25
When they returned to the main house, Gordon parked his truck beside the others and cut the engine.
Talia pulled in a few seconds behind him.
He got out, but she did not.
Her car sat there, engine off, windshield catching the pale morning light. Through the glass, he could see her hands still on the wheel, her shoulders slightly hunched, her face turned toward the house like the porch was a courtroom and she was about to be sentenced.
Gordon understood the feeling.
He had known that feeling too well once.
He crossed to her car and opened her door.
Talia looked up at him.
“You all right?” he asked.
She sighed and looked down at the hand he offered.
For a second, he thought she might refuse it.
Then she placed her hand in his and let him help her out.
He closed the door behind her but did not let go right away. Her fingers were cool, her palm soft against his. She looked toward the house again, and he felt the hesitation move through her body before she said a word.
“You okay?” he asked again.
“I’m fine.”
He tilted his head.
She glanced at him, then away. “I know. I know. Fine is not always an answer.”
“It usually isn’t.”
She gave him a tired look. “I’m about to walk in there and face everyone who doesn’t want me here.”
His hand tightened around hers. “That’s not true.”
“It is.” She looked toward the kitchen door. “And for good reason. I lied to get here, Gordon. I made myself a problem before anybody had a chance to know me.”
“You made a mistake.”
“A calculated mistake.”
“Still a mistake.”
Her mouth twisted. “That does not sound better.”
“It does to me.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. Last night, I mean. I just needed a quiet place to work.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t think about anyone worrying. I didn’t think my phone would die. I didn’t think I would fall asleep.”
“I know that too.”
Her eyes lifted to his, full of exhaustion and embarrassment and something that looked too much like shame.
Gordon held onto her hand. “I want you here.”
She stilled.
He said it plainly because he wanted no confusion between them. “I want you here, Talia.”
Her face softened, then tightened again, as if she did not know what to do with words that direct.
She shook her head. “That’s kind of you.”
“It’s true.”
“You wanting me here doesn’t erase everything else.”
“No,” he said. “But it means you’re not alone standing in it.”
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to believe him.
Then she gently tugged her hand free.
“I’m going to apologize to everyone,” she said. “But I want to freshen up first.”
Gordon let his hand fall to his side. “All right.”
Her gaze flicked to his face. “You don’t have to walk me.”
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
She waited, maybe expecting him to argue.
He did not.
He had learned at least one thing from last night.
Talia gave him a small nod and turned toward the bunkhouse. She moved slower than usual, stiff from sleeping in her car, carrying her laptop and dead phone like evidence of a bad decision.
Gordon watched her until she reached the path.
Only then did he head inside.
The kitchen was quieter than usual when he entered, though not empty.
Edye stood near the table with Malik beside her, his little hand holding the edge of her blouse as he watched Elise work at the counter.
Earl sat near the end of the table, his phone in his hand, though he was clearly done checking security footage.
All three looked at Gordon as soon as he walked in.
Malik looked too, then grinned.
“Gordy!”
“Morning, little man.”
Malik pointed at Gordon’s head. “Can I wear your hat?”
Gordon touched the brim. “Not yet.”
Malik frowned like that answer had wounded him personally. “But I like that one.”
“You like all of them.”
“That one’s better.”
Edye smiled faintly, but her eyes stayed on Gordon. “Where is she?”
“Bunkhouse. She wants to freshen up before coming in.”
Elise’s mouth tightened. “Is she all right?”
“Yes.”
“Was she hurt?”
“No.”
“Scared?”
Gordon thought about Talia waking up and finding him at her window. “Maybe startled. Mostly embarrassed.”
Edye studied him. “What was she doing all the way out there?”
“She said she needed privacy and space to write.” Gordon took off his hat and held it in one hand.
“She didn’t want to sit in her car near the main house because people would ask why she was sitting there.
So she drove around to explore the ranch a little and found the pond.
She worked until her phone and laptop died, then fell asleep. ”
Elise and Edye exchanged a glance.
Gordon caught it.
He had spent two years on this ranch learning the difference between casual glances, worried glances, and the kind of glance that meant two women had already started solving a problem he had not fully named yet.
“What?” he asked.
Edye looked toward the hallway, then back at him. “We can move her into one of the guest suites if that would help.”
Gordon had not thought of that.
Maybe he should have.
Talia had been staying in the women’s bunkhouse because Luke and Edye had wanted her close enough to be watched and far enough from comfort not to mistake her position.
But after a week of sharing space with women who did not fully trust her, writing with no privacy, living out of a bag while trying to build the most complicated article of her career, maybe the bunkhouse had done its job.
Maybe now it was doing harm.
Gordon nodded slowly. “That might help.”
Edye’s expression softened. “She needs space to work.”
“She does.”
“And sleep in an actual bed without feeling like half the ranch is listening to her breathe,” Elise added.
Earl looked up. “Half the ranch isn’t listening.”
Elise gave him a look.
He shrugged. “Maybe a quarter.”
Gordon almost smiled.
Malik came closer, eyeing Gordon’s hat with the focus of a boy who had already decided what he wanted and was simply waiting for the adults to catch up.
“Gordy,” Malik said.
“Yes?”
“You can put it on me now.”
Gordon held the hat higher. “Can I?”
Malik nodded solemnly. “I’ll be careful.”
“You said that last time.”
“I was careful.”
“You ran into the wall.”
Malik looked at Edye. “It was in my way.”
Elise laughed into her coffee.
Edye shook her head. “The wall was there first.”
Malik considered that, then looked back at Gordon. “Just for a minute?”
Gordon lasted three seconds against those hopeful eyes.
He set the hat gently on Malik’s head. It sank low over the boy’s forehead, nearly covering his eyes. Malik tipped his head back and grinned.
“I’m a cowboy.”
“You’re trouble,” Gordon said.
“I can be both.”
Earl chuckled. “Smart boy.”
The gate buzzer sounded.
Everyone turned.
Earl rose and crossed to the wall panel near the kitchen entrance. “That’ll be Willie.”
Edye reached for Malik’s hand. “Come on, baby. Let me fix your hair before we greet her.”
Malik stepped behind Gordon’s leg, holding the hat down with both hands. “I’m helping Gordon.”
“You’re hiding behind Gordon.”
“I’m doing that too.”
Gordon grinned despite the morning’s tension. “I’ve got him.”
“He’s being stubborn,” Edye said.
“He learned from Nia.”
From somewhere down the hall, Nia’s voice called, “I heard that!”
Elise muttered, “That child hears butter melting.”
Earl pressed the button on the gate system. “Stanley Ranch.”
A woman’s voice came through, clear and slightly nervous. “Good morning. This is Wilma Haskins. I’m supposed to start today. I prefer Willie.”
Earl smiled faintly. “Morning, Willie. Come on through.”
He pressed another button, granting her access.
Edye smoothed one hand over her hair, already shifting into welcome mode. “I should go greet her.”
“You should,” Gordon said, looking down at Malik. “You coming with your mama?”
Malik shook his head, holding Gordon’s hat in place. “I’m staying.”
Edye’s brows lifted. “You are?”
“I’m busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Being a cowboy.”
Elise pointed at Gordon with her coffee mug. “That one is your fault.”
Gordon looked down at Malik. “Apparently.”
Malik smiled up at him, pleased with himself.
Edye looked between them, then sighed. “Fine. But keep him away from the front gate. I don’t need him introducing himself to Willie as the ranch boss.”
Malik perked up. “I can do that.”
“No,” Edye and Gordon said together.
Earl chuckled and returned to his seat.
Elise set her mug down. “Before you get caught up, Gordon, go tell Talia she can move into the lavender suite.”
Gordon looked toward the back door, already thinking of Talia standing outside her car, tired and ashamed and bracing herself against a ranch that had not yet decided what to do with her.
“The lavender suite?” he asked.
“Yes,” Elise said. “She can say no, but she needs to know she has the option.”
Edye nodded from the doorway. “Tell her it’s not a trap.”
Earl chuckled.
Edye gave him a look. “It might need saying.”
Gordon glanced down at Malik, who was still holding the oversized hat in place with both hands.
“I’ll tell her,” Gordon said.
Then he turned toward the door.