Page 7 of Ash on the Range
His arms wrapped around me, heedless of how filthy he was to my clean clothes, and when he drew back, I was no longer panicked or restless. My breaths came slow and even, and I rested in his arms, my body soft and languid.
“Better?” he asked, stroking my cheeks with both thumbs.
I nodded, not trusting myself to answer.
Voices filled the room, and the figure sleeping under the sofa shifted, yawning and stretching like I had done before Will walked in. A moment before we were alone and then the house was full of rowdy voices and clattering feet. Warm bodies filled the space that echoed minutes before—with my moans, my cheeks steaming to prove the point—as Will kissed me harshly once more and wrapped me against his body.
“Should I be concerned about the longevity of this hoodie?” I mumbled into his arm where I rested my head, watching ranch hands, a few I recognized from our arrival into Red Hart earlier in the day. One or two waved at me and I offered a tentative wave back, looking up at Will.
He watched me, and squeezed my waist. “You don’t need my permission for anything, Cassie. Not unless you want it.” The squeeze became a pull back against him as his meaning altered a little. I swallowed a nod to let him know I understood. He kissed my temple. “You wanna sit down? I think some of Eve’s things are on the table.”
“Actually, Cassie has been helping me out all afternoon.” Eve appeared magically before us, apparently completely refreshed though even I could see the worry lines that creased her forehead.
Will stiffened behind me, and I knew I wasn’t the only one to notice. “Did you? How’d you go?” Curiosity warred with a need to help in his voice, but eventually he leaned back against the bench, though his arms remained tight around my waist.
I didn’t mind that one bit.
“I was?—”
Terrible. I didn’t understand half of it. I can’t even work a simple job.My mouth parted on the first part of the confession, but Eve beat me to it.
“She’s a natural. Set up an extra spreadsheet, picked up mistakes I haven’t been able to see even though something had been bothering me and I knew it wasn’t right the whole time. Right, Cassie?” She smiled brightly at me, and it was like standing under a freaking spotlight.
I gaped at her in the same manner as a dying fish that flopped out of a fish tank with no hope of ever regaining water again, the opposite of the fish I drowned once in its own tank.
“Uh— sure?” I said weakly.
“I knew you’d fit right in here.” Will pressed his lips to my temple. “I need to help out. Can you grab the laptops and things? There’s an office somewhere…” He looked around and shrugged like one would appear on demand for him.
“I’ll show you.” Travis grabbed Eve by the shoulders, guiding her to the table under duress as Jude strode around the kitchen and pulled out a stack of plates. “We’ve got this.”
“What happened to ‘my kitchen, my rules’,” I asked as an older man with gray shot hair pressed a tumbler of what looked like whiskey into Eve’s hand.
“Thanks, Gage,” she murmured, shrugging helplessly at me. “I guess they’ve got it.”
“This way.” Travis handed me a laptop and charger stack, leading me behind the kitchen, past a second lounge area that overlooked the same view as my room. “When Eve isn’t about, feel free to work in here. I share the space, but usually I'm out on the land. Office work isn’t my favorite thing, unless I’m forced to do it.” He grimaced, and pushed opened a cherrywood door.
The room inside was laid out in paneled wooden walls. A large desk occupied the main space, with several comfy looking chairs placed about it. A few leather bound ledgers sat on one corner., and old volumes with gold lettering filled a bookcase set against one wall.
“Travis, this is…”
“Old, and obsolete, I know.” Travis rubbed a hand over the back of his back. “I hate this room.”
I shook my head, barely daring to take a step inside. Unlike the rest of the house with its hardwood sassafras flooring, this room was carpeted in a plush wool, so that every foot fall was muffled perfectly. “No, this is stunning,” I whispered. “It’s the perfect workspace. I know—” I took a deep breath. “I understand why you prefer to be outside. That is also stunning. But this room is glorious, Travis.”
He shook his head. “Well, it used to be my father’s. For now, it’s yours. Share it with Eve. Get what you need done. It will stop her from staying in the damn room of hers, cloistered away.”
I frowned. “She hides up there?”
Travis’ mouth snapped shut. “Help her anyway you can,” he said in a softer voice, though the tension in his shoulders basically left him vibrating.
The ranch owner turned on his heel and left me alone in the opulently appointed room that should have belonged to him, but didn’t.
And yet again I was left in a place that should have felt comfortable and luxurious for all its beautiful appointments…
But nothing did.
And just like before, it felt like for all Red Hart Ranch’s amazing outlooks that there was something terribly, horribly wrong with this place.
