Page 66 of Fight

“Well, if that isn’t just the freaking cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Jake looked up with a smile to see Lena walking towards him.

She was wearing a paint-splattered apron over her purple gingham dress and a pair of cowboy boots she’d acquired on a shopping trip with his mother the day before. She teased her hair up on top of her head in what she’d called “Opry House Chic.”

While Jake was giving lasso lessons during his parent’s annual Fourth of July festival for the community, Lena was leading a group in painting the landscape. He had walked past her once, artfully painting the towering mountain range that rested between long stretches of green field and open blue sky, but otherwise hadn’t seen much of her.

Lena and his mom had hatched the idea over dinner the first night they’d arrived, that Lena could lead groups of painters during the festival. He’d barely seen her all day as she was chatting with different people between paint sessions. His mother had dragged over everyone she could in order to introduce them to Jake’s girlfriend.

“Well little lady,” Jake drawled out in his cowboy voice as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. “We know how to bring ‘em up right out here at the ranch.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed,” Lena said, leaning her head on his chest and rubbing her hands up and down his back.

“Come on,” he said, pulling away from her and grabbing her hand. “Let’s go for a walk while we can get away.”

“Okay,” she agreed simply, placing her small, soft hand in his. He felt a few new rough spots and looked down to see a few splotches of dried green and blue paint on her hand.

Smiling to himself, they walked hand-in-hand through the short grass toward a wooden fence that lined a paddock of tall green grass about a hundred yards away.

They walked in comfortable silence as Jake thought back on their last three days at the ranch—things with his family had been surprisingly easy.

When he’d walked up to his father, his dad had enveloped him in a long hug—he couldn’t ever remember his father ever hugging him in the past—and he could have sworn he saw him wipe away a tear as he led him into the house where his mother had been waiting. She’d been less circumspect with her feelings, hugging and gushing over him and Lena for a full ten minutes before his father had forced her to lay off so they could “catch their breath.”

Both of his parents had absolutely loved Lena despite the fact that she wasn’t “exactly a cowgirl” as his father had put it. Jake had agreed that she most definitely wasn’t a cowgirl—even though she seemed to like to play dress up as one—but that was kind of what he loved about her.

When they reached the paddock, Jake abruptly pulled Lena up by her waist and set her on the fence. She let out a chortle of surprise and turned herself around so they were both looking at the huge mountains in the distance, draped in the light of the setting sun.

“It’s so beautiful,” she finally said after several beats of silence. “I can’t believe you got to grow up here.”

“Yeah, it really is something,” Jake agreed, looking over at her as she tilted her face up into the light of the setting sun and took a long, contented breath.

“Next, we can go to Virginia, and although it’s beautiful, I fear you’ll be disappointed by DC. I know it's the ‘grand old seat of precious freedom and democracy,’” she said with a smile as she quoted a song she’d made him listen to on their road trip. “But it’s quite literally a swamp,” she laughed.

Jake laughed along with her as he reached down to his phone vibrating in his back pocket. It was a text from Ian.

“Hmph.” Jake made a surprised sound as he read Ian’s text, furrowing his brows as he looked down at his phone.

“What is it?” Lena asked, looking over at him questioningly.

“Ian texted me. I guess his dad wanted Morgan to come live at the Main House for a bit—”

“What? Why?” Lena’s alarmed voice interrupted him. “And what the heck is theMain House?”

“Ian’s dad does this every now and then. You know Morgan can be…a lot. When she starts to drink too much or act too wild—for a Conrad at least—Ian’s dad likes to swoop in and make sure she's okay in his own weird, overbearing way,” Jake explained.

“Rich people are so complicated,” Lena sighed with a disbelieving shake of her head. “I need to text Morgan and make sure she’s okay.” She said the words quietly as she gazed at the darkening horizon, her brows furrowing in worry.

“They really are,” he agreed, leaning on his elbows against the fence and looking out at the far-off mountains with her. “And the Main House is the Conrad family mansion. I guess you haven’t been there yet. It’s way up in the mountains. They’ve got a big place on the beach, too, and tons of smaller houses—like the ones we live in—all over town. Those are just their residential properties. They basically own everything but the resort in the Square. The Main House is the Conrad family hub though.”

Lena’s eyes widened as she nodded her head in understanding. “I always forget what a big deal those Conrads are,” she admitted with a disbelieving shake of her head.

“Honestly, me too,” Jake confessed. “Anyway, I guess Ian’s dad is worried about Morgan so he wants her to come live at the Main House starting like today. Ian’s worried about Annie being alone until we get home next week, so he’s going to go stay in your house with her. He said he’ll sleep in Morgan’s room.”

Lena scrunched up her nose in disapproval. “I don’t think Annie needs or wants that. She’s lived by herself before. She’s a big girl.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jake said, shaking his head. “But you know Ian’s got something for her. He keeps her on a pedestal.”

“Well, hopefully he behaves himself,” Lena said sternly. She turned her body around on the fence so she was facing him and gave him a knowing look.

Jake blurted out a loud laugh and turned around with her, leaning his back on the fence. “No, Ian’s way too controlled to ever make a move on her,” he assured her. “She might as well be in a convent stuck in a house with him for a week.”

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