by Amy Vastine
“Big E’s father was the oldest son and therefore he took over the ranch from his father in 1930. His dad’s name was Henry, but everyone in Falcon Creek knew him as Dirty Henry because he wasn’t a big fan of taking a bath.”
“And someone married Dirty Henry and had children with him?” Amanda asked. The woman was a bit of a neat freak. She would never marry anyone named Dirty anything.
“Someone married him all right. A sweet lady named Marjorie. And they had two children, Big E and his sister. I know this may come as a shock to you, but they were not twins.”
Lily laughed. “Not going to lie, that’s surprising given the way the later generations had kids.”
“Marjorie had a series of miscarriages early on, but they were blessed with two healthy kiddos in the end.”
Amanda was paying close attention, but didn’t say much.
Conner led them along the trail near some cattle grazing in a field. “Big E kept running this place as a working ranch and had planned to leave it to his son, who unfortunately passed away in a tragic accident on the property with his wife.”
“That was our cousins’ parents, right?” Lily asked.
“It was. The boys were pretty young when it happened. Big E raised them. Most of them took off after high school for college or, in Chance’s case, a music career. The only one who stuck around Falcon Creek was Jon.”
“But they all came back home, huh?” Amanda asked.
Conner let out a laugh. “Big E made sure of that. The man went to great lengths to reunite his family. I wouldn’t put it past him to do the same to you and your sisters.”
“Amanda isn’t going to move to Montana,” Blake replied. He probably shouldn’t speak for her, but it came out of his mouth before he had time to think about how it sounded.
“You never know, Blake. This place has a special kind of charm that sucks you in,” Lily teased.
“Harrison, tell your sister you have no plans to move to Montana.”
“It does have a little more charm than I expected,” Amanda replied with a mischievous grin.
Blake didn’t find any of it very funny. He turned his head to look at her. “Not happening. Ever.” Amanda could come visit Lily whenever she wanted, but California was her home. Their home.
They turned to head back to the barn. Conner complimented everyone on a good ride. “I’m impressed that this is your first time on a horse. You guys are doing really well.”
“This isn’t nearly as hard as surfing is,” Blake said. “The horse really does all the work. I was worried that the horse might go wild, but this guy is so chill. I could shout ‘Giddyap!’ and—” He was going to say his horse would still keep pace with everyone else, but his horse decided that giddyap meant giddyap, and he took off like he was trying to win the Kentucky Derby.
Blake tried not to panic even though his heart was racing and his adrenaline was pumping. He tried shouting “Whoa,” hoping that would work as well as “Giddyap,” but he had no luck. This was like wiping out and being caught in a two-wave hold-down. The fear made it hard to think straight.
The trail began to narrow and trees lined both sides. Blake ducked his head as the horse ran under a low-hanging branch. His knuckles were white from gripping the reins so tightly, but Blake couldn’t loosen his hold.
The horse wasn’t responding to anything he did or said. This was so different from being on a surfboard. When he surfed, it was the ocean that often threw him a curveball, but at least he had control over what the board did. Here, the horse had all the control and he was literally along for the ride.
The trail widened and they were back in an open field. Blake tried to keep his wits about him. Should he bail? Maybe if he jumped off, he could control how he fell and hopefully reduce the damage to his body. If he stayed on and the horse came to a sudden stop, he could end up being thrown off and suffer some serious harm.
He was sweating and his life was flashing before his eyes. He had a really good life. It was full of love and adventure. He loved his family, but the best times had been with Amanda. He was going to die and she would never know how much he loved her. He couldn’t die.
Suddenly, Conner was there beside him and shouting at him to get his feet back in the stirrups. Blake hadn’t even realized they were out.
“Relax! And lean forward!” Conner directed. Blake did as he was told. “Pull the reins down and back! Keep it low!”
Blake pulled back on the reins with both hands as Conner maneuvered his horse in front. The combination of the reins and Conner’s horse slowing in front of him helped Blake regain control. Blake was out of breath almost as if he had been running alongside his horse instead of riding him.
“Magnus is usually quite mellow,” Conner said, falling back. “I think he was trying to show off for you. He must have thought you were getting bored.”
All Blake wanted to do was put his feet on the ground and have complete control over where he went and how fast he went there. “Can I get off of him?”
“Yeah. Let me help.” Conner dismounted first and stood beside Magnus to keep him still.
Blake carefully got off the horse and wanted to kiss the ground. It took a while for Lily and Amanda to catch up, but as soon as they did, Amanda climbed down off her horse and ran to him.
“Are you okay? Were you trying to give me a heart attack?” She wrapped her arms around him and his whole body relaxed. His heart rate went back to normal and the knot in his stomach unraveled. She always had the magic touch.
“I didn’t fall off.”
That earned him a little laugh. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said, resting her cheek against his chest.
“Good thing we don’t have to call Nadia and tell her we accidentally killed her fiancé,” Lily said. “You still have a way of keeping things interesting.”
A near-death experience wasn’t exactly how he wanted to cap off the day, but it had made one thing crystal clear. When Blake had been on that horse, afraid he might die, there was only one person he was thinking about. There was only one person he wished he could say I love you to, and it wasn’t his fiancée.
It was the woman in his arms.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“HE’S GOING TO be hurting in the morning. I grabbed you some ice packs. You’re going to want him to sit on these to ease some of the soreness that he’s bound to feel tomorrow.”
Amanda gratefully took the ice packs from Conner. It was nice of him to think about how Blake would be feeling. He kept racking up the bonus points today. It made her like him and hate him.
“And I brought you guys some dinner from the dining hall.” Lily carried in a bag of something that smelled like exactly what Amanda’s growling stomach was carrying on about. “They have the best cheeseburgers I’ve ever had. That’s saying a lot since you know how I feel about cheeseburgers.”
“You guys are the best. Let me see if Blake is up for eating something.”
Blake didn’t need Amanda to rouse him. The mention of food did that. “Did someone say cheeseburgers?” he asked, stumbling out of the bedroom.
“The best, according to Lily.”
He carefully lowered himself on the couch, wincing all the way. “Well, we know how our Lily Pad feels about cheeseburgers.”
“Conner brought you these to sit on.” Amanda held up the ice packs. “He says you’re going to be really hurting tomorrow. I’ll get you a towel.”
“Wow. You guys thought of everything,” Blake said. “Thank you.”
Lily passed out the food while Amanda got Blake situated. Clancy got a little too curious about that delicious smell and was sent to Amanda’s bedroom. Today had been a roller coaster of emotion, but at the end of it, Amanda had to admit she was grateful. As much as she wanted to not like Conner, he proved over and over that he was a decent guy. Her sister could do so much worse.
“Thank you for everything, Conner. You really saved Blake’s life today.”
Conner’s gaze dropped to the floor. “You don’t have to thank me. You all were my responsibility. I’m sorry that he could have been hurt. That’s not how I wanted the ride to end.”
“Well, you were pretty amazing,” Blake said. “If you hadn’t caught up to me and told me to relax, I probably would be in the hospital right now. I was ready to jump off.”
Lily tossed a balled-up napkin at him. “You can’t bail off a horse like you do a surfboard.”
“Oh, wow. Really? You’re an expert now after living here for a month?” He tossed the napkin back at her.
Amanda smiled. She loved the way Blake and Lily got along like brother and sister. All of her sisters treated Blake like he was part of the family. Getting the Harrison girls to agree on anything was a difficult task, so the fact that he had won each of them over was quite a feat.
His phone vibrated on the coffee table in front of him. Nadia’s face appeared on the screen, and reality smacked Amanda in the face once again. Blake would never actually be part of the family. He was about to start a family with someone else. Someone who was unlikely to allow Amanda to be a relevant part of it.
Blake leaned forward gingerly and grabbed his phone. “Hey, can I call you back? We just sat down to eat dinner.”
Nadia apparently didn’t want to wait and must have said so because Blake dragged himself off the couch and disappeared into his bedroom.
“I guess that’s a no.” Lily’s eyes were wide. “What’s this Nadia like? Are we happy he’s getting married to her? I’m not sure how to feel because he hasn’t been dating her very long, right?”
“Oh, hello, kettle,” Amanda quipped. “No offense, Conner.”
“None taken. We definitely moved super fast. I don’t expect y’all to welcome me with open arms. I don’t blame you for any skepticism you might have.”
Ugh. He made it so hard to not like him. Understanding and humble? There had to be some flaws underneath all that perfectness.
“She can be as skeptical as she wants to be. I know you’re the one. The only one.” Lily leaned across the little café table where they sat and gave him a kiss.
Amanda tried to steer the conversation away from how nauseatingly in love they were with each other. She was eating, after all. “I am trying to keep an open mind about everyone, including Nadia.”
“So you like her? You guys get along?” Lily asked.
“Of course I like her. She’s nice. I haven’t spent a ton of time with her, but Blake seems happy.” That was all Lily was going to get out of her. She wasn’t going to speak badly about Nadia even though she didn’t think Blake was making the best decision by marrying her so quickly.
However, Lily wanted more. “This is Blake we’re talking about, though. He has a new girlfriend every couple months. What makes this one the one?”
She wasn’t wrong. He’d had a lot of girlfriends. He always seemed to find something wrong with whomever he was with and would walk away like it was nothing. She wasn’t sure what was different about Nadia. He hadn’t shared anything specific.
“You’ll have to ask him,” Amanda said with a shrug.
“Maybe I will.” Lily popped a french fry in her mouth.
Blake limped out of the bedroom. “Everyone say hi to Nadia.” He held the phone out—Nadia was on video chat and waved hello. They all said hi. “All right, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Blake said to his fiancée.
“Love you,” she said.
“Love you, too,” Blake replied. Amanda set her burger down. It was hard to hear those words when he said them to someone else even though when he said them to her they meant something different. He was in love with Nadia. He loved Amanda like a sister.
Sisters got left behind when people fell in love. Lily was proof of that.
“So...” Lily said once Blake ended his call. “That was Nadia, huh? The woman who finally convinced you to settle down. I need to know how she did it. I never thought it would happen.”
“Sometimes we just have to take the leap, right? Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“I’m marrying the guy who swept me off my feet and makes me feel like I can do anything.”
That was sweet. Amanda wanted that for all of her sisters. She wanted it for herself.
“I don’t know if I swept Nadia off her feet, but we get along really well. She wants the same things that I do—a big family and to settle down somewhere near the beach.”
Lily’s face scrunched up in confusion. “You get along with everyone you’ve ever dated. None of them wanted a family or to live by the beach? That’s what makes her the one?”
Amanda ate her cheeseburger and listened closely for his answer. She had also been wondering what it was that had convinced Blake to settle down.
Blake stopped to think about what Lily asked. “I guess some of the other women I’ve dated wanted those things, as well.” He played with the front of his hair, something he did when he was anxious. “I mean, let’s be honest—we’re not getting any younger. We’re almost thirty. If I want that big family, I need to get started. I’ve always been good at comparing the women I dated to—” He glanced over at Amanda, who froze. Was he going to say her? He looked away and continued, “To my idea of what the perfect woman should be. But that’s unrealistic to expect someone to be perfect, right?”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone is perfect, but I think that the person you spend the rest of your life with should be perfect for you.”
“I think Nadia will make a really good mom. To me, that makes her perfect for me.”
Amanda struggled to swallow down her bite of food. Her condition made it impossible for her to be perfect for Blake. That was something she had known all along, but to hear him say it out loud was almost too much to handle. “And you’re madly in love,” Lily said matter-of-factly as she finished off her fries.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, of course I am,” he croaked.
Lily’s eyes snapped up and she fixed her gaze on him. “That’s what makes Nadia different, right? Different than Rebecca or Veronica or... What was that one brunette’s name? Kendra? Kerry?”
“Kira,” Amanda answered.
Lily snapped her fingers. “Kira! That was it.”
“I didn’t realize you were so invested in my love life.” He chuckled, but Amanda sensed his discomfort. “Will you tell your sister that Nadia is not like the others and that she doesn’t have to worry about me?” he asked Amanda.
Neither Blake nor Lily realized that this conversation was killing her, but she had to slip on her mask and make them all believe she was fine. “I told her that Nadia is great.”
“Okay, I believe you,” Lily said. “I’m happy for you. We’ve always wondered who would manage to convince you to settle down. I was curious about her, that’s all. If Amanda thinks she’s the person for you, there’s no doubt she is.”
The cheeseburger was not sitting well in Amanda’s stomach anymore now that all eyes were on her. “If Blake says he’s sure, why wouldn’t I believe him?”
Blake’s jaw ticked. Amanda could tell that Lily was unintentionally making him feel defensive. He said, “I love Nadia more than I have ever loved anyone.”
“Whoa. Sorry, Amanda. You have finally been replaced.” Lily took a long swig of her drink.
Blake grimaced. “You can’t compare how I feel about Amanda with how I feel about Nadia.”
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time.” Lily tried to backpedal.
“So, Conner, I was so impressed with all your Blackwell family knowledge. Is that part of the regular tour information?” Amanda asked, desperate to change the subject.
Much to her surprise, she had been enthralled by the history of the ranch. She had
felt for Marjorie Blackwell, Big E’s mother. Today was the first she had ever heard of anyone related to her having issues getting pregnant. There was strong evidence that endometriosis was hereditary, but Amanda had a mother who had got pregnant by just thinking about it. It always made her feel like she didn’t belong. Perhaps she wasn’t the odd one out.
Conner and Amanda conversed about Blackwell history, and she learned more about his ranch while everyone ate their dinner.
“I need a shower and my bed,” Blake said, getting up without finishing his food. “You guys have a good night.”
“We should go,” Conner said, rising from the table.
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” Amanda said, walking them to the door. “Thanks again for the food and the ice.”
Lily gave her sister a hug and left with Conner. Blake didn’t waste any time retreating into his bedroom. He took a shower and came back out to grab the ice packs.
He ran a hand through his damp surfer-boy hair. “I didn’t realize your sister was so worried about my love life. Is there something I should know?” he asked.
Amanda’s stomach clenched. She couldn’t tell him that she understood why Lily was asking those questions. Amanda wondered the same thing. What made Nadia different from everyone else? Why was she going to win the big prize? Was he marrying her for the right reasons?
“I mean, she’s going to challenge me about rushing into things when she’s doing the same thing? She’s going to question if I’m in love enough? How do we know she’s really in love like she says?”
Before they had arrived at the ranch, Amanda would have agreed with him. She would have wondered if Lily was truly in love or just infatuated. Now, seeing the two of them together, it was harder to doubt that her sister knew what she was doing. It was the way he held her hand when they walked together and how she talked about how amazing he was to his mom. Lily seemed to be in love with Conner and he seemed in love with her. It was a big reason Amanda was so miserable. The other reason was the possibility that Blake and Nadia were equally in love.
