Page 61 of Red Hot Rancher

Would he take her back?

“My flight leaves soon, and I need to get to the airport.” Both her parents’ brows shot up. “Sorry for the short notice.” She’d pondered this move for days. When she’d gotten her first paycheck and her parents had turned down her money, she’d booked a flight and started packing, then drafted her immediate resignation as a market research analyst.

Dad cleared his throat. “Do you need a ride?”

She nodded.

Mom and Dad’s muffled words followed her out of the room as she retrieved her luggage. Only one more suitcase than she’d come with. Not bad. The new business clothing she’d bought wouldn’t do much good cleaning barns or helping with lambing and calving. They wouldn’t even be good for the ranching workshops she’d drafted in her head during her breaks and lunches. But these two suitcases were all she had to her name.

The ride to the airport was quiet. A million times, she wanted to ask Mom if she was okay, or what she thought, but Brigit refrained. She was leaving. Mom would talk when she was ready. Perhaps she just needed time. The closer they got to the airport, the more Mom’s silence bothered her.

Were the two scenarios compatible? Could she have a tight-knit relationship with her mother and be with Caleb too? If Caleb even took her back. She hadn’t given him much reason to.

The quick hugs at the terminal were awkward and cold. Mom’s eyes shone, and she was as stiff as taffy in winter. Brigit held her own tears back as Mom barely looked at her. Dad gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’ll call Justin,” he offered. “I imagine you haven’t told him…about us?”

Brigit shook her head.

“Yeah.” His blue eyes turned sad. “You’re awfully good at keeping everything close to the vest.”

Shame washed over her. She’d hurt them. All those years of trying to be a daughter they could be proud of had only created a wide expanse between them.

“I’m sorry” was all she could say.

“We’ll talk later. I’ll let Justin know when to pick you up. And if he can’t, well… I guess I should call Travis anyway.”

“Thank you.”

Mom was already in the car, staring straight ahead. Dad nodded and went around to get inside. Brigit looked at the bustle of people getting out of cabs and Ubers and dragging their bags to the sidewalk. She sighed and followed their lead, going through the actions of check-in and security, her mind bouncing from what-if to what-if.

The flight had no delays. As they approached her small hometown airport, nerves fluttered in her belly, growing in strength the closer the ground got. She pressed her fingers to her lips.

She was coming back home. Again with no job, no support, and all alone. Again asking her brother to save her. Again she’d move in next to Caleb and— Oh God, what if he didn’t want to listen to her? What if he was done with her? What if he realized that he was so much better off without her?

The plane bumped as it touched down. She impatiently shuffled through the aisle behind the few other people coming back to Moore. At least her timing with one thing in life had worked out. She’d gotten the last flight to Moore before they shut down airbus service to Phoenix. Flights would start up again in November, when people fled the winter to get back to the land of the sun.

Justin waited for her inside the small airport, behind the large glass window that overlooked the runway. His features were haggard. His once carefully trimmed hair stuck out from under the brim of his hat. He had his hands stuck in the pockets of his North Face parka and he silently watched her approach.

She mustered a smile. “Hey, thanks for picking me up.”

“Yeah.” He dragged the word out. “When Dad called and asked if I had time to talk and told me why, I said I might as well stay here and hear him out. You know, since I was already here to drop Caleb off.”

Caleb was flying somewhere? Had he ever been on a plane?”

“Yep. Your phone must’ve been off by the time we tried to call you. Caleb is probably landing in Arizona as we speak.”

With his small carry-on duffel bag, Caleb strode out the doors of the airport into temperatures that wouldn’t hit Moore until June. His hooded sweatshirt and cowboy boots were almost too warm, but it was a nice change from freezing weather. No wonder people escaped to Arizona each winter.

He doubted any of them had the same reason he did.

His first flight was uneventful. Jesse had agreed to watch the ranch for an indefinite amount of time. His boss had scowled and said he wasn’t going to fill the position until Caleb was one hundred percent, absolutely, positively sure he was moving to Arizona. He had no idea if Brigit would slam the door in his face, but he didn’t have to worry about that yet. He was armed with Rick and Joan’s address and planned to find a good old-fashioned taxi. Justin had described the layout of the airport, told him exactly which door to exit from, and how to find a ride.

He scanned for the signs Justin had described as he’d given him a ride to the airport.

“Caleb.”

The voice was familiar, but who the hell would he know at the Phoenix airport? He spun around. Rick Walker stood only feet away in chinos and a short-sleeved button-up shirt.

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