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“July fifteenth.”
I made a mental note of his birthday. “Hey, maybe Rose will have her baby on your birthday.”
He looked at me and winked, and I quickly looked away. Lord, did that wink make my body do all kinds of things.
I cleared my throat and went on. “Stella raised Blayze while Uncle Brock was on the circuit, but once he met Aunt Lincoln, he retired, and they had two kids, Morgan and Hunter. Now, Morgan is married to Ryan, Blayze’s best friend, and they have a baby who will be two in May. Her name is Blakley. And Blayze is married to Georgiana, and they have twins, Rhett and Ryder; I can’t tell them apart, and truth be told, I think Blayze and Georgiana have mixed them up a few times as well. The twins will be two in April.”
He laughed. “Okay. I think I’ve got it.”
“Hunter is married to Kipton, and they just had a baby in January, her name is Callie. She’s the latest Shaw.”
“Hunter, Kipton, Callie,” he said, his brows pinched together as if in deep concentration.
“Remind me to tell you their story. It involves a bachelor reality show.”
“What?” he asked with a laugh.
“Yeah, again, story for another day. Now, after Brock, Beck was the next one born, and of course, you know his story. Well, some of it. And the last is Tanner. He used to be on the rodeo circuit doing team roping. He was damn good. Really good. He met Timberlynn and fell in love. He left the circuit, and he and Timberlynn raise and train horses, as well as take in wild mustangs and other horses that most people would otherwise just send to the slaughterhouse.”
His head turned to look at me quickly before he looked back out to the road. “Really? Wow, I can’t wait to meet them and talk to them.”
“You like horses?” I asked.
“I love them. I always have. Put me on a horse any day over sitting in an office.”
I smiled. “Where was I? Right, Tanner and Timberlynn. They had two kids as well. Lily and Nathan. Lily is married to Maverick. If you love horses, you’ll want to hang with those two. Maverick, I swear, is a horse whisperer. He has a way with them. The more damaged they are, the better he is at fixing them. And Lily was in love with horses, I think, before she was even born. Nathan—along with Josh, Ty and Kaylee’s youngest—are both a year younger than me and still in high school. They’re easy; no kids to learn.”
Beck let out a laugh. “Thank God. I’m already lost. Now, how do you and Bradly fit into all of this?”
“My dad, Dirk Littlewood, was best friends with Uncle Brock. Our ranch is about twenty-five minutes or so from the Shaw ranch. Dad was also a professional bull rider, and he married our mother, Merit, whom I get my crazy eye color from. My mother basically grew up next door to Dad, and her parents had a you-pick-it farm. It was strawberries and blueberries mostly, plus they grew other things, but my mother and Uncle Michael really made it into a huge operation. When they married, my parents combined Dad’s ranch with the farm, and now it’s basically one big ranch slash farm.”
“And your dad’s parents?”
“They both passed.”
“I’m so sorry, Avery.”
I gave a half shrug. “I never knew my father’s dad. He died before I was born. My father has a sister, Kimberley. Aunt Kimberley. We don’t see her very often at all. She got married and moved to Montreal, Canada. She used to call a lot more when we were younger, but with her being so far away, she’s kind of drifted away from the family. She never did have any kids. My father told me once it made her too sad to come home, seeing us kids and all, I guess. I always thought that was sad she would stay away for that reason, but I don’t pretend to know how she feels. We love her and she loves us.”
He was quiet for a few moments before he said, “Your eyes aren’t crazy. They’re beautiful. I’ve never seen eyes like yours before in my life.”
“Thank you. I do love them. I’ve been on a few French magazines, close-ups, and I think it was because of my eyes.”
“I could totally see that.” He paused before continuing. “You really don’t think you should let your mother and father know my name before we just show up?” Beck asked.
I shook my head. “I told you, I love surprises.”
“But will they love this kind of surprise?”
Smiling, I replied, “They will. Trust me.”
“Should I stop at the inn first and check in?”
“No, let’s head straight to my house. Mom and Dad will be waiting for us.”
As we drove the rest of the way, Beck asked questions about Montana, and Hamilton, in particular. I told him about some amazing trails he could hike, and that he had to do a sunrise or sunset hike before he went back to Texas. Strange enough, the thought of Beck returning to Texas caused my chest to ache slightly. I hadn’t known him a full day, yet I felt such a connection to the man. It was clear that fate had brought us together.
