Page 34 of Peaches

Liam takes the lead rope from my fingers and looks at Pistol, clicking his tongue. And then they’re on the move. Liam’s shoulders square as his attention stays focused on the horse beside him, and a swell of pride burns through me. Liam and his brothers are the ranch’s next generation, and I want so badly for them to have an easier time with it than my brothers have had.

It helps that Brooks is a much better father than ours has ever been.

Liam and I work together to rotate horses out of the corral and over to Hank while Noah and Wells bring more horses out of the barn, and the next hour runs as smoothly as we can hope for. Kasey takes the lead on making sure everyone has what they need, checking in with each station as the horses’ hooves are trimmed and fitted with new shoes. Layla keeps a close eye on little James, who runs along the lengthy fence that separates this working part of the ranch from the wild pasture beyond, stopping to ogle at two mustangs who peek out from behind a cluster of trees in the distance.

More than once I catch Wells looking at Layla like she’s the sun, and it twists something in my chest every time I see it. Brooks used to look at Melody like that, but now he looks at her with so much pain and longing it nearly crushes me. I wish I could tell Wells to jump out of that saddle, to pull on his ripcord and get out of that mess while he still has his heart intact. But he’s always been a stubborn one.

Can’t really blame him for it—most of us Bennetts are.

When the sound of an engine snakes through the wind, we all look to find another approaching car weaving up the drive. This time, it’s a car I recognize—one that sends my pulse into a frenzy.

“Hey, Kasey!” I holler, keeping a close eye on the moving vehicle.

“Yeah?” He walks up beside me, and I can hear theWhat now?in his voice.

“I got this one,” I say quietly. “You got Liam?”

I feel him look at me, but I can’t get myself to face him. To show him what might be written all over my face. “Sure,” is all he says.

And then my feet are moving.

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

OLIVIA

Ipush open my car door and sputter out a cough from the cloud of dust that surrounds me, an embarrassing beacon of my sudden arrival. My nerves quickly tip from moderate to severe as I risk a glance to the crowd of people and horses collected out past the large white house in front of me, next to a matching structure I’m guessing is a barn.

In an impulsive fit of Rhett-induced bravery, I found myself driving here, probably the one place in Saddlebrook Falls I’ve never actually been, and now that I’ve made it, I’m questioning my own sanity.

If it weren’t for the fanfare of my arrival, I’d quietly slip back into the car and turn right around. As it stands, nearly every pair of eyes is on me, so I know there’s no going back. I may have made a monumental mistake in showing up here without so much as a heads-up, but I have to see it through.

Tucking my ring of keys into the front pocket of my jeans, I keep my head down as I make the climb up the worn path that cuts from the drive to the side of the house and beyond. The house itself is something out of a storybook, with its beautiful front columns and wraparound porch. The shrubs that flank either side of the front walk bear no flowers this time of year, but I can only imagine the colorful bulbs of various species that will adorn them come spring.

A tire swing hangs from a massive tree to the right, the long sweeping branches shading much of the ground against the high sun. A long wooden fence stretches far into the distance, separating the yard around the house and the corral up ahead from the wild land on the other side. I wonder how far the ranch goes—it seems endless in every direction except the one I came from.

For a place wrapped up in so much town lore, it’s not at all as scary as I once thought it might be. Quite the opposite: it feels like a well-lovedhome.

I take a deep breath, inhaling the scents of grass and horse and wet dust, and force my gaze toward the group ahead. My eyes immediately land on Rhett, his face twisted in confusion beneath his black cowboy hat, and I force a smile. “Hey!” I call out.

He’s walking toward me, and the tips of his boots graze mine in only a handful of heartbeats. “Olivia?” he says, like he’s not sure if I’m really here.

“I’m so sorry,” I rush to say. “This sounded like such a good idea in my head and now I realize how intrusive it is for me to just show up here like this?—”

“Are you okay?” he cuts in, carefully scanning me up and down in that way that he does, like he’s looking for a reason I might need him. Like he’s ready to take aim at whatever spills out of my mouth.

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “Thanks for getting me home last night. For . . . staying.”

His eyes soften, a smile playing on his lips. “How are you feeling?”

“Great,” I say. “I got your note.”

He balances his weight evenly on both feet, crossing his strong arms over his chest. Unlike most of the others behind him, he doesn’t wear a jacket, and my eyes trace along the corded muscles of his forearm. “Yeah?”

I nod. “You said to be brave. So I . . . I guess I thought I’d come here and see what you were doing today.” My gaze flits back to the horses behind him. “But you’re obviously busy—I really didn’t mean to interfere with your work or anything.”

He tilts his head and looks at me, as if seeing me for the first time. “You wanted to see what I was doing?” That smile keeps playing on his lips, a secret that burns somewhere in the space between us.

“Yes.” Another wave of embarrassment nearly pulls me under.

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