Page 68 of Some Cowboys Brave the Flames

Daniel huffed. “You ask Charlie.”

“But—”

“Look, while I appreciate that you want to do this the old-fashioned way, sometimes fathers aren’t in the picture. We all sort of helped raise her. We all look after her. But in the end, Charlie is going to make her own decisions. None of us couldstop her when she wanted to date you. None of us stopped her when she broke things off over your job. And none of us?—”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Ash continued to fidget. “So, you don’t think he’ll be mad?”

Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know what Mason is going to think. Frankly, it’s not up to him. He’s got his own family to worry about now.” He shifted his focus to the women. “Charlie is young, but she’s grown a lot over the last year. She’s learned a lot. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with knowing what you want and going for it.”

Ash nodded. “That makes sense.” Before he could thank Daniel for his little pep talk, Caleb, Mason, and Mateo moved over to their little group. Mason gave Ash a curt nod. Mateo had been in a grade older than Ash had been. Lately, Caleb had been helping out at the man’s ranch, where he raised farm dogs.

Right now, both Mateo and Caleb were as somber as the gray sky overhead. Ash got the feeling that they’d all be moving this party inside in a little while. From the looks of it, something was wrong. He didn’t know what it was, but he could sense it.

“Daniel, Caleb thought you might be able to help.” Mateo glanced among the men standing in their group. Ash wasn’t sure if he should slip away, considering the fact that he didn’t know Mateo as well. Beyond being the oldest of six and raising those dogs, the man ran in different social circles. Just by looking at him, it wasn’t hard to imagine that he was a charmer.

Daniel tilted his head, his curiosity piqued. No longer was he focused on Charlie. “What’s going on?”

Mateo blew out a long breath. “I hate to ask this of you, but we’ve already checked with the others.”

Daniel huffed. “And I’m the only one without a family to worry about. Is that it?”

Mason rolled his eyes. “No, you’re the one who doesn’t have any big events coming up. Some of us have an auction out oftown. Those of us who are staying will be working to keep up with what’s going on here.”

“No one has told me what it is I’m available for,” Daniel said. “Maybe I’m not as available as you all think I am.”

Caleb forced out a smile.

Ash took in the conversation with curiosity. These brothers were all the family he had ever needed once upon a time. To this day, he could still see himself inserted in their lives.

Mateo sighed. “Sophia and I have to go out of town for a week. There are some family issues we’re resolving, and I don’t know that I can trust Rowan and the others to handle our place.”

“What makes you think I can?” Daniel snorted. “I don’t know anything about dogs.”

“The dogs will be taken care of. It’s the horses I’m worried about. Sophia is the head wrangler. She oversees all the horses and their feeding or grooming schedules. I need someone who’s good with horses to cover her shifts.”

Ash could sense Daniel considering the request before he glanced at Caleb. “You can’t do it? Aren’t you training over there most days?”

“Emma and I are going to LA next week.”

Daniel sighed. “So, you just want me to look after the horses,” he said. “For a week.”

“It might be more.”

Daniel’s head snapped up, and Ash bit back a smile. He should have definitely slipped away. In fact, he was going to do just that. The first plop of rain hit the back of his neck. Those around them had started to pick up their things, and just as Ash predicted, they were taking their chairs and tables to the side of the house.

Ash backed out of the group, patting Daniel on the shoulder just as he heard him agree to the request. He glanced over to the table, but Charlie wasn’t there anymore.

“Looking for Charlie?”

He turned toward the unfamiliar female voice.

A woman with long, dark hair, tanned skin, and full lips cocked her head as she looked him over. The wind had picked up and the strands of her dark hair whipped around her face.

“Aria, right?”

Her smile broadened. “That’s right. You must be really good with names if you can keep everyone straight.” She glanced around the space. “There are so many of them.”

“Yeah,” Ash chuckled. “There are.”

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