Page 26 of Red Hot Rancher

“Guess not.” He shrugged and kicked at a pile of straw. “At least Maisy doesn’t cross her signals.”

Cold shock washed down her spine. “Maisy May?” Justin’s expression turned sheepish. She couldn’t believe he’d be so stupid. “What were you thinking? She’s gonna be here one day boiling a bunny on our stove,” she hissed.

“She’s not that crazy. And have you ever seen that movie?”

She had. And she’d thought of Maisy at the time. “Guys have a blind spot forty-acres wide when it comes to crazy women. It’s like you get more attracted to them.” She shook her head. “She’s a mean one.”

“How would you know? You didn’t even hang out with her.”

“For good reason.”

“Whatever. That was years ago. And she never said anything bad about you.”

Her snort echoed through the barn. “As if she’d trash your twin to you and expect you to keep going out with her.”

“Well, it’s not serious and she knows that.”

Brigit wasn’t so sure. “Watch yourself. She’s got more than one personality and you only see the sane one.”

“Noted.” His back was to her as he stacked corral panels.

He was brushing her advice off that easily? Did it not bother him that Maisy was her own personal bully? “What’s noted is the door you just slammed closed.”

“Want to talk about doors?” He turned around and crossed his arms. “Why are you and Caleb acting like complete strangers?”

“I— What?” She looked around for something to do. Anything.

“Do you think I missed the whole drama between you and him? And how he always gets tense when you’re around but seems to look for you everywhere? And how now that you’re both under the same roof, you aren’t talking to each other even though we all used to ride horse together, build forts in the shelter belts, and work cattle as a team?”

“I helped him work cattle all last weekend. While you were doing business.” It might’ve been a touch coldhearted to point that out, since his business hadn’t gone so well, but she really didn’t want to talk about Caleb to Justin.

But he ignored the jab. “So you two should be laughing and joking around. Especially after field dressing a deer together.”

Brigit wanted to rub her forehead, but her hands were dirty. “Mom didn’t approve.”

“We covered that. So?”

“She lost her shit when she caught us together.”

Justin’s blue eyes went wide. “Like, together together?”

“I thought you said you didn’t miss the drama between us.”

“I didn’t miss that you two went from sneaking looks and whispering in dark corners to not talking—at all.”

Well, damn. She’d spilled stale beans that were best left covered. “So he never said anything?”

“About you? Never.”

Brigit looked down, inspecting the toe of her boot. “We thought you’d be mad.”

“Because my best friend wanted my sister? Why? He’s a good guy. One of the best.”

He spoke like it was such a given. And it was. But whether Caleb was a decent man or not had never been an issue in her mind. “We want different things.”

“But you want each other?”

“Right. So it’s easier to keep our distance.”

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