Page 24 of The Hardest Part

Lost in her thoughts, Arien gazed aimlessly out the window as Emily drove away from the ranch. Was she happy here? Did she miss her old life back in Denver? A month since Uncle Matty’s wedding, it seemed to her she was settling in just fine.

Instead of turning toward town, she punched the code into the gate.

Arien whipped her head in her direction. “I thought we were going shopping.”

“We are.” Emily couldn’t contain her grin. “In Jackson.”

“Starbucks,” Arien squealed, bouncing in her seat.

“Figured you’d be itchin’ for some by now,” Emily said, the gate closing behind them. “Besides, I’m on a mission.”

“Oh, yeah?” And her eyebrow quirked. “What’s that?”

“Not sure, but I’ll know it when I find it.” Met with a blank stare, she explained, “I want to get my mom something special. No idea what, though.”

“Ohhh.” Understanding dawning on her, Arien nodded. “Couldn’t find what you were looking for in town?”

“Didn’t even try.” With a shrug of her shoulder, Emily turned west toward the Tetons. “It’s a small town, Arien, so it’s hard to keep anything a secret here. Everybody knows what everyone is up to…”

“Including the gifts you purchase?”

“Now you’re gettin’ it.” She glanced at her cousin and smiled. “I have to get Jake’s birthday present, too.”

“Oh, when’s his birthday?”

“The thirty-first.”New Year’s Eve. No midnight kiss for us, though, dammit.“He’ll be twenty-three.”

“He’s a year ahead of Kellan and Tanner, then.”

“No, Jake and Kellan were in the same class—he made the deadline by a day. Born in November, Tanner missed it. He was one grade behind them.”

“I did not know that.” Her head tipping to the side, she released a breathy sigh. “Poor kid must’ve been so lonely at the ranch without his brother.”

“My mom said that’s when he started talkin’ to the horses.”

Tanner had a gift. Even the wildest bucking bronco would come and eat out of his hand with barely a whisper. To see it was darn near spooky.

“I don’t know what to get him.” Arien bit her lip and shrugged. “Kellan, neither.”

“I guess you’re on a mission too, then, ain’t ya?” Playfully, Emily elbowed Arien in the ribs.

She giggled. “Guess so.”

They strolled along East Broadway in Jackson’s iconic town square. Gaslight Alley. Arien picked out Give’r leather work gloves for Kellan and Tanner. She even got them branded with their initials for a personal touch. Then, on impulse, she threw in matching chaps for them, too.

“Think they’ll like it?” she asked breathlessly.

“I know they will.”

“How do you know?” Arien went to hand the clerk her debit card.

“Don’t use that one.” Emily snatched it back. “Use the card Uncle Matty gave you.”

“But that isn’t my money.”

She still had so much to learn. No matter their role in the community, every family in Brookside got an equal share of the town’s combined profits from the ranch and other ventures to do with as they pleased. A portion was budgeted for the school, municipal improvements, and the like, with the rest set aside for the future.

And Arien was family now. A Brooksider.

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