Page 74 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“That’s not exactly true,” she snorted. “But thank you for the compliment.”

“What? I mean it.”

“And that’s why I love you. I’m so excited to see you.”

“I’m so excited to see you as well. I can’t believe you’re coming to Montana.”

“I can’t believe that you’re already in Montana. We’re crazy.”

“No, we’re not crazy. And who knows, the other brothers will be coming home. Maybe one of them will catch your eye and you’ll fall for him.”

“Yeah. Maybe. I mean, if they all look like Beau, I’m not going to say no.”

“You really think Beau is cute, huh?”

“He’s gorgeous, Lucy. What are you even talking about?”

“I don’t know. I’m just surprised that you think he’s gorgeous.” I paused. I hadn’t heard Olivia use those words to describe a man in a really long time. Was she interested in Beau? Was that why she was coming? Obviously, Olivia didn’t even know Beau, so she couldn’t be that interested in him.

Or could she?

I thought back to the day she’d seen him on video chat. Was that when she had said she was going to come to visit me, or had she said she was going to come to visit me beforehand? I couldn’t remember, but now I felt even more anxious. Because if Olivia was interested in Beau—like seriously interested—then what was I doing here?

“Hey, I have a question for you, Olivia,” I said, thinking out loud.

“Yeah?”

“If I were to tell you that Beau was going to arrange a day for us to go mushroom foraging, would you be down?”

“Oh my God, of course. You know I would. I love mushrooms. Would we be able to eat the mushrooms that we found?” she said excitedly. “Like, could we cook some dishes? That would be so cool.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure, but maybe.”

“But you hate mushrooms, Lucy. Why would you want to go mushroom foraging?”

“Oh, I was just thinking maybe it would be interesting.”

“I guess. I mean, if you’re down to do it, I would definitely go. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, it does. Well, I’m going to call you later. Okay? Text me over the details, and I’ll give them to Amelia and Ranger.”

“Okay. Thanks, Lucy. Tell them I said thank you so much. Also, what should I bring them to thank them?”

“Oh, you don’t have to bring them anything.”

“I do. I mean, it’s one thing for you to be there because you were invited. I’m kind of just showing up as your friend, and I don’t want them to think that I’m just some sort of grifter, you know?”

“Oh, they won’t think you’re a grifter, I promise.”

“But I’d like to.”

“Well, I’ll ask Beau and see what he thinks. Okay?”

“Thanks, girl. Okay, speak to you later. Bye.”

I hung up the phone and stared out of the window at the Montana Rockies in the distance. Such a majestic beautiful sight, so different from New York City. I wondered what Olivia would think when she got here. Would she fall in love with it as I had? Would she fall in love with one of the brothers? I sighed and stood up and headed to the kitchen as I heard my phone beep with the airplane details.

“Hey, Amelia.”

---