Page 130 of Ironwood Ranch Cowboys

They definitely don’t account for Duke, who somehow makes everything feel easier and harder at the same time.

I press my lips together, hard enough to steady myself.

This isn’t about them.

It can’t be.

Because Vivian is right about one thing, even if I hate the way she said it: this place runs on legacy, on history, on a version of permanence I’ve spent my whole life avoiding.

And I don’t belong to anything like that.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Duke

I should’ve shut that dinner down five minutes in.

Maybe ten.

Hell, maybe the second Vivian opened her mouth.

Instead, I sat there and let it happen. Let her pick Annie apart as if she was assessing livestock instead of a person who’s done more for this ranch in a few weeks than most people do in years.

And then Annie stood up and walked out. She didn’t slam anything, didn’t raise her voice, just… left, which has left me feeling way more hollow.

I give it about three seconds before I push my chair back.

Vivian’s still talking, something smooth and poisonous about “family matters,” but I’m done listening. Been done for years.

“Duke,” Silas says.

I don’t stop.

If he wants to have that conversation, he can have it later. Preferably somewhere that doesn’t involve linen napkins and warfare.

The hallway’s silent when I step out, the kind of peace that always follows a storm inside this house. The walls are holding their breath, waiting to see what breaks next.

I don’t slow down.

I grab my keys off the hook by the mudroom door, shrug into my jacket, and head straight outside.

Cold air hits hard.

Good.

Better than whatever the hell was happening in there.

I don’t have to look far.

Annie’s out in the garden, halfway down the path, standing still, trying to remember how to exist outside of that dining room. Shoulders tight, hands flexing at her sides, working the stress out of her system.

Yeah.

I know that feeling.

Ironwood does that to people. Gets under your skin, wraps around your lungs, makes everything feel smaller than it should.

Vivian’s just… better at it than most.