Page 34 of Landon

Noel’s gaze flicked between them, her eyes warm with understanding. “You’re right,” she said softly. “How about we let Landon’s team tell your mom that you’ll see her tomorrow? She already knows you’re safe with us.”

Both kids nodded, the tension in their small bodies easing just a little. Landon watched a tentative smile pass between Penny and Noel, a fragile but hopeful connection forming amid the chaos.

A thought snuck up on Landon, surprising in its simplicity yet profound in its intensity: he wanted to be on the receiving end of one of Noel’s smiles. Not just a polite, passing one, but a real smile that would light up her face and reach her eyes, making him feel like he was the center of her world, if only for a moment.

His chest tightened at the thought, a feeling both foreign and welcome all at once. In the midst of a storm, he found himself craving something soft, something warm. And that something—or someone—was sitting right beside him.

16

Noel recognized the twins’ physical fatigue, but she was more concerned with the emotional turmoil radiating from them. “If you want to try to sleep, please do. Get comfortable and just close your eyes.”

“I don’t think I can.” Tad shook his head.

“Me either,” Penny agreed.

“Do you want to talk? You can tell us anything, and it will stay just between us,” Noel said. “But only if you want to. Only if you think it will help relieve the burden from your shoulders.”

They were quiet for a moment, but she witnessed the myriad of emotions racing across their faces.

Finally, Penny said, “Mom always liked nice things. She met Dad when she was a freshman at college, and Dad was a senior.” She snorted. “Mom always said she went to college for a MRS. degree. You know… just to find a husband.” She shook her head and added, “God, that sounds so ridiculous.”

Noel smiled. “While that’s an antiquated reason for going to college, I suppose there are still women who have that in their minds.”

“Mom’s parents both died when we were younger, but they were great. It’s not like Mom grew up poor. But their lives weremore modest, and she told me that the first time Dad took her to the ranch, she just knew that was the life for her,” Penny said. She shrugged, then looked at Tad while chewing on her bottom lip. “This feels like I’m being harsh, doesn’t it?”

Tad shook his head. “No, Sis. Mom fell for Dad, and it wasn't a bad thing just because he came from more money. Until that became what meant more to her than anything. And then things at home weren’t much fun anymore.”

Noel continued to lean forward, listening carefully while keeping her gaze on them. She’d never counseled in the middle of a violent storm while sitting on a dirt floor in an old shed, but she’d always taken life as it came. And this was no different. “Did you feel more at ease or worse when your parents divorced?”

“Easier,” Tad and Penny said at the same time, the word rushing from both before they chuckled ruefully.

Noel’s chin jerked down as she blinked, then smiled. “Wow, that was definitive.”

“I don’t think Mom realized what was involved in running a ranch. She thought Dad should have a job where he wore a suit every day and hobnobbed with the governor or some such shit.”

“Tad… language,” Penny rebuked.

“Seriously? You think Dad and Grandpa don’t curse?”

Penny’s brow furrowed. “Well, not in front of me.”

“After today, don’t you think it’s a little late for telling me not to say shit?”

“Okay, guys, I know your emotions are all over the place,” Noel acknowledged. “Let’s focus on those emotions right now.”

Penny pressed her lips together but nodded.

“All I know is that Mom spent more time hounding Dad when he was trying to do his job… running the ranch. I heard them argue about me spending time on the ranch doing many of the jobs that ranch hands do. Dad said it was the way for meto appreciate all that went into having a successful ranch. Mom said it was demeaning to have her son shoveling horse shit.”

Penny slowly nodded as her gaze met Noel’s. “Yeah… she wanted me to go shopping or to weekend events, but I wanted to ride my horse. By the time we were ten, Dad was done fighting with her. We never heard the details, but she moved out, and we were told they were divorcing. Then we had to go to her condo to visit, so that changed some of our weekends.”

“Only if she wasn’t with one of her boyfriends.”

Penny’s shoulders slumped, and Noel felt for the young woman. “It’s hard to accept when we realize our parents aren’t perfect. Or perhaps they aren’t acting in the way we wish they would.”

Penny nodded. “I knew Roger was her boyfriend before this trip. He’d been over at her house, but I didn’t know she was taking him with us until we got to the airport. He gives me the creeps.”

Tad’s head swung around as Landon barked out, “Why?”

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