Page 8 of Revelry
“Hot dang!” I whooped. “That ass is its own good morning.”
Leo Valkner spun around, a big grin splitting his lips, only faltering slightly when he spotted the damage to my face.
“I shoulda known that piece of shit pink Beetle out front would belong to you,” he joked, pulling me into his arms.
“Don’t slander Princess.” I scolded. “You’ve grown up, Leo,” I squeezed myself to his chest, shamelessly rubbing up against his muscles. I’d grown up running around the ranch with Kat andher younger sister Maddy, and Leo was always glued to Maddy’s hip. I hadn’t seen him in person for a long time but I followed his career as a bull rider.
“I want a Gertie hug!” a voice cried and I turned to find August, the fourth youngest Cartwright sister grinning at me, her strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a long braid.
“August, look at your beautiful face!” I squealed, pulling her into a hug that involved lots of squishing and giggling. Mainly because I panicked how she would react to my bruises, I didn’t think it through and maybe I should have warned everyone. When August pulled back and truly looked at me, the joy sliding from her face was the most saddening moment.
I smiled brightly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “How’s Marshmallow doing? I miss him,” I said, distracting her with her favorite topic of conversation.
It worked. She blinked and then smiled. “He’s good, thanks. Such a good boy and loves being out in the open fields, you should ride him!”
That sounded like heaven to me. “Only if you don’t mind sharing him?”
She nodded eagerly. “Of course. I don’t get out with him as much as I used to.”
I frowned, although August’s bright expression didn’t change, there was a shift in her eyes that gave me pause. A few years ago, August had been set for becoming a champion barrel racer, until an accident with Marshmallow had left her permanently injured and forced her to retire early. August had never blamed Marshmallow for what happened, and I knew she loved him fiercely but maybe she was still a little scared of riding again the way she used to.
“Let’s go out together then and you can show me some of those fields he loves so much,” I insisted. She smiled and nodded eagerly.
Daisy entered the kitchen and when she saw me, she screamed the house down and I screamed right back before we threw ourselves at each other. Maddy appeared, giving me our secret handshake and another big, tight hug that I didn’t want to end. Then Tilly came in, the youngest sister who I hadn’t spent as much time with. She’d been through so much in her young life and I pulled her to me tightly.
I loved these girls.
As an only child I’d wished for sisters so hard and only now did I realize that I had five.
I caught up with them, chatting away until I noticed Kat was in the room. I broke away from the brood and joined her at the countertop, nudging my hip into hers, knocking her slightly off balance.
“How’d you sleep?” she asked, slinging an arm around my shoulder, hugging me.
I sighed. “Like a log. God, I’ve missed that Redemption Ranch air.”
“It was probably all the wine,” she added.
I laughed.“That too. So, tell me cowgirl, what’s the plan for today?”
Kat peered down at me, eyebrows raised. “You wanna help out?”
I shrugged. “Sure, I need to earn my keep if I’m staying here.”
“No Gerts, you don’t.”
“Well, I want to. I love this ranch, so put me to workboss.” I mock-saluted her. I’d worked the ranch as a teenager, baling hay, cleaning stalls, tagging cattle, loving how simple life was. After Kat was dressed, we headed to the stables and she asked the question I’d been waiting for. “You gonna go see your mom and Cathy at some point?”
I scuffed my boots in the dirt. “Maybe.”
She tsked. “You need to face her soon. Small towns talk and she’ll be hurt if she finds out from a stranger that you’re back.”
“I know,” I pouted. But I was terrified.
“You know—” she began but her words died when she bumped into a man, rebounding off his wide chest. I vaguely recognized him. This was the notorious Jack she’d told me so much about. He gripped her arm to stop her from falling and seeing them practically face to face, eye to eye, they lookedgoodtogether.
“Sorry,” Kat mumbled. And for the first time in a very long time, I saw my best friend get flustered. Boy, it was a sight to see, one I would definitely tease her about later. Jack walked away without saying anything.
“Oh dang,” I whispered when he was out of earshot. “Check out those muscles.” I felt Kat’s glare before I saw it and held up my hands in surrender. “Sorry, they just took me by surprise, that’s all.”
