We watch the last bit of sun dip below the mountains as the fireplace snaps and crackles.
“I am sorry about everything,” Landon says after a moment.
“I know. It’s just going to take me a while to trust you again. I know you were honest about the paternity, but it hurt when you disappeared on me.”
“I can’t even truly explain why I did it.” He reaches for my hand. “You can take as long as you need. I’ll wait. You are worth waiting for.”
My stomach does a somersault, and my heart leaps, despite my lingering fear.
Chapter 26
Landon
It’s fun being at the Magnolia Homestead with company. When I was here before, I needed the time to come to grips with my behavior and anger. The staff was here, but I felt alone, which is what I needed. But now it’s definitely better with the additional people.
I did accomplish at least one thing in my solitude, though, as I did coordinate with Gillian Reece at the Shangri-la to prepare for the upcoming poker tournament. She’ll bring in dealers and is working with Molly to organize food and whatever other help is needed for the weekend. The ranch has plenty of room, and we’ll have day trips into Yellowstone, horseback riding, whitewater rafting on the Snake River, golf, spa activities, and then a traditional chuckwagon jamboree with a stage show performed by a local group—Molly and her brothers.
It should be a fun weekend.
It has taken Tinsley and me a few days to find our footing, but we’ve developed a nice routine. We meet in the kitchen each morning for breakfast and work in the dining room—her on one end and me on the other. We work through early afternoon before we have lunch, and then we try to get out each afternoon for some kind of exercise. We then typically come back and work until dinner. Sometimes we even work after dinner, and other times we watch a movie. Either way, we say goodnight at the end of the evening, and she heads off in one direction while I go in another with a serious case of blue balls.
It was a delicious lunch today, but it’s made me sleepy as I return to my computer. I’m trying to work out something complicated, and my mind wanders as I look away from my screen. Tinsley must also be restless, because she stands and moves to the open floor. I watch her stretch and bend in her yoga pants. She puts her hands flat on the ground, moving to all fours, and pushes up. Her ass looks heavenly, and I want to reach for it, smooth my hand over her perfect globes. I have the urge to spank her.
She moves her feet wide apart, her knees pointing in opposite directions, and bends into her pose. Her pussy is wide open… What I wouldn’t give to taste it again.
When she lies on her back and stretches her feet over her head, my dick becomes extremely uncomfortable behind my jeans. I haven’t been with anyone since her, and she’s making it exceedingly difficult to concentrate. Not that I was doing great there to begin with…
Her brow furrows. “What’s wrong?”
My cock is weeping in my pants for you. I debate whether I should blow off the answer or address the situation. “I’ve missed you.”
She looks at me but doesn’t reply.
I hurt her, and I need to make it up to her. I know this. I stand. “Let’s go for a hike. We need the break, and it’ll be good to get some fresh air and stretch our legs.”
“I should put on different shoes.”
I notice the pink fuzzy slippers she’s slipped on. “Yeah, those might be difficult to manage the rocks with.”
Tinsley goes to her room and returns in a pair of runners. “I’m ready.”
I pick up our coats and the satellite phone, and we start the trek. “I did this hike several times when I was here before. I think you’ll like it.”
We walk behind the house and barn, and she follows me to a trailhead that leads into the foothills. It has a subtle climb to it, but we won’t get too high.
We set off, but after a few minutes, I hear Tinsley behind me. “I haven’t been swimming for over a month. I’m out of shape.”
I turn, but she’s barely breathing hard. “You’re doing great. If you want to stop, say so. This isn’t a race.”
We walk another five minutes, and we’re at the steepest part of the hike. Tinsley looks back over the ranch below. “Wow, that’s positively gorgeous.”
I stand next to her. We’re about three hundred feet above the house. You can see the runway and the green fields where I have five hundred head of cattle and what I thought were commercial crops. But I was informed that they grow alfalfa for the cows and horses on the ranch there. Plus, there are groves of fruit trees and rows of vegetables sourced for the ranch.
“I can see why you’d want to hang on to this,” Tinsley adds. “Where does your property line end and the next ranch begin?”
I point over my shoulder. “I go to the Lewiston city limits.”
She shakes her head. “That’s nearly an hour away.”
Landon smiles. “Frank took you the long way into town, hoping I’d call you back. It’s closer to thirty minutes.”
I see a flash of hurt in her eyes.
“That’s still a lot of land,” she says.
“It is. There are four houses outside the valley and closer to Lewiston, where some of the ranch hands live.”
“That makes sense.” Tinsley puts her arm around
