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My grandfather could never understand why I wanted to do manual labor. According to him, I should just go and enjoy the fresh air and let the paid employees do the work. That wasn’t me, though; I loved getting my hands dirty and diving into the job. If a tractor broke down, I wanted to figure out how to fix it. Not just pick up the phone and have someone do it for me. I learned so much from the guys who worked on my grandfather’s ranch, and if it were up to me, I’d be there and not in Dallas, sitting in a high-rise office with a view, wearing a godawful business suit. Granddad had said more than once he wouldn’t allow me to work on the ranch, that my place was with him. A part of me always wondered what he would do if I simply left and moved to the ranch.
When the tour was over and we headed back to Dirk’s house, the second I walked into the kitchen, I saw her.
Avery.
She’d stood there looking like an angel. Those sapphire eyes of hers caused my breath to hitch, and I’d fought to even find something to say. When I’d told her she looked beautiful, her cheeks had turned a soft shade of pink…
“Penny for your thoughts,” Avery said as she nudged me gently. We were sitting in the back seat of Dirk’s truck, on the way to meet my father’s parents.
“Just wondering how this is all going to play out.”
She smiled, and my heart did a little flip in my chest. There was something so different about Avery. I had dated plenty of women, but I’d only had a couple of relationships, and only one of those was serious. Rachel was the only woman I had ever really had a serious relationship with. I thought I was in love with her, but now I wasn’t so sure. She never stole my breath from my very lungs, or caused my chest to feel like I was falling from the sky every time she looked at me.
Avery did, however. From the moment I saw her walk onto that plane—and prayed she would sit next to me—I felt something I’d never experienced before. In hindsight, it was one of the reasons I’d told her my whole story…well, that and the alcohol I’d been drinking.
“Don’t worry, Beck. I have a feeling everything will turn out perfectly.”
I nodded and looked forward and saw Dirk pulling up to a massive, gated driveway. The words across the top read Shaw Ranch.
A chill ran over my entire body, and I shuddered slightly. My father had gone in and out of this gate. He’d lived here…and something about that knowledge caused my nerves to settle down.
“You know,” I said, as I stared ahead at the long drive. “It’s almost like I can feel him.”
Avery laced our fingers together. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“It is. I always argued with myself, how can a person miss something they never had? But being here…seeing this…” I looked out the passenger window, at the pastures dusted with snow, and slowly shook my head. “It makes me feel like I’ve been missing something vital.” Turning to look at her, I asked, “Does that make sense?”
Avery nodded, her expression understanding. Dirk and Merit remained silent in the front seat.
The main driveway soon had other roads branching off.
“That road leads to your uncle Tanner and aunt Timberlynn’s place. The next road up here will be to your uncle Ty and Kaylee’s place. They live in what was once the original ranch house. Brock used to live there; he sold it to Lincoln before they became an item. Then Lincoln sold it to Kaylee, and, well…when she and Ty got together, he moved in with her. They’ve since built onto it, of course,” Dirk explained.
“And Ty Junior raises bulls for bull riding?” I asked.
“He officially is in the process of retiring. He’s selling some of the younger bulls to another stock contractor. The other ones will live out their lives here on the ranch in retirement.”
I nodded as I tried to remember everything.
We drove for a bit in silence before Dirk pointed to another road. “Blayze and his wife, Georgiana, live down that way, and so do Hunter and his wife, Kipton. Blayze is the ranch foreman. He’s taken over for his father, with Hunter now working alongside him to run the place.”
“Does everyone live on the ranch?” I asked.
This time, Merit answered. “No, Rose and her husband, Bryson, live north of Hamilton, and Ryan and Morgan have their own place. Lily and Maverick live near Tanner and Timberlynn, though, in the house Maverick lived in.”
“That’s kind of nice that so many people live on the ranch,” I mused.
“Kind of like how Bradly lives on our ranch, in the old ranch house,” Avery added.
