Page 23 of Snowed In with the Rancher

“What? Hannah didn’t tell them you were coming?”

“Hannah is being Hannah and keeps telling me to hump her uncle.”

Pasha snorted. “I mean … the man is fine. I’m going to have to agree with Hannah on this one.”

“I third that opinion,” Rayma chimed in.

“I’m just appreciative of the distraction and that being here is keeping my mind off my problems back home and my hands too busy to text Lorne what I really thought of his ossa bucco.”

“Already on it,” Rayma called. “I said in a Yelp review that his mole gave me food poisoning and his pico de gallo was uninspired, derivative and yucky.”

Triss buried her face in her hand. “Oh my God.”

“She’s trying to help,” Pasha said with a chuckle.

“I just hope she’s at least using an untraceable username and those reviews aren’t going to somehow make their way back to me.”

“I’m also leaving reviews about Echo and the restaurant she’s at,” Rayma added gleefully, her face still not on screen, but her personality coming at Triss in giant waves. “Does diarrhea have two r’s or one? Tasted like diarrhea in my mouth. Do not recommend.”

“You need to stop,” Triss said, sipping her wine. “Like seriously.”

“I’ll call the health authority in your town in the morning. Say Lorne’s food held definite notes of rat poisoning. Do you think rat poisoning is bitter or more umami?”

“You’re welcome to take the high road, sis,” Pasha said. “But that doesn’t mean we have to. We have your back one thousand percent.” As if she needed a reminder of that, the tattoo on her hip tingled. All five of the Young sisters had gone and gotten identical tattoos last summer. It was five interlocking hearts in a row, each one slightly smaller than the one before it. The hearts were not colored in, except for the heart which corresponded to that sister’s birth order. So the second heart in the chain on Triss was a soft lilac-purple color, since she was the second oldest at thirty-four.

“I’ve also set up a Craigslist ad for a free couch and put Lorne’s number down as the contact,” Rayma said. “Fun times for that douchebag.”

Triss cringed, but the smile that tugged at her lips was one she couldn’t fight any longer. She loved her sisters so much, they knew just how to cheer her up.

“Now, go climb into bed with that sexy cowboy and forget all about Lorne the shitty chef,” Pasha said, waggling her eyebrows playfully. “Were those dog tags hanging around his neck?”

Triss nodded.

Pasha crooned. “Oh you know how I like my military men. Their attention to detail and desire to succeed in bed is unprecedented.”

“Can confirm,” Heath, Pasha’s husband called out from somewhere in the background. Heath was a retired special operative himself and now he and his three brothers ran a security and surveillance company. “They don’t call me the Big Eater for nothing.”

Triss cringed.

Pasha just grinned. “I want to hear that your Christmas was spent getting cuddled by horses and railed by a cowboy. Capiche?”

All she did was groan, smile and roll her eyes.

“That’s an order. I’m the big sister and I’m telling you to save the horse and ride a cowboy.”

“Rancher,” Triss corrected, draining her wine glass.

“Fine, then save a horse and ride that rancher.” She blew Triss a kiss, Rayma appeared back on the screen, they all said how much they loved each other, sent best wishes for Christmas, and said goodbye.

When she went to put her wine glass in the sink, Triss was grinning ear-to-ear and it wasn’t just because she was tipsy from the wine. It was because no matter how bad things got, or how broken her heart might be, she knew there were still people out there who loved her, who had her back and who wanted her to be happy. And those people were her sisters and she was really freaking lucky to have them.

Chapter Nine

Okay, he knew he hung out on the top step eavesdropping on Triss and her sister’s video chat way too long, but after hearing that one sister react to seeing him, how could he not?

And then it was nearly impossible to keep himself from laughing as Triss attempted to keep her sisters in line, but ultimately failed.

One thing was for sure, though, he could hear the love they had for each other in their voices.

---