Page 79 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“Yeah. I think he knows his mom thinks that Beau and I are a perfect fit. And that she knows best. And so, he’s gone to give his brother and me time to get to know each other better.”

“But don’t you like Austin?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled and then pressed my lips together. I didn’t know how to tell Olivia just how close we’d become. How much he meant to me. “Oh, look, that’s Amelia and Ranger.” I pointed out their SUV. “That’s Austin and Beau’s parents.” I waved at Amelia who was waving and smiling at us. “Let’s finish this conversation later, okay?”

“Okay.” Olivia gave me a curious look and I knew she was going to have a lot of questions later that night.

“Hi, you must be Olivia.” Amelia jumped out of the car and walked over to Olivia. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Amelia Hamilton, and that’s my husband, Ranger, in the driver’s seat.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Olivia smiled at her and waved at Ranger. “Thank you so much for picking me up and thank you so much for letting me stay. I know it’s a bit of an inconvenience, but—”

“Oh, of course not, dear.” Amelia shook her head as she studied Olivia’s face. “It’s not an inconvenience at all.”

“Well, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“My mom loves having company. The more, the merrier,” Beau chuckled as he stared at Olivia. And for a moment, I saw something in his face that made me think that perhaps he was attracted to her as well. I noticed that Amelia was also staring at her son before looking at Olivia and then issuing them both a sort of sweet, private smile. She then looked back at me and grabbed my hand.

“Come on, Lucy. Let’s go back home. I’m sure you must be starving.”

“I am. I’m really excited for the barbecue. I can’t wait.”

“Then come on, folks. Don’t want to keep anyone waiting for food. You know, that’s not how we do it in the Hamilton family.”

“We know, Mom,” Beau groaned, and opened the car door for Olivia. Olivia thanked him, and I saw him smiling as she got into the car. He kept the door open and then paused as he looked at me and then at the middle seat.

“I can sit bench if you want.” He looked at Olivia and then he looked at me again. “I mean, unless you want to sit next to Olivia.”

“It’s okay. You can go in the middle.” I said, studying his face thoughtfully. Well, this was interesting, if Beau was interested in Olivia and Olivia was interested in Beau, where did that leave me? And would Amelia want me to leave if it turned out that Olivia was a better match for Beau than I was?

“Welcome to Horseshoe Ranch, Olivia.” Amelia looked back from the front seat and interrupted Olivia and Beau’s conversation. They’d spent the entire ride discussing Olympian swimmers and arguing over the best countries represented at the Olympics. I listened to the conversation, but I didn’t have anything to contribute as I knew nothing about sports.

“Wow, it’s humongous!” Olivia gasped as we drove up the long driveway to the main ranch.

“That’s exactly how I felt when I arrived as well,” I laughed. “It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?”

“It really is,” Olivia nodded. “I have to call my parents real quick when we get out of the car. I’m sure they want to hear that I’ve landed safe and sound.”

“Oh, of course,” Amelia nodded.

“Where are your parents located?” Beau asked her, and I was surprised because he hadn’t really asked me anything about my mom. We hadn’t had any real in-depth conversations, not like Austin and I had. I didn’t think Beau was the sort of person to ask questions, but I guess I’d been wrong.

“They’re in Florida,” Olivia made a face. “Sarasota. Not much going on there, but they love it.”

“Oh, cool,” Beau nodded.

“You’ve never heard of it, have you?” she grinned.

“No,” he chuckled. “I only know Orlando because Mom and Dad took us all to Disney once.”

“Just once?” Olivia grinned. “I would’ve thought you guys would have gone more than once.”

“You try going with seven sons. Right, Mom?” Beau glanced at his mother. “I don’t think they wanted to take us again after the first experience.”

“It was definitely challenging,” Amelia laughed.

“You can say that again,” Ranger groaned, and I laughed at the sound he’d made.

“It must’ve been really wild raising seven sons.”

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