21
Gordon scooted his chair back before Talia had fully cleared the kitchen door.
He did not think.
He only moved.
Talia was upset. He had embarrassed her. He had known the second she stood that he had gone too far, and every instinct in him told him to get up, follow her, and apologize before the hurt had time to harden.
His chair legs scraped against the floor.
Luke’s eyes cut to him.
“Sit.”
The word landed like a hand on his chest.
Gordon froze.
Luke pointed to Gordon’s chair. “Sit.”
Gordon hesitated.
Every part of him still wanted to go after her.
Luke’s face did not change. “Sit.”
Gordon lowered himself back into the chair.
The room stayed quiet in the uncomfortable way rooms did when everyone had too much to say and too much sense to say it all at once.
Gordon gripped the edge of the table. “I was the one who started the argument. I should apologize.”
“You probably should,” Luke said.
Gordon pushed to stand again.
Luke’s look sharpened. “Not right now.”
Gordon sat back, jaw tight.
Luke set his fork down. “When a woman is upset about something you’ve done, she needs time to process before you go chasing after her trying to fix your own discomfort.”
A few people at the table made low sounds of agreement.
Edye nodded. “He’s right.”
Rose lifted her glass. “Very right.”
Sierra pointed her fork at Gordon. “If she walked out, let her walk.”
Mari nodded. “Especially if she’s embarrassed. Following too soon makes it worse.”
Brad gave a quiet grunt of agreement from his place near Amy. “Sometimes the smartest thing a man can do is stay seated.”
Amy glanced at him. “And sometimes he even learns that before retirement.”
Brad looked at her. “I learned eventually.”
Eli leaned toward Gordon and murmured, “We all learn eventually. Usually after making it worse first.”
Rose smiled sweetly. “Some of you make it much worse first.”
Eli looked at Gordon. “See? Wisdom.”
Gordon did not feel wise.
He felt like an idiot.
He picked up his fork because sitting there doing nothing with his hands felt impossible. He forced himself to eat, though the food had lost its taste. Elise’s chicken, which usually could make a tired man believe in joy again, might as well have been cardboard.
His mind was not on dinner.
It was on Talia.
Her face when he said she was upset with him.
The way she leaned close, her voice hot and low in his ear.
Okay, I admit it. I like you, but I will hurt you if you say anything else about this afternoon.
He should not have smiled.
He knew that.
He had smiled anyway.
Even now, guilt sat heavy in his stomach, but beneath it something stubborn and bright kept trying to rise.
She had admitted it.
Talia liked him.
Not as a source.
Not as a story.
Him.
Gordon looked down at his plate, fighting the curve of his mouth.
Cody noticed and coughed into his napkin.
Eli saw Cody notice, then leaned back in his chair with a grin that said he would absolutely be unbearable later.
Luke saw all of it and said nothing.
That was worse.
Dinner continued, but the easy rhythm never fully returned. People talked around the awkwardness, careful not to look too long at Gordon or the empty chair beside him. Elise asked if anyone wanted more potatoes, but her eyes flickered once toward the door Talia had used.
Gordon caught it.
Elise cared whether people ate.
Sometimes that was how she cared about everything else too.
When dinner finally ended, Gordon stood and started gathering dishes because he needed something to do.
Elise took the plate from his hand. “Go on.”
“I can help.”
“You can, but you won’t right now.”
“Elise.”
She looked at him over the top of the plate. “Go listen to the men tell you all the things they think they know about women. Then come back later and I’ll tell you what they got wrong.”
Earl chuckled from the other side of the table.
Gordon sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”
A few minutes later, Luke, Dwight, Cody, Brad, Wyatt, Eli, Travis, Earl, and several ranch hands ended up in the stable.
It did not happen by accident.
Gordon realized that almost immediately.
The women remained in the house, where their own conversation was probably sharper, smarter, and more dangerous. The men drifted toward the stable under the thin excuse of checking horses, looking at feed, seeing about the new gelding, and giving the evening a place to cool.
By the time they were all inside, Gordon knew exactly what had happened.
They had moved away from the women so they could talk freely.
The stable smelled of hay, leather, horses, and the deep quiet that came after the day’s hardest work. A few horses shifted in their stalls, ears flicking as the men gathered in the open aisle.
Luke leaned against a post and folded his arms.
Gordon stood across from him, hands in his pockets.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Luke asked, “What did you and Talia fight about?”
Direct.
Of course.
Gordon looked toward one of the stalls, where a chestnut mare watched them as if she also wanted an answer.
He thought of Talia’s threat.
I will hurt you if you say anything else about this afternoon.
She did not want anyone to know they had kissed.
He understood why.
She had come to the ranch dishonestly. Most of the people there still did not trust her. She was allowed to stay because Gordon had arranged it, because he had decided to tell his own story, because Luke and Edye respected that decision even when they did not like it.
Everyone was trying to protect him.
And if they knew he had kissed her, they might decide he needed more protection than before.
That would hurt Talia.
It would also take away the one thing Gordon had been fighting for since she arrived.
His right to decide for himself.
So he took his time.
He chose his words carefully.
“I’m interested in Talia outside of the article,” he said.
The men went still, but not with surprise.
More like confirmation.
Eli muttered, “Well, there it is.”
Gordon ignored him.
“She insists I’m too young and that it’s unprofessional,” he continued. “But I know my own mind.”
Luke’s expression did not soften.
Dwight leaned one shoulder against a stall door.
Cody crossed his arms. Brad’s eyes narrowed, though not unkindly.
Wyatt watched Gordon quietly, as if measuring what he heard against what he knew of pain and pride.
Travis looked amused already, which concerned Gordon.
Earl looked like he had seen every version of foolish young men and was preparing to be entertained.
Luke spoke first. “She’s not wrong about the professional part.”
Gordon nodded. “I know.”
“And she’s writing about you.”
“I know that too.”
“That makes it complicated.”
“Yes.”
Luke studied him. “Complicated doesn’t mean impossible. It means you move carefully.”
Gordon took that in.
Carefully.
That was fair.
Dwight spoke next. “You did right telling her you wanted more than a professional association.”
Gordon looked at him.
Dwight shrugged. “A woman deserves to know where a man stands. Especially if he’s looking at her like he’s planning to build a house on that ground.”
Eli grinned. “That was poetic.”
Dwight looked at him. “Don’t ruin it.”
“I’m admiring.”
“You’re interrupting.”
Cody stepped in before Eli could answer. “Being honest is one thing. Chasing her too hard is another. If she’s got reasons to hesitate, you have to respect that.”
“I am,” Gordon said.
Cody gave him a look.
Gordon exhaled. “I’m trying to.”
“That’s better,” Cody said. “Remain persistent, but give her room to decide for herself. Don’t make it where she has to fight you just to feel like she still has control.”
That landed.
Gordon nodded slowly.
Talia fought for control.
He had seen it in the truck. In the bunkhouse doorway. At dinner.
Maybe because too much of her life had been shaped by people who came and went without asking how it felt to be left behind.
Travis chuckled.
Every man turned toward him.
“What?” Travis asked. “Y’all are giving good advice.”
“That tone says you have worse advice,” Brad said.
“No, mine is better.”
Earl shook his head already.
Travis pointed at Gordon. “Listen, the honesty is good. Persistence with room is good. Very mature. Very respectful. Very ranch-family-approved.”
Eli folded his arms. “I like where this is going.”
Travis continued, “But if you actually want the woman to fall for you, you need to seduce her.”
Luke closed his eyes.
Brad muttered, “Here we go.”
Travis held up a hand. “Not in a grimy way. I’m talking attention. Patience. Heat. Let her know she’s wanted, but not hunted. Reel her in slow. Then when she’s ready, rock her world so thoroughly she never thinks about another man again.”
Eli nodded with deep seriousness. “That is also wisdom.”
Cody looked at him. “You would agree.”
“I’m married to Rose. I know things.”
Wyatt made a low sound that might have been a laugh.
Brad rubbed his forehead. “There are children in that house.”
“There are no children in this stable,” Travis said.
“There are horses,” Earl replied. “And they’ve got more sense than half of y’all.”
That got a round of laughter.
Travis looked unbothered. “I said what I said.”
Earl stepped forward, slow and easy, hands in his pockets. “Young men think like young men.”
Travis looked offended. “I am not that young.”
Earl ignored him and looked at Gordon. “You want to win her over?”
Gordon nodded.
“Ask the women for help.”
Every man in the stable grumbled at once.
Eli threw up a hand. “Betrayal.”
Cody shook his head. “Earl, come on.”
Dwight sighed. “He’s not wrong.”
Luke said nothing, which meant he agreed but did not intend to enjoy it.
Earl smiled faintly. “Ignore most of what was said in this stable.”
“Most?” Travis asked.
“Especially yours.”
Travis put a hand to his chest. “I gave premium advice.”
“You gave advice from the waist down.”
“That is an important region.”
Brad pointed at him. “Stop talking.”
Eli leaned closer to Gordon. “Do not fully ignore Travis.”