down in the lower pastures. Horses are kept closer to the barns. That round pen there’s for green stock.”
“Green stock?”
“Young horses that need training.”
We round the last barn and come to a stop. The scene before me is one I’ve seen a thousand times, but today it hits differently.
The land spreads out beneath us, the sun-spangled river winding its way through pastures still green from the spring snowmelt.
I know every inch of this valley.
And for the first time in a long time, I let myself soak it in. My chest tightens unexpectedly—a reminder that while the land might not have changed, I have.
Beside me, Sage turns a slow circle, camera strap sliding across her shoulder as she takes it all in.
“I can’t imagine ever getting used to this,” she says softly.
Neither can I.
I look away, changing the subject before that thought can settle.
“The main guest area is over that rise, closer to the road into town.” I nod toward a dirt track that disappears between stands of cottonwood.
“Far enough from the working ranch that guests won’t be underfoot.
The main lodge and five cabins are almost finished.
Five more are in the works. Sterling’s got big plans. ”
“They’re not your plans?”
“They’re the family’s plans.”
She studies me with her pretty hazel eyes, and I have a disconcerting feeling she can see through me as clearly as she sees through her camera. But I don’t plan to explain why the thought of random city folk traipsing around this place rubs me the wrong way.
Hell, she’s basically the first of many.
“That’s enough to give you the lay of the land for now. Taryn can fill you in on the rest of the expansion when she takes you into town. She’s probably champing at the bit to get a hold of you.”
Sage laughs a little self-consciously as she glances down at herself. “And here I was thinking I’d bought all the right clothes.”
She might look like a New York City version of a cowgirl, and I doubt she could sit on a horse for too long in jeans that tight, but there’s no denying how good her curves look in them.
I step away and shove my hands into my pockets. “Taryn’ll take care of you. In between interrogating you about your fancy city life.”
She lets out a dainty snort. “Not sure if I’ll have much to tell her.”
The words are innocent enough, but there’s a brittleness to her tone that has me studying her more closely. Her expression gives nothing away.
We walk back to the house in silence, and I lead her into the kitchen. “Would you like a drink?”
I do have some manners, after all.
“A water would be lovely, thank you.”
Once I’ve retrieved two glasses from the cupboard next to the sink, I fill them with water. My fingers brush hers as I hand one over, and she looks up at me.
Our gazes linger a little longer than they should—long enough for me to notice the flecks of green and gold in her eyes—before she glances away and takes a sip. To distract myself, I take a long drink of my own water.
“So this is where you lived growing up?” Sage settles into one of the chairs at the table.
I take a seat opposite her. “Yep. Moved out to the cabin when I was seventeen.”
Her brows shoot up. “That seems awfully young to live on your own so far away.”
“It’s our land. We grew up on it. There’s nothing I need to be afraid of.”
“And your mom wasn’t worried?”
I sweep my hat off my head and run my hand through my hair. “Mom wasn’t around when I moved out there. She died when I was sixteen.”
Sage stills, almost the way she does when she takes a photo. As if she’s assessing what she sees, putting the picture together in her head.
Except this time, I’m the picture she’s trying to put together.
She swallows. “I’m sorry.”
I dip my chin. There’s not really anything else to be said.
After a brief pause, she taps her fingernails against the side of her glass. “You weren’t lonely out there on your own?”
“You said you’re an only child. Were you lonely?”
She blinks, as if taken aback by my question.
I wait for a trite comment, hoping it’ll lead us away from the line of questioning.
Instead, she says, “Every day.” Her mouth tilts up on one side. I think the expression is meant to be wry, but there’s too much truth in her words to pull it off.
So, she was lonely because she didn’t have more family, and I needed to be alone because I had too much and not enough at the same time. How do you explain that to someone?
Why do I even want to?
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out, grateful for the distraction. There’s a message about Sage’s car.
“Jim says your car’s gonna need a new front axle.”
She wrinkles her nose. “That sounds bad.”
“Could’ve been worse. But it’s gonna take a few weeks to get one ordered and shipped.”
Before she can respond, Taryn strolls into the kitchen. “What’s going to take a few weeks?”
“A new axle for my car,” Sage says, slumping.
“Guess that means Holden gets to be your chauffeur for a little while longer.”
The smile Sage gives her appears a little forced. “Maybe I can rent a car while I wait.”
“No rentals around here,” my sister informs her. “Can you drive a stick? You could maybe borrow one of the ranch trucks.”
Sage darts a look at me. “No, unfortunately.”
“It’s fine.” I cut into their conversation. “I’ll drive you until your car’s fixed.”
Taryn claps once. “Great. That’s settled, then. Are you all done here?” she asks me.
“Yep. Grand tour’s over.”
She turns to Sage, grinning. “Are you ready to go into town? Maybe after we get you kitted up, we can get lunch, and you can tell me all about New York.”
Sage’s gaze meets mine again, the glint of amusement in her eyes almost enough to trigger an answering grin on my part. I resist the pull.
Taryn turns my way. “Do you want to come too?” she asks, a hint of hopefulness in her tone.
Guilt pricks at me. I’ve been away from the ranch for so much of her life. But the last thing I want is to go clothes shopping with her and Sage.
Let alone deal with the town’s scrutiny.
“Maybe next time. I need to help fix the fences before we get more strays.”
She purses her lips but doesn’t argue. We all understand the realities of ranch life. That doesn’t stop her from planting her hands on her hips, looking enough like Mom in that moment to make my chest constrict. “Fine, just don’t push that shoulder too hard.”
Sage’s attention drops to my shoulders, a small crease forming between her brows. I push back my chair and stand. The last thing I want is to be the subject of her curiosity. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Well, I do. You’re my brother.”
An unexpected rush of affection hits me, and I hook my arm around her neck and plant a kiss on the top of her head. “Thanks. But it’s meant to be the other way around. It’s my job to look after you.”
With a roll of her eyes, she scoffs. “That’s such an outdated idea. Right, Sage?”
Sage’s smile is a little too sweet. “I agree, Taryn. Men aren’t our designated protectors. Maybe your brother needs to get with the times.”
I lift a brow. She wants to play that game, does she?
Very deliberately, I slide my gaze to her denim-covered knees—the ones I tended to last night.
I’d planned to ask her if they were okay when I picked her up this morning. But when she opened the door—still too pretty, still too out of place—the question died on my tongue. She wasn’t limping, so I figured it was better to let it go.
But if she’s going to pick sides…
One of her booted feet taps the hardwood floor, and when I look back up, her hands are on her hips, just like my sister’s were a moment ago.
She doesn’t say anything, but her narrowed eyes tell me she got the message.
It’s enough to drag a grin out of me, though I quickly scrub my hand over my mouth to hide it.
Oblivious to the silent exchange, Taryn pokes me in the ribs. “See? That’s why this house needs more estrogen.”
Tossing her hair over her shoulder the way only a seventeen-year-old can, she addresses the only other estrogen-loaded person in the room. “Come on. Let’s leave my brother here and go shopping.”
Sage slants one more look in my direction, then smiles at my sister. “Sounds good to me.”
Taryn bats her lashes at me, and I know exactly what’s coming.
“Can we take your truck?”
Dad confiscated Taryn’s car keys last week after she was caught trying to sneak out of the house to go to a party. Can’t say I wouldn’t have tried the same thing at her age if parties had been on my mind back then.
But nothing much was except leaving.
I pull my keys from my pocket and toss them to her. “Bring it back in one piece.”
She catches them with ease. “Have I told you before that you’re my favorite brother?”
“Not as many times as you’ve told Chance,” I grumble.
With a smirk, she heads for the door.
As Sage follows, I do my best to keep my focus fixed above her waist rather than stare at her heart-shaped ass.
But just before she slips out the door, she glances back at me. And it’s the soft bemusement on her face that stays with me for the rest of the morning.