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She hesitated. “You do realize we don’t have Wi-Fi, right?”
He stared at her in disbelief. Who didn’t have Wi-Fi in this day and age?
Obviously, the Holidays.
“Liberty tried to get someone to come out and fix it,” Mimi continued. “But getting fix-it folks to drive all the way out here isn’t easy.” She smiled. “But I think it was a blessing in disguise. If we’d had Wi-Fi, all Liberty would have done was work and she never would have fallen in love with your brother.”
Corbin tried not to scowl. He wasn’t at all thrilled about Liberty and Jesse falling in love. And it had nothing to do with any leftover feelings Corbin had for Liberty. He was worried about Jesse getting hurt. But his half brother was smart. He was the one who had helped Corbin make most of his money. Corbin figured Jesse would see Liberty’s true colors eventually.
“Maybe taking a break from work will be a blessing for you too.” Mimi said. “Now that you own a ranch, you might as well enjoy it. Sunny already headed out to look around her new home.”
The thought of Sunny getting lost on the big ranch—or worse, hurt—had him immediately concerned.
“Where did she go?”
“She was headed to the barn last time I saw her. But there’s no need to worry. We don’t have any aggressive animals that will harm her. Just a horse, and I’m sure your sister is smart enough to not go riding in a thunderstorm.”
Corbin panicked. That was exactly something his sister would do.
“I need to go check on her.” He started to take Tay, but Mimi stopped him.
“Why don’t you leave her? I promise to keep her safe.”
Corbin might not trust the other Holidays as far as he could throw them, but as he looked into Mimi’s direct eyes, he realized he trusted her. He nodded before he headed out the back door.
As soon as he stepped outside, his concern for his sister grew. Mimi was right. The clear blue skies of the morning had been covered with a layer of angry dark clouds that rumbled with thunder. Halfway to the barn the sky opened up and a deluge of water rained down. By the time he got inside, he was drenched from head to toe. He took off his hat and shook the water from it as he glanced around.
He had been inside the big red barn on more than one occasion. His uncle had been the foreman for the Holiday Ranch when Corbin and Sunny had first come to live with him and he had brought them out to the ranch numerous times before Hank Holiday fired him for drinking on the job.
“Sunny!” he called.
The only answer was the rain hitting the roof and the flutter of wings. He glanced up to the rafters. A few doves perched there, their beady eyes staring down at him as if questioning his right to be there.
He unsnapped his soaked western shirt and stripped it off as he moved farther into the barn. It smelled like fresh hay and manure. No doubt from the horse that poked his head out of one of the stalls. Corbin sighed in relief. At least he didn’t have to worry about Sunny being tossed off a runaway horse and breaking her neck.
He hung his hat and shirt on the stall door across from the horse. “Hey, there, big guy.”
The horse eyeballed him before he tossed his head and showed his teeth.
Damn, those were big teeth.
As a kid, he’d dreamed of owning a horse and becoming a cowboy. His Aunt May had loved Clint Eastwood as much as she’d loved the oxycodone her doctor had prescribed for her bad back. For the year and a half he and Sunny had lived with her, he had become infatuated with Clint’s spaghetti westerns and learning to ride a horse . . . while wearing a really cool poncho. When they came to Wilder, Corbin had hoped his dream would come true. But Uncle Dan had been fired before he could teach Corbin how to ride. Not that Uncle Dan would have ever gotten around to teaching him. Kids hadn’t been his thing. He’d only agreed to let them live with him because he owed their daddy money.
Now, Corbin was a little leery of horses. He’d had a bad experience horseback riding and hadn’t attempted to ride again. But if he was going to become a rancher, he needed to get over his fear.
He reached out to pet the horse when a loud whinny had him snatching his hand back. Except the whinny hadn’t come from the horse in front of him. He turned toward the open doors just in time to see a wild-eyed horse come charging through the sheet of rain.
Corbin’s heart almost jumped out of his chest.
Not only because of the charging beast . . . but also because of the stunning woman who rode it.
Chapter Two
Belle Justine Holiday had always made bad decisions. At the grocery store, she always chose the slowest line. At a restaurant, she always chose the menu item that had the waiter wincing. At the gym, she always chose the treadmill that sped up erratically. She chose clothing that looked great in the dressing room but hideous when she got it home, makeup that made her skin look yellow and sallow, and haircuts that were thirty years out of style.
If left to her own devices, she would look like a homeless person stuck in the nineties and inflicted with jaundice.
Thankfully, she had never been left to her own devices.
