AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Alright, your turn, Gray.” I gestured to him with a teasing tilt of my head.
“Pass.” He crossed his arms over his tragically-clothed chest, and I noticed how the muscles played beneath his shirt.
“Come on, don't be such a grump,” I prodded, approaching him with my phone ready. “You're part of this experience too.”
“Fine,” he conceded after a beat, standing stiffly beside me. Against my better judgement, I leaned against him, then felt his arm come around to rest on my shoulders. A whole entire butterfly exhibit set loose in my tummy.
“Smile!” I teased, but instead of complying, he gave the camera a look that could curdle milk. When I checked the picture, though, I found his eyes weren't on the lens—they were on me, and there was something unexpectedly soft in them.
He pulled his arm back to his side, and I regretted the immediate loss of his warmth.
“See? That wasn't so bad.” I showed him the photo, and our fingers brushed as he took the phone. The contact sent an unexpected jolt through me, and I wondered if he felt it too.
“Could've been worse,” he admitted, handing it back. “You didn't drop it in the water, for one.”
“Ha-ha,” I said, pocketing my phone. “You're not as stony as you want everyone to believe, are you?”
“I don’t give a shit what people believe, but you can keep thinking that,” he retorted, but the crooked grin he tried to suppress betrayed him.
“Will do.” I flashed him a wide, genuine smile, and for a moment, our gazes locked—a silent acknowledgment of something neither of us was ready to admit.
“Let's mount up,” Gray announced abruptly, breaking the connection as he turned to assist the others. I lingered a moment longer, the image of the waterfall—and the rugged cowboy beside me—burning into my mind.
* * *
The ride back down the mountain was uneventful and after saying our goodbyes—Gray's nod was curt, but I caught the reluctant softening of his eyes—we headed back toward town, taking a shortcut according to the GPS. We were only fifty yards down the road from Red Downs when Enzo, who'd been unusually quiet, suddenly spoke up.
“Eryn, look at that.”
I glanced out the window, then slowed the Jeep to a crawl.
“Is that what I think it is?” I asked, my gaze catching on a metal sign swaying in the wind. Dust covered it, kicked up by the ranch operations next door no doubt, but the words 'For Sale' were still legible.
“Looks like it’s been vacant for a while,” Zaya said, surveying the house.
“Is this a sign?” I couldn't keep the excitement from my voice. “It's beautiful.”
“Needs a lot of work,” Zaya said, though her tone wasn’t discouraging, just honest.
“It does.” I’d stopped the vehicle now, pulled over to the side of the road so we could take in the details. “The house is huge. Big enough to be an Inn.”
“I love the wraparound porch,” Skylar gushed.
Enzo rolled down the window to crane his neck out. “Looks like it has much land.”
“Can you see what the sign says?”
“Ahh . . . Two hundred acres.”
“Oh my God, that’s incredible.”
Zaya had already pulled out her phone to look up the property. “That’s a lot of land. Looks like it was a wheat farm.”
“Okay, so plenty of land for gardening and then the rest I could develop into something else. Plus I bet some of the lot extends up the mountains.”
“It does,” Zaya said, handing me her phone with the listing.
“Wow.”
