by Sophie Mays
“We’re going to talk to them about this right?” Jake asked. His arms were crossed defensively across his chest, shoulders still hunched.
“And tell them what? That I was snooping in Dad’s office and found something they didn’t want us to know?” Carson asked. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, allowing his hands to dangle. Cooper perked up to lick at his fingers.
“I agree with Jake,” AJ said, leaning back against the door as if she felt weak. “We can’t just let this go. What if there’s something else wrong and they haven’t told us that either?”
“I don’t understand their reasoning for not telling us in the first place. We all would have dropped everything and come straight back home,” Hannah said fiercely, one foot tapping with agitation.
“They know that, though,” Emma pointed out gently. “Maybe they didn’t want to worry us because they knew we would completely abandon our lives and come running back.”
“That’s what family is for,” AJ and Jake said in unison, wearing matching expressions of indignation.
“Yeah, but they’re our parents. And what parent wouldn’t want to protect their child?” Emma asked.
“Mama and Daddy have never tried to coddle us, though,” Hannah said.
Both statements were true. Mimi and Boone would never want their children to suffer unnecessarily. However, one learned about certain facts of life growing up on a ranch. Then again, learning about your father having a heart attack was different than learning what happened to animals in order to make food.
“I think we should talk to them,” Carson said. “Not to accuse them of keeping things from us, but to find out what happened. Maybe we don’t have the whole story and things will make more sense if they explain their thought process.”
Three of them had voted in favor of talking to their parents, so the majority ruled. They gathered themselves as much as was possible and headed downstairs. Emma was the one to go and find their parents, since she was the least visibly agitated. She brought them to the living room where the rest of them had settled.
“Have you kids decided which parcels you want?” Boone asked. Mimi was studying her children silently. She could tell there was something more serious brewing. If this was simply a conversation about the parcels, they all probably would have been more excited, especially Hannah. She’d noticed her middle daughter staring into space and drawing all the time the past few days.
“Not quite,” Carson said. He sighed and looked at his siblings for a moment before he continued. “Look, I’m sorry, but I went in your office to take another look at the map, Dad.”
Boone gave his son a perplexed look. His office wasn’t necessarily off limits. It wasn’t a problem that Carson had gone looking for the map. Unless Cooper had made a mess in there. If that was the case, though, Carson would have simply cleaned it up and let him know afterwards. It wouldn’t be reason enough for what was clearly a family meeting.
“That’s fine, son,” Boone said. He waited for an explanation of the problem, looking more closely at his children. Jake had his shoulders hunched and AJ kept flicking the colored ends of her hair between her index and middle fingers. Hannah had her arms wrapped around herself and Emma was chewing on the ends of her glasses. Carson rubbed a hand down his face.
“I was just… The map was on your desk, and I… It was right there,” Carson said.
Emma placed a hand on his shoulder. “He took the map off your desk, and this happened to be lying underneath.” She handed a piece of paper over.
Mimi and Boone leaned closer to read it. They exchanged a look when they realized what had upset set their children so deeply. It had been their intention to cause the kids as little worry as possible over Boone’s health, but it looked as if the cat was out of the bag.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” AJ asked quietly. Her free hand was twisted up with her twin’s.
“We would have come home,” Hannah said quietly.
“Oh, honey, we know that. Of course we do. It wasn’t a question of whether y’all would come running,” Mimi assured.
“Then why?” Carson asked.
“It was a very minor heart problem. The best case scenario for that type of thing. More a warning indicating the direction your father’s health is heading than anything else. The doctor recommended some diet changes and a bit more exercise. Other than that, he should be fine. We just didn’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill,” Mimi said.
“And the land?” Jake asked. He remembered the reasoning Hannah had suggested, that their dad might not get the chance to see them use it if it wasn’t offered right then.
Mimi and Boone shared another look.
“We don’t have any deep concerns about my health right now,” Boone said. “But it was a bit of a scare at the time, and we realized we really would like it if you kids were back home.”
“It’s been a few years since y’all went on your way, and we know you lead busy lives that you love. We’re happy each of you is so happy and independent. It’s just that we always expected y’all to come home. We’re hoping it can be now instead of in the distant future,” Mimi elaborated.
After their parents’ offer, Hannah had been planning on moving back anyway. It was her siblings who had seemed ready to wait a few more years before settling back on their family ranch. She was sure none of them had given much thought toward how to stay since she’d already asked them and only received vague answers. If they were going to stay, they might be hard-pressed to figure out how to occupy their time. Out of all of them, AJ would probably have the least difficulty. She could paint anywhere, after all, and her affinity with animals would only be an asset to the sanctuary they had on the ranch.
Carson made most of his money from his food truck. He could drive it around town, but it wasn’t as busy as the cities he usually went to. It would leave him with a lot of down time, and a bored Carson was something to be avoided. Even more so than it used to be since he came back from deployment.
Emma’s desserts were a well-known feature of the bakery she worked at. She’d even sold a few of her cake designs. She’d just had an article done on one of her cakes. She loved working at the bakery and had since she first started the job. Moving might mean having to build her reputation again, mostly from scratch.
Jake was more of a wanderer than the other four of them combined. It would be strange for him to be tied down after so many years of flitting across the world according to his whims and wine tastes.
As they’d all said, though, all of them would come running if their family needed them. If their mom and dad wanted to be surrounded by their kids from now onwards, that’s what they’d get.
“I could think of new recipes for all your favorites that you can’t eat now, Dad,” Carson said. His head was tilted, mind already whirring.
“I can start looking for healthier desserts for you, Dad,” Emma said.
“Is there anything else we need to do so we can help?” AJ asked.
“Just y’all being here is enough,” Boone said. “We’d like if y’all stayed, but we know we’re kind of dropping this on you. We meant to let you decide without any pressure.”
Carson cringed a little, even though it really had been a coincidence. He hadn’t been digging around in his father’s office to find something like that. They knew now, though, and they would make the best of the information they had been given.
They would have to leave to get their lives sorted out, but it would only be a matter of time until all the Wyatts came home.
4
Chapter 4
A week later, Hannah was sitting on the corral fence watching AJ work with their newest horse, a lovely Morgan.
It was a thing of beauty to see her baby sister work with horses. She had a mysterious connection with animals. Even the most furious and feral beasts calmed under AJ’s attention. It had been like that ever since she was a child.
Hearing tires on the drive, Hannah looked over her shoulder to
see an unfamiliar car. She turned to her sister, who was still focused on her horse.
“AJ, do you recognize that car?” she asked.
AJ paused and turned to check. “Nope. Looks fancy, though.”
Hannah looked again and nodded. It did look a bit upscale for these parts. “You stable Marigold and I’m gonna go check who it is.”
The expression on AJ’s face told Hannah she wasn’t fooling anybody. Their town wasn’t the type of place where bad things happened, but she would still prefer to meet a stranger before exposing her little sister to them. Still, AJ shrugged and led Marigold away.
Hannah walked over, watching as the driver stepped out. She noted two things about him immediately. He was tall, and he seemed fascinated by his surroundings. Hannah could appreciate anyone who could appreciate her family’s land.
“Hey, there,” she called, “Anything I can help you with?”
He turned and Hannah’s next observation was that he was incredibly handsome.
“Hello, I’m looking for someone. Maybe you know her?” the man said. Hannah’s eyebrows went high when she noted his accent. A gorgeous British man must be far out of his way to have ended up on their ranch.
“Maybe I do,” Hannah agreed. “Who is it you’re looking for?”
“Her name is Hannah Wyatt. Her family owns this land,” the man said.
Hannah blinked at him. Why was a tall British man she’d never met before looking for her? She looked him over again. He looked to be about her age.
“Why are you looking for her?” she asked.
It might have come out more suspicious than she intended it to, because he tilted his head and studied her. A small smile appeared on his face.
“I have a delivery for her,” he said.
Hannah’s frown deepened. This was starting to get more than a little confusing. He wasn’t dressed like a delivery person. His car was too nice for that, anyway.
“I don’t remember ordering anything,” Hannah said. The man’s smile widened, and she realized she’d given herself away.
“It’s a delivery to you from someone else,” the man said confidently.
“And what is the delivery, if you know and if I may ask?”
“Yule log,” the man said with a grin, “And mince pies.”
That sounded familiar. Hannah thought back, trying to figure out where she’d heard that recently. Her eyes widened as she remembered that she hadn’t heard it recently. She’d typed it in an email.
“Rosalind!” Hannah exclaimed. “She sent you? Is she here?”
“It’s just me,” the man laughed. “She might have mentioned me before, though. Did she ever talk about someone intelligent, witty, and dashingly handsome?”
Hannah giggled. “I think I would definitely remember such an overwhelmingly positive description.”
The stranger deflated slightly. Hannah started thinking over emails, trying to guess who he was.
“Oh! You’re Rosalind’s brother,” Hannah said with a gasp.
“Yes, I’m Rafferty,” the man, Rafferty, said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He held out a hand and Hannah stepped forward to shake it without thinking. Except Rafferty turned her hand so that the back was facing up and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. His curly hair fell over his brow as he looked up at her with a mischievous smile.
Hannah looked at him, quite breathless, and said without thinking, “The pleasure is mine.”
Rafferty straightened and Hannah didn’t realize they were simply staring at each other until the pointed sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention. Hannah jerked and turned to find AJ standing nearby with an amused expression on her face. AJ’s gaze dropped and Hannah realized Rafferty still had ahold of her hand. She gently pulled away and took a step back, clearing her throat.
“AJ this is Rafferty,” Hannah explained, “He’s Rosalind’s brother.”
“Oh, your penpal?” AJ asked. She seemed a bit confused, but stepped forward nonetheless, and held out a hand to shake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, also,” Rafferty said, shaking her hand in a completely normal way. He missed Hannah’s disgruntled look in his direction. “You’re an artist, I believe?”
Hannah’s eyebrows went up. She didn’t realize Rosalind would have told her brother so much about their conversations. Which didn’t make sense, since she always told her siblings everything.
“I am,” AJ said. “Has Hannah offered to show you around yet?”
“Oh, do you actually have desserts in your car?” Hannah asked before Rafferty could respond. She ignored the confused look AJ gave her.
“I do,” Rafferty chuckled, “I’m told it’s a requirement for room and board.”
Hannah’s eyes widened again. At this rate, they were going to fall out of her head.
“Rosalind sent you here to stay?”
A small furrow appeared between Rafferty’s brows. “Well, not forever, but for the holidays, yes,” he said uncertainly. “I was given to believe the two of you had spoken about it.”
“We had, but I was kind of joking,” Hannah said nervously. She regretted blurting that out when Rafferty looked horribly embarrassed.
“I’m terribly sorry for imposing,” he said, backing up. “I can just hand everything to you and be on my way.”
“No, there’s no need!” Hannah said.
“It’s perfectly fine, Hannah,” Rafferty said with a charming smile. “I can find a hotel easily enough. It won’t be a problem at all.”
“No,” Hannah said firmly. “I told Rosalind she could stay here since your parents will be away. I added my address. There was no reason for her to think I wasn’t serious. She even said she wouldn’t want to impose and I said we would all welcome her. I’m not going back on my word, even if it’s her brother rather than her. Please.”
Rafferty studied her for several moments before he looked over at AJ. She held up her hands and shrugged.
“I literally have no clue what’s going on, but I don’t have a problem with you staying,” she said. “I doubt anyone else will either.”
Rafferty looked at Hannah again. She narrowed her eyes at him.
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” she said.
A smile bloomed on Rafferty’s face. “You’re quite sweet,” he said. He said it like it was something he’d expected and was still surprised by.
Hannah blushed. She could practically feel AJ staring holes into the side of her face. She twisted an arm around behind her back to fiddle with the end of her braid.
“Um, thanks,” she said shyly. Rafferty’s smile became a bit sheepish as he ran a hand through his curls. Hannah spoke up before things became too awkward. “How about you give AJ the desserts. She can take them to the kitchen and I can show you where you’ll be staying.”
Rafferty nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” he said.
He went to the back of his car and pulled out a cardboard box. AJ moved forward to take it. She shot Hannah a pointed look as she passed her, moving toward the main house. Rafferty moved around to the trunk, popped it, and pulled out a suitcase and a duffel. He offered Hannah a smile and she returned it easily, gesturing for him to follow her.
“This place is beautiful,” Rafferty said as they walked.
“Thanks,” Hannah said, glancing up at him, “I’ve always thought so. Plus, it’s home.”
“I have the distinct feeling there’s a wealth of childhood stories,” Rafferty said. He was looking at a large tree with a tire swing tied to one of its low branches.
His accent curled around the words. Hannah felt as if he was asking to know her. She glanced at him, but he was still looking around. She shook off the feeling and agreed with him.
“Oh, my siblings and I definitely had our fair share of adventures,” she said with a smile.
“It would be lovely to hear about a few of those adventures,” Rafferty said.
This time, she knew without chec
king that he was looking at her. She pushed one hand into her jeans pocket. The other twisted behind her to wind strands of hair between her fingers.
“I wouldn’t mind telling a few stories,” Hannah said, still looking straight ahead toward the stable.
“I vow to be a most attentive audience,” Rafferty said. She glanced over for just long enough to see him smiling at her.
“I expect to hear a few tales of you and your sister in return,” she teased.
“A fair exchange,” he replied easily.
His smile was crooked, Hannah realized. Which of course only made it more charming.
She led him to the guest quarters above the stable closest to the house. It was more like a studio apartment than a guest room.
Immediately to the right of the door, there was a small kitchen. A few feet from the doorway of the kitchen, was a table with two chairs. Further in, there was a couch with a TV stand across from it. Directly across from the door, as far back as possible, was a bed. To the left of the bed was a door, which Rafferty assumed led to a bathroom. Between the TV stand and the bathroom, there was a bookshelf. Rafferty took in the space with slightly wide eyes before he turned to Hannah.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” he said.
“Thank you for accepting it,” Hannah said with a cheeky smile. “There’s no food in the kitchen right now so you’re welcome to come have dinner with us in the main house tonight. We’re all home right now, so I can introduce you to everybody. You’ll have to tell me if they match with Rosalind’s description of them.”
A strange look passed over Rafferty’s face, but he was smiling again soon enough, so Hannah didn’t ask.
“I’d be happy to share a meal with your family,” he said.
Hannah couldn’t quite tell if he was being formal on purpose or if it was simply the way he talked. She grinned at him.
“Will this be your first experience with American home-cooking?”
Rafferty chuckled. “It will be, actually. I have no doubt I’ll enjoy the experience immensely.”
Just the way he talked, Hannah decided.
