Page 242 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

We made our way to the end of the stables, and then I pushed the door. “Come on, this way.” We walked out of the stables and towards the large red barn. I opened it, stepped inside, and turned on one of the lights.

“Wow!” Arya’s eyes widened as she looked around.

I looked around the barn with fresh eyes and smiled. The fairy lights were twinkling. I had an old brown couch on one side. Next to that, was a reclaimed-wood table. On top of it sat an old record player with a stack of records that I had ordered throughout the years. On the right side of the barn, there was a fridge, a small stove, and a large countertop that my father had made for me especially. There was a large white-wool rug on the hardwood floor.

I smiled as Arya walked over and ran her fingers along the reclaimed-wood table.

“This is real wood. I love this place! It’s gorgeous. You could live here.”

“Yeah,” I said, “probably. I’ve slept in here a couple of nights.”

“Oh?” she looked at me in surprise.

“Just so I could get my own space, you know.” I held up the bottle of wine. “So, you want a glass? It’s a Cabernet Sauvignon.”

“I would love a glass, thank you,” she nodded. “Can I help?”

“No, it’s okay. Have a seat.” I opened the wine bottle and poured two glasses. I handed a glass to Arya and sat next to her on the couch.

“Cheers!” I held up my glass, we clinked, and I took a long sip of the wine. “Mm, I love red wine.” I laughed. “Well, actually I love white wine, too, and rosé. I guess I just love all wine.”

“Wine is very nice,” she said, “just like this barn.” She looked around again. “I can’t get over how beautiful it is. It looks like something I’d see in a magazine.”

“Thank you. Not many people have been here, actually.”

“Oh?” She turned to me in surprise. “You don’t have parties here every weekend?”

“No,” I shook my head, “it’s my safe space. The only person that’s been here, actually, is Wyatt.”

“Ah, makes sense,” she nodded. “He’s your best friend?”

“Yeah, he is but he still doesn’t know everything about me.”

She took another sip of her wine. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I sat back against the couch. “You want to know something, Arya?”

“What?” she said.

“So, I know that all the Hamilton boys think I’m this happy-go-lucky, fun-loving girl and that I want love so badly and romance is all I care about and I live in dream world. And maybe there’s some truth to that. But…” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, feeling the familiar heat pass over me.

“Hey, are you okay?” Arya touched my hand lightly.

“Yeah, sorry. So, when I was eleven years old …”

“Yeah?” Arya said softly.

“I found out that my dad was having an affair,” I took a deep breath, “I couldn’t believe it.”

“How did you find out? Your parents told you?”

“No,” I shook my head. “He was actually having an affair with someone that worked here, on the ranch,” I looked into my wine glass. “I didn’t know her well, but one day, I walked into one of the stables and I heard a noise and I saw them.” I shuddered a little at the memory. “And I screamed and my dad saw me and … It was kind of a big thing, you know.”

“Oh, Sadie. I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I mean it wasn’t okay, everything was kept hush-hush, my dad didn’t want anyone to know, my mom didn’t want anyone to know. No one knows,” I sighed. “It sucks. I never even told Wyatt because I didn’t want him to judge me.”

“Why would he judge you, Sadie?”

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