“No worries,” she replied. “So, what exactly does a ranch hand do? Are you like a legit cowboy?”
It amazed me that she hadn’t made her way over to the others yet, and it amazed me more that she sounded genuinely interested in talking to me.
I chuckled, my lips curving up into a smirk. “What do you mean a legit cowboy?”
“Like…you know, do you break and train horses? Do you, like, lasso cows and ride bulls?”
The last question hit me like a ton of bricks, straight to the chest. If only she knew what all I’d done. How close I’d been to being a three time consecutive World Champion.
“You rope a cow, not lasso it,” I said, hoping my words didn’t come out as brusque as they felt tumbling out of my mouth. “I’ve trained and worked babies…but, no… I don’t ride bulls.”
Not anymore.
Chapter six
Porch Swing Angel
Quinn
Halfway through dinner andI still couldn’t puzzle together what I’d done to make Hux shut down like that. There’d been a definite shift in him when I’d brought up cowboys, but I didn’t know exactly why. His expression, his entire demeanor turned guarded, closed off in an instant. And I didn’t know him enough to know if I could push him for more explanation.
It was just as well, though. Whit might think that the entire purpose of this trip was to find hot cowboys and gobuckwild, but I knew better. Not that she wasn’t going to try her hardest to change my mind. She’d made us plans with Travis and the other hands—Wyatt, Dylan, and Brooks—to go out later tonight. And despite my best efforts, a teeny, tiny part of me hoped Hux went too.
If anyone noticed my silence during dinner, no one mentioned it. Georgette told story after story with the occasional chime in from my dad. Like howserendipitousit had been for them to have met at an ocean-side bar in Turks and Caicos. How they’d had the most magical night and felt like they’d met the other half of their soul. All of those were Georgette’s words. Dad didn’t say much on the matter, he just let her rub her hands all over him. Not in an overly gross way, but, like, they werealwaystouching one another or holding each other’s thighs, leaning into and pressing their head to one of their shoulders, pausing mid-sentence to smile and kiss.
Weren’t teenagers the ones supposed to be so handsy? Didn’t Georgette have any sort of decency? Didn’t he? Like, this was my dad. Didn’t he feel weird being so openly affectionate to his girlfr—fiancé in front of me?
I don’t know if Whit was genuinely curious, or if she was keeping Georgette talking for my sake, but I was grateful I wasn’t being expected to interact more than a nod or “wow” here or there.
“So, where are you guys planning on moving after the wedding? Are you going to stay in Texas or maybe come back to California?” Whit asked, sipping her wine. Her words snagged my attention. I’d been wondering the same thing.
Georgette’s forever smile dipped for a moment. “What do you mean?”
A sense of unease simmered to life in the pit of my stomach. “Dad said that you guys were renting this place for the month of the wedding to make planning it on such short notice easier. He hadn’t mentioned where you all were going after.”
She glanced at my dad, her head tilting to the side as she said in that high-pitched, sugary-sweet voice of hers, “I thought you told her.”
I cocked my head to the side, the unease turning to straight up dread. Why did I get the sense I wasn’t going to like this conversation? This feeling had been manifesting, growing all throughout dinner, bubbling to life like water boiling in a pot. It started slow, but gained and gained and gained in intensity until all it could do was bubble over. “Told me what?”
My dad let out a nervous laugh as he leaned back in his chair, cupped a hand over his mouth, and rubbed at his chin. “I was uh…I was planning to tell you just you and me, but, well…this is as good a time as any.” A luminous grin came to his lips as he threw his arms wide. “Surprise, Queenie. This is for you.”
I froze, the only part of me able to move being my eyelids as I blinked over and over and over, trying and failing to puzzle this all together. “Um…what?” I finally managed to sputter out.
He swept a hand out at the gorgeous dining room. It gave off elegant, masculine men’s club vibes with its dark oak walls, ornate chandeliers, and matching sconces that burned low and warm. A wet bar filled with a number of fancy glass decanters full of whiskey took up the entire western wall.
“I wanna turn this place into a full on destination ranch. Weddings, retreats, business trips, you name it. Georgie and I are gonna buy us some of those tiny homes and put them on the property to use as little guest cabins.”
“There’s a herd of about a hundred cattle,” Georgette chimed in, a satisfied grin on her face. “And we’re gonna offer small, all inclusive, elegant cattle drives to those who can afford it. And, well…” She rose from her spot beside my dad and made her way around to grab my hands in hers. Squeezing softly, she offered me a bright smile. “We don’t see anyone better than you runnin’ it, sweetie.”
I know that she wasn’t trying to be condescending, but I hated her so much in that moment. Her stupid smile, the wayshe held my hands, and how they didn’t even ask me what I thought of this whole business venture.
I know most people would probably be over the moon about this opportunity, and even though I was grateful I found myself saying, “I…I have a job.” Pulling my hands away, I looked across the table to my dad. “You were so excited for me when I told you I officially landed the gig.”
Did he not believe in me being able to make it on my own? Even after putting in the hard work, the four years of college to get to this point, did he think I’d fuck up so royally that he felt the need to coddle me? Or was this some sort of left over guilt from Mom passing away and him basically going off the deep end, leaving me to all care for myself? Was this his way of trying to take care of me?
“I was!” Dad said, his words ringing with sincerity. “But I know you’ll do fantastic running things for me.”
His words hit like a punch to the face. He didn’t even expect me to argue, but to just accept the offer. My heart pitter pattered in my chest like someone learning to tap-dance. Off key and too erratic. Disappointment welled inside me. I should have known that there was more to it than just the wedding. Now, things started to make sense.
