Page 35 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“Okay,” I laughed. “I’ll get that.” I followed Austin out of the kitchen and then out of the front door. We walked towards an old Chevy pickup truck.

Austin opened his door as I opened mine. “Well, I guess chivalry is dead in Montana.”

“Excuse me?” he looked at me as he turned the keys in the ignition.

“I was just saying that we’re in the country, and I thought you guys are meant to be very chivalrous. I guess that’s not true.”

“Chivalry is certainly not dead just because I didn’t open the car door for you.”

“Well, I mean, if you were a gentleman, you would have opened the car door for me.”

“Well, if you were a lady, you wouldn’t have been in the bar earlier this afternoon talking about meeting your in-laws of the boyfriend that loved you very much.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re a liar.”

“I’m not a liar. I was uncomfortable telling the truth to two strangers in the bar.”

“Obviously,” he nodded. “What else have you lied about, Lucy?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, what else have you lied about?”

“I haven’t lied about anything else. I was very honest about why I came.”

“So you, a beautiful young lady, just decides to leave New York City, the big city, and head to Montana to marry a guy she’s never seen, she’s never talked to, she’s never met just because you spoke to some random lady?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s not like that. I answered the ad, and I guess I was just at a lonely point in my life. I didn’t really think anything would come of it. And then I spoke to your mom on the phone and she was so sweet and nice, and I figured I had nothing left to lose, you know? It was nice to speak to someone who cared. Even though she didn’t know me, she’d ask me about my day. She’d inquire about my life.” I took a deep breath. “Anyway, you wouldn’t understand. You’re lucky.”

“What do you mean I’m lucky? Because I live on a big ranch? Do you think I’ve got a lot of money, is that it?”

“Did I even mention money? It has nothing to do with money,” I snapped at him as he drove down the long country road.

“So then why am I so lucky?”

“You’re lucky because you have a big loving family. Do you know how many people would kill for something like that? You know what I’d do to have such a loving family, to have brothers that love me, parents that cared about me? You just don’t appreciate it.”

“I appreciate it,” he said quietly. “I know that I’m lucky. My mom and dad are amazing. They’re still married and they’re still in love, which I know is not the norm. Trust me, I have plenty of friends whose parents are divorced, and it hasn’t been amicable.” He shrugged, “But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have our own problems as well. And it doesn’t mean that you weren’t a fool to come here.”

“Thank you. Now you’re calling me a fool?”

“You know you’re a fool. How unsafe is that?”

“What?”

He glanced over at me. “A beautiful young woman like you should not be traveling to another state to meet some random person. That’s so dumb. I’m mad at you.”

“You’re mad at me?”

“Yeah, I’m mad at you. You came here to marry my brother, knowing absolutely nothing about my family. You got lucky because we’re cool. And you got lucky because my brother is easy-going, but …” He stopped. “Anyway, let’s not talk about this.”

“No. What were you going to say?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me, what were you going to say,” I insisted.

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