Page 108 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

“Where do you think Port ran off to?” Cord asked.

“No telling,” muttered Buck.

TJ glanced over her shoulder, and our eyes met. It wasn’t my place to ask about Porter. We’d been introduced briefly, and all I had to go on as far as his personality was my first impression. TJ probably knew him far better since she and Buck lived on the ranch.

“Whether Port’s around or not, I’d like you and me to meet with Kingston West,” said Buck.

“I can do that,” Cord responded. While he faced me, he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he appeared lost in thought, staring out at the scenery along the ride.

“Almost there,”said Cord several minutes later when Buck pulled off the highway. The road we were on wound its way through mountain passes like none I’d ever seen.

When the SUV pulled up to a gate and waited for it to open, I gasped. “It’s so beautiful. Even that doesn’t do it justice.”

“That’s the way I felt when I first saw it,” said TJ.

My eyes met Cord’s, and in them, I saw so many things. Love, definitely. Questions too, though. The thing that surprised me the most was sorrow. Was it because of what he remembered had happened when he was a boy? Was it more or something else? I hoped that, soon, we’d be alone, and when we were, he’d talk to me about the things he was feeling.

“That’s our place,” Buck said when he drove past a two-story house that sat not far beyond the gates we’d pulled through.

“It sure didn’t look like that when we were growing up,” Cord commented. “Buck and TJ fixed it up. Saying they brought it back to life is more accurate.”

“It’s idyllic,” I commented as we continued on.

“And that’s the main house,” Cord said, pointing to a sprawling one-story place that was completely different than the first house but no less breathtaking.

“Is that where you live?” I asked.

“Porter, Holt, and me. Which means the place will be pretty empty for the next few months.”

“I’m not living there anymore,” Holt said from the seat behind us.

Cord nodded once in acknowledgment but didn’t say anything.

“Porter hasn’t been, either,” his younger brother added.

“Where’s he living?” Cord asked.

“He took one of the cabins, and I took another.”

No one spoke again, even when Buck parked in front of it.

“I’m gonna show Juni around,” Cord said, taking my hand when we got out of the vehicle. Instead of walking toward the house, he went in the direction of the barn. “Let me know when West is available,” he shouted behind us.

“Will do,” Buck answered.

We walked over to the corral, where several horses stood. Apart from the breathtaking mountains surrounding the ranch, the scene in front of us wasn’t much different looking than the Lilacs.

“There’s at least one ranch truck we can head out in,” he said.

“Cord, um…”

He turned to face me. “What’s goin’ on, Juni?”

“You already know this, but if there’s something you need to talk about, want to talk about, I’m a good listener.”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. “You’re more than that, darlin’. I pray to God that someday I can be the one you confide in instead of the other way around.”

“You already are.”

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