Page 2 of A Rancher's Love
“Come on,” his friend urged.
Like every year since Tucker could remember, they made their way up into the hay loft over the old, old barn. The musty scent slid from a memory into a brand-new reality, and he was grinning by the time they scrambled over the scratchy bales.
This might be where he lived every summer, but the feeling inside was so much more.
The ranch was the closest thing to heaven he could imagine.
“Over here,” Luke whispered, gesturing for them to follow as he crawled on hands and knees through a tunnel nearly three bales long.
Darkness surrounded Tucker, random stalks poking into his arms and shoulders and then suddenly, sunshine. The tunnel emptied into a deep pit arranged right up against one of the windows in the loft wall.
“This is so cool.” Tucker stared around him as Ginny, Dare, and Walker plopped out of the entrance one at a time to join them.
Dare reached into a small crack between the bales and pulled out a sturdy blanket, spreading it on the base beneath them. Then they all sat, Tucker leaning against one of the bales. He stretched his legs in front of him as he breathed deeply and peeked at his cohorts in summertime hijinks. “Hi.”
“A new foal was born two days ago,” Ginny announced. “And I found a batch of kittens that nobody else knows about.”
“Dad said that we can camp at Heart Falls, as long as Caleb helps us pick the spot,” Luke said at nearly the same time, ignoring his little sister. “Caleb helped build this hideout. Dad said Caleb’s getting to be a real asset to the ranch, but he’s still a super good big brother, so I know he’ll help if we ask.”
Walker poked at the golden-toned boards in the wall beside the window. He gave up his task and pressed his nose against the glass to stare into the yard. “I’m hungry.”
“Ginny made cookies,” Dare added helpfully. “Did you bring them?”
Ginny sniffed. “Of course.”
She pulled the bag from her pocket, and for the next few minutes while they talked and caught up, they shared the slightly broken chocolate chip cookie pieces—she’d shoved the bag in her pocket, and crawling through the tunnel hadn’t done them any good.
But every crumb tasted like sunshine to Tucker. He never got homemade cookies at home.
Which was why, as excited as he was about the camping, and how cool the hideout was, and everything else he was buzzing inside to experience, he turned to Ginny first.
“I want to see the kittens.”
Her instant smile was also part of Silver Stone and memories and happiness. They all scrambled through the tunnel after Ginny, off on their first kitten search of the summer.
Everything was right in Tucker’s world.
Sixteen years ago, July
There wasnothing worse than being told you couldn’t have a thing, Ginny Stone decided.
Her mother, Deb, eyed her hard and handed her another plate to wash. They stood side by side at the kitchen sink, cleaning up the lunch dishes. “Whatever mischief you’re currently plotting, stop right now.”
Ginny offered an innocent smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, mother dear.”
A loud burst of laughter was the instant response. “Oh, sweetie, you are a handful. But I am onto you.” Deb Stone leaned closer. “I also love you more than you know. You’re in a tough place, and I get that. But you need to let your older brothers have some space these days.”
“So that Luke can go suck face with Courtney Masseny?” Ginny shrugged. “I suppose I don’t want to witness that anyway.”
Her mom blinked for a second. “Courtney? I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Please. She’s been after him since third grade,” Ginny complained.
“And you would know this how?” her mom asked with real curiosity.
“We take the bus every day, Mom. ‘The ride to and from school is an education all in itself’,” Ginny quipped. “That’s what Caleb said the other day in his ‘I’m older and wiser than you’ voice.”
“Calebisolder, and hopefully wiser, than you.” Mom shook her head slowly. “Back to the matter at hand, your brother Luke…sucking face…notwithstanding, you need to remember there’s a big age gap between you and Dare and the boys right now.”
