“The cattle are sorted and ready to go,” Beau said. “We’ve got our big trailer, and Mr. Kelsey is loaning us his.”
“Good,” Gerome said. “And how about you, Bryce? Are you ready to pack your bags?”
Bryce raised an eyebrow. “Like, now?”
“We bought the Rockin’ H,” Ford said.
Beau nearly choked. He looked quickly at his brother, whose eyes were big and round.
“For real?” Bryce asked.
“Yep. And you’re going to run it like any old cattle ranch with a swimming pool, lodge, and guesthouse,” Ford said, grinning and shuffling. “But don’t worry. You’ll mostly be in charge of the cattle. The existing staff is staying on board for now.”
Gerome leaned forward in his chair. “But if you’re not opposed, I’d like you to take a few online business classes specific to the hospitality industry.”
Bryce removed his hat. “I’d love that, sir.”
Beau felt nothing but happiness for his brother. And when he took a deep breath to say so, he realized his chest wasn’t tight. For the first time in his life, he felt better prepared to stand on his own two feet. He wasn’t an expert reader yet, but he was making real progress. In fact, he kind of loved reading. “This is exciting.”
And just like that, the day he’d been dreading had turned into a day to celebrate.
“Can you be ready to go by next weekend?” Gerome asked Bryce. “You can live in one of the lodge’s suites.”
“I was ready yesterday,” Bryce said. “Are we keeping the name? It’s still the Rockin’ H?”
“Hell, no,” Gerome said. “It’s the Rockin’ Rio Verde now.”
Ford danced over to the desk. “Gerome, can you grab those instructions and the solar panel diagram for Beau?”
Beau sat up straighter. He’d recently suggested buying some more solar panels and setting up a battery bank and a generator so the well’s pump could keep going after dark. They needed all the water they could get in the troughs, especially now that the river was so low and the cattle couldn’t graze along the banks.
Gerome dug around in a drawer and pulled out a pile of papers. “Beau, we took your advice to get us through this dry spell. The panels and battery bank came in, along with these instructions. Ford looked at them—at least some of it appears to be in English—and said you could probably handle hooking it all up. You’ve always been good at that sort of thing. But if you need help, let me know.”
Beau took the stack of papers from Gerome. He was good at figuring out how to take things apart and put them back together again. Bryce leaned over his shoulder, looking at the instructions and diagram. The words were tiny, and there was hardly any white space on the page. It looked like gibberish, but Beau worked hard at keeping a neutral expression. “I can figure it out. No problem.”
Bryce nodded at him. You’ll be fine, brother. I believe in you.
Alice struck her Tibetan singing bowl with the little wooden mallet. Maybe it would center her. She hadn’t slept a wink. It was as if she was inhabiting someone else’s body. Because hers didn’t normally feel this tingly and agitated. And it wasn’t just her lips, which were overly sensitive from literally hours of kissing.
She’d been kissed before—twice in college and once since—but never like that. Nobody had ever kissed her so dang thoroughly. Or hungrily.
Or intimately.
And nothing in her previous experience had prepared her for the level of lust that had rolled through her like a tidal wave.
She broke the meditation position of her hands—the mudra—to fan her face.
His mouth had been warm and soft and freaking insistent. As if he couldn’t get enough of her, either. Even though he could have any woman he wanted.
She’d bitten his lower lip. She’d never bitten anyone before. In fact, she’d never known she could even want to bite someone. Why had she wanted to bite him? And she’d licked his jawline, feeling the stubble beneath her tongue. That had led to his neck, which she’d literally feasted on.
She stood up. There would be no meditating today. She felt too big for the room. Too big for her house. Too big for her skin.
Maybe she’d go running. She’d never run before, but why not start? She’d take Gaston. Her folks were picking him up next weekend, and she was kind of going to miss the big furry monster.
She found a pair of sneakers. Then she grabbed Gaston’s leash, hooked him up, and headed out.
Dolly was in her front yard watering her rosebushes. “Good morning, Alice!”
Gaston also wanted to water the rosebushes, so Alice was forced to stop. “Sorry,” she said, yanking on the dog’s leash.
“Going for a walk?”
“A run.”
“You don’t run.”
“I do now. I’ve been trying lots of new things lately.” Her lips tingled as if to remind her of those things.
“You should bring Beau to the fire department’s Wild Game Dinner. Oh! And the Catholic Daughters are sponsoring a dance contest on Valentine’s Day. Y’all should enter! Everybody knows Beau is a fine dancer.”
The Wild Game Dinner? A dance contest on freaking Valentine’s Day? February was months from now. She and Beau were going to be over in two weeks. And anyway, she’d planned to spend the evening at a Galentine’s Day dinner with her self-partnered group.
“Valentine’s Day has some rather dark origins, you know. And anyway, it’s a long way off—”
“And you and Beau will still be together. I’m very good at predicting breakups, and I don’t see one in your future.”
Ha! How about midnight on the twelfth of June?
For just a moment, Alice imagined what it might be like to have a real boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. The only heart-shaped box of chocolates she’d ever received had come from the library volunteers. And the only rose had been from a secret admirer her senior year of high school. She suspected the sender was her father, but she’d carefully dried it and saved it anyway. Just in case . . .
She
