Page 4 of When It Reins
“Will do.”
Leaving the war room for now, I head straight outside to get a breath of mountain air. Something to settle my nerves. Life is moving at a clipped pace, and I keep moving with it, but the problem is I don’t have a destination.
Feeling aimless, I shake my head and take in another deep breath. My path will show itself.
Someday.
3
juniper
I’m not totallysure why I’m here anymore.
I mean, I knew why I kept coming back to Three Rivers. I knew why I was drawn to the ranch that had become like a staple in my family’s life.
I just didn’t know whyIwas here.
Other than the food, which was always incredible and in abundance, I wasn’t sure what it was that kept me coming back.
“Juniper! Lovely songs the other night.” Didi Cash comes to sit by me at the large dining room table. Normally in the summer months and any time it was warm enough, we would be outside. But the February temps are still cold enough that we are stuck inside.
Though that isn’t much of a burden considering how gorgeous the Trevors family house is.
From what I’ve heard, Cal Trevors’s great-grandfather built this home and this ranch on his own with the help of his wife and his sons, and since then they’ve maintained it and added more.
“Thank you so much.” I smile kindly at Mitch’s mother. She’s always been so nice to me, welcoming our family in and makingus feel at home. She is a great mother-in-law to my big sister, Thea, who deserves to have her. Whenever they have family events, she makes sure the invitation is extended to me and my sisters.
Even the two that are miles and miles away. I have four sisters in total. My big sister, Thea, was the mom of our family ever since our parents died when we were all pretty young. Then there was Astoria, who was off traveling the world. Annmarie, who was one that stuck around, then me, who followed my two big sisters and settled down in our new small town, and then Ophelia, who was living in New York City, working in the fashion industry.
We are a big group, but rarely all together.
Today, for instance, Thea and I are at the ranch for their weekly Sunday get together, and Annmarie is taking care of the bar. We switch off who takes care of Sundays, though lately Annmarie and I both agreed to let Thea have most off, given that she is a brand-new mom.
“I can’t believe how talented you are. Felicity set me up with one of those music accounts,” she says, pulling up her phone and showing me the screen.
I blush furiously when I see the picture of me that Shelly took. I was wearing a cowboy hat and was here at the ranch during sunset. Felicity insisted we use it for my “cover,” and I didn’t feel like I should protest.
“I really appreciate that,” I tell Didi. As nice as she is, there is an underlying nerve that always hits me when talking to her. It isn’t that she is scary, but there is something about her that I wonder if she knows how many thoughts in my head are about her son.
When they really shouldn’t be.
I invited David to come with me today, and he was incredibly bummed that he had work calls to make.
As was I. It would be nice to have him here when I was sure I was going to run into the man who I was avoiding.
A rumble outside the dining room window makes me freeze. No way was I just thinking about him, and he would show up.
But sure enough, the engine of what is certainly a motorcycle shuts off, and the thudding steps of booted feet hit the porch outside before the door is opens. There is a whole wall between the two of us, and I can still feel his presence here, like something is crawling on the back of my neck.
“Oh, Mitch!” Didi says, abandoning her food and standing. Though she doesn’t have to go far, Mitch steps into the dining room, giving polite nods to those that greet him.
I shift my gaze away before he can hit it and try to make it seem like I’m more interested in my food than I am in him.
Because it’s true. I’m not interested in his lingering gaze, the heat behind it, or the way it makes me feel.
That boat sailed a long time ago, as he wished it would.
“Juniper.” I freeze, my fork full of mashed potatoes that I’m pretty certain will taste like sawdust if I actually end up putting it in my mouth.
