She stopped when she was within earshot of their voices, stepping back under the trees with her horse in the hopes no one would notice her. Gavin’s laugh as he rode by his brother and slapped him on the back resonated back to her, her toes curling at hearing that deep rumble again. He was so different out here than at the club where they’d spent most of their time. She could see this was where he was meant to be, not behind a desk as legal representative for his family’s vast assets.
Gavin dismounted and pulled a hammer from his saddle. He appeared as at ease shoring up a loose fence rail as he had astride his horse riding the herd. With a sinking heart, Aislyn realized he had a life here, one he enjoyed and would be worth protecting. What right did she have to interrupt his peaceful existence or to even consider sharing her problem? Staying here could very well cause him legal difficulties if there was already a warrant out for her arrest, and she couldn’t bear that. But she also couldn’t bring herself to leave just yet. She had no choice but to stick around for another day or two until she could come up with an alternative solution.
A wave of despair brought tears to her eyes as she mounted and rode back toward the stables.
****
“I wonder why she didn’t ride over,” Cody said as he joined Gavin at the fence.
“Something’s bothering her.” Gavin had sensed Aislyn’s nearness before he spotted her along the trees. He didn’t need his wolf’s instincts to know when his mate was close; he’d been hyperaware of her from the moment he saw her across the room at Spurs. That hadn’t changed.
Cody leaned his forearms on the fence. “Are you going to tell Drake and me what’s going on?”
“As soon as I know.” He cut his gaze toward his brother as Aislyn disappeared from his sight. “And, given your closed mouth on why you left the Sheriff’s Department so abruptly, you have no room to gripe.” Cody’s blue eyes, so like their mother’s, clouded with pain. Not for the first time in the last year, Gavin wished Cody would open up about his partner’s death. Gavin and Drake were both glad when Cody had resigned and returned to the ranch to stay and work it full-time with them, but the shadows of haunted pain often reflected in both his brothers’ eyes weighed on Gavin.
“You’re right.”
Drake rode up in time to hear their exchange. “Don’t tell him that, he hears it way too much.”
“And yet I never tire of it.” Gavin smirked, glad to see a glint of humor in his youngest brother’s eyes for a change. Since retiring from the military ten years ago, Drake spent too much time to himself when not working the ranch. “Let’s finish up here and head to the river. I’m in the mood for king salmon tonight.” There were only a few rivers in Idaho where that treasured fish could be caught, and lucky for them, one ran right through their property.
“Sounds good to me,” Drake said, dismounting to help them finish the repairs.
An hour later, the three of them had pulled their fishing poles off their saddles and were spread several feet apart at the river’s edge, waiting for a bite. Normally, Gavin relished these short down times with his siblings, just the three of them taking a few moments away from work and responsibilities to relax together and shoot the breeze. But this afternoon, he found himself chomping at the bit to get back to Aislyn. The urge to pull answers from her was just as strong, which was why he’d suggested this break.
Without looking at Cody, he asked, “Is it a go, then?”
Cody’s quick grin matched the gleam in his blue eyes. “I’ve got the papers at the house and figure you can go over them when you come for dinner.”
Drake snorted in decision. “Still say you’re fucking nuts for plunking down money on that dilapidated eyesore.”
When Cody had brought up the idea of purchasing the abandoned, run-down old lodge off 64 between the ranch and Brooksville, Gavin had agreed with Drake’s skepticism. But the more he’d gone over the prospect of renovating the rustic log-structure into a night club, the more it had grown on him. The surrounding towns were all rural populated, no more than twelve hundred, and there was little in the way of entertainment aside from theaters and bar dives. With plans for a dance floor, pool table, mechanical bull and karaoke, their place had the potential to bring in a substantial amount of extra income.
Finding the time to complete and run the place was still a sticking point.
“It’s worth checking into. If, after running the numbers, including the costs for renovation, it doesn’t look feasible, we’ll hang on to the land until we can sell it for a profit.”
With a shrug, Drake agreed. “I’ll put in the labor but remember, I told you so if it goes belly up.”
Gavin’s cell buzzed and he fished it from his pocket, checked the caller I.D. and ignored the call. As soon as he tucked it back in his pocket, Cody flicked him a shrew glance and lifted one, inquisitive brow.
“Ignoring Mom’s call again?”
“Yep.”
With a rueful shake of his head, Cody said, “Let me guess, she wants you to accompany her back home for a family visit.”
“A.K.A. – a matchmaking trip to the Canadian pack,” Drake drawled. “Better you than us. Sucks to be Alpha, doesn’t it?”
Fuck yes, he thought, thinking of Aislyn in his house. Even if she hadn’t returned, he’d still refuse to go ‘mate searching’ with his mother, the same as he’d done since coming home to take up the reins of both the ranch
