Page 6 of Live, Ranch, Love

Aurora rolls her lips in contemplation, eyes narrowing. Hands land on her hips as she quirks a brow at me. I’ve got the fire kindling again it seems.

“That influencer thing is my business where I help people transform their lives and become happier, more successful individuals. And part of that includes yoga videos to help them de-stress.”

My eyes rocket heavenward, begging for the self-control that will stop me from ripping into that too hard. I mutter under my breath, “Yeah, I’m sure a few stretches will make me a millionaire in no time.”

Aurora flicks her ginger waves behind her shoulder, hip popped. “Feel free to give me a follow on Instagram, you might find you’ll learn something, like how to smile.”

“Sounds awful,” I grunt out, undeniably a little shocked at the sass. She looks all proper, but there’s a feisty side for sure. If that’s how she wants to play, count me in.

I cross my arms, leaning against the fence. “How does it work, anyway? Do you wave a crystal about, tell me to live, laugh, love, and all my woes disappear?”

Aurora’s jaw tightens, before she takes a deep breath and drops to her knees to roll up her yoga mat. When she stands back up, she asks, “Is the folder for me?”

That brings me straight back to reality. Because there was a real reason I came over here, not just to spar with her.

I sigh. “I put together everything you need to know in there.”

Hesitantly, Aurora takes the folder, our eyes briefly meeting when her cold fingers accidently brush mine. I immediately cross my arms again. I don’t need to know what her touch feels like. The less I know about her the better.

Aurora flicks through the folder—everything I collated last night while I couldn’t sleep—maps of the ranch, details and schedules for the ranchers, and the contractors doing the place up to make it sellable. Everything I’ve been sorting out for Grace since she passed. Hopefully, if Aurora has all the paperwork then she’ll have less reason to pester me.

“Wow, this is super organised,” Aurora observes, disbelief lacing her words. “There’s a lot in here.”

“Yep, and it’s your problem now.” I push off the fence.

Admittedly, I’m probably overloading her with a hell of a lot of information that even I would’ve struggled to assimilate all in one go when I first started here. But if she’s so insistent that this is her ranch now, and hers to determine the future of so blithely, then she’s going to have to learn how this all works pretty quickly.

“Wait.” Aurora spins as I dash away. “You’re not going to sit and go through it all with me?”

The gruff laugh leaves my lips before I can stop it. “Sorry, Princess, but I actually have a ranch to run. Unless you’re planning on getting up on one of the horses and helping out?”

Strawberry lips pop open. “I… I don’t ride.”

I shake my head, smiling at how predictable she is. Owns a ranch and can’t ride a horse. Just perfect. “Of course you don’t, Princess.”

three

Aurora

What do my readers need to hear right now? I tap my pen against my notebook, leaving little marks of ink across the blank page I’ve been staring at for ages.

I knew that forcing myself to write as soon as I got here was never going to work. After my morning yoga yesterday, I spent a good couple of hours going through Auntie Grace’s stuff, putting together bags of old clothes that I could donate. As hard as it was to do so, with all the memories playing through my head, I had to start the ball rolling somehow with sorting Sunset Ranch out. Otherwise, I’ll end up staying in Willow Ridge for far longer than necessary, when I really need everything to just go back to normal as soon as possible.

Luckily, it took my mind off the unopened email from my agent waiting for me, asking after the outline for my next self-help book. It also helped me calm down after how snarky Wyatt was with me, which was totally uncalled for. He is not helping with my situation.

I even found some awesome red cowboy boots I never knew Auntie Grace owned, which I’m not ashamed to say I tried on. I could just imagine her wearing them, probably dancing around the house to an Emmylou Harris song with her long white hair swishing behind her. She’d definitely have paired them with some bright red lipstick, that’s for sure.

Then, in the evening, I finally plucked up the courage to dive into the folder Wyatt made me—to figure out where everything had been left off. Auntie Grace had already kickstarted converting some of the old buildings into guesthouses, so decorating is underway in most of them. I thought maybe giving my brain something completely new to focus on would be a good refresh, readying me to start writing today.

But I think there was just so much to comprehend regarding the ranch—whether it was the rancher’s work, the different contractors doing up the guesthouses and any other conversions, or all my great aunt’s finances—that my mind feels so lazy now. The cogs have been overworked and don’t want to churn anymore.

That’s what happens when you fall asleep with your face in a folder, I guess. Still, I do feel a little more confident about managing Sunset Ranch and getting it sold, which I’ll take as a win.

Staring out at the lake ahead, I watch the late morning sun’s reflection sparkle along the ripples and light up the ground beneath the surface, emphasising the clearness of the water. It’s a short walk west from the main house and splits Sunset Ranch up from its surrounding land. Proud, emerald trees line the majority of its edge, save for a small stretch of shore where Auntie Grace always said she’d build a deck, but never got round to it.

I can almost hear her warm laugh beside me, from where she would sit with a book, watching as I splashed about. Her smile would always light up her surroundings, brighter than the sun.

Goosebumps cover my skin. I’m too aware that I’ll never feel her warmth again. I hate that the more time goes on, the more I forget how it even felt, because I always thought I was too busy to make time to come out to Sunset Ranch. But now I’m here, blessed by the unadulterated sense of freedom and peace radiating off the leafy trees and expansive mountains, I can’t think of a single reason why I wouldn’t have visited.

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