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Deanna just took his grouchy behavior in stride and shrugged. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t. It’s not like we expect them to work for their supper. We have hired hands for all that.”

“Actually,” I cut in, shutting Gareth up. “I was hoping to learn what it’s like to live and work on a real ranch. You know, to understand what life was like for him growing up.”

“Really?” Deanna asked, surprised. “Huh… I suppose that would be of interest to someone who hadn’t grown up in the country. What is it that your family does?”

“Oh, ah, my family is in the oil business,” I answered, feeling odd about admitting that for some reason.

Deanna’s eyes went wide. “Well, shiiit, you’re one of those Thatchers? Lord have mercy, how did I not figure that out before now?”

At the surprise of this news, I noticed her slight accent became much thicker, and it made me like her even more.

“Dee, it’s fine, really. I don’t have much, if anything, to do with my parents’ business. That’s all been left to my oldest brother, Eli. I spend my days in an art studio covered in paint,” I assured her.

“It is what it is,” Deanna agreed, then clapped her hands. “I have the cars waiting out front, but be sure to use the bathroom. It's about an hour's drive to the ranch.”

“Mom, I already warned them on the plane. We’re adults and can take care of ourselves,” Gareth pointed out.

His mother just gave him a dubious look then brushed off his words with a shoulder shrug. “Suit yourself, but I don’t want to hear anyone crying when they can’t hold it any longer, and the only option is to drop trou on the side of the road.”

I covered my mouth with a hand to keep them from seeing me snickering, but Yun caught me and winked. Knowing the guys had been pushing water on me the whole flight, worried I was going to have trouble with the altitude, I made sure to relieve myself. Finally, we piled into the two SUVs and were off. I’d been placed in the car with Deanna, Gareth, Waffles, Nugget, and Warrick. The others and the luggage were in the second vehicle, where I’m sure it was much quieter.

It didn’t take me long to figure out Deanna didn’t get much chance to talk with anyone outside the ranch staff. At first, I tried to keep up, be engaged, and ask questions until I realized what Deanna really wanted was to be listened to. She didn’t need anyone to say a word or participate—you just needed to be someone who hadn’t heard the story before. By the time we reached the ranch, I knew all the local and ranch gossip, every embarrassing story she could think of about Gareth and his brothers, and how thrilled Dee was to have us staying for a few days.

“Please tell me she will eventually run out of things to talk about,” I whispered to Gareth.

He smirked and shook his head, patting my knee in sympathy. “Not in the years that I’ve been alive.”

Then the main gates to the ranch appeared, and I tuned everything out at the sight of them. It wasn’t that they were grandiose or anything, but their sheer size was impressive. The side columns were made out of a sandy-colored brick. Pitch-black wrought iron made up the gate in a picture of a massive steer with horns and the name Watson Ranch arching over the steer. Slowly, they opened, giving me time to take in the other details of the mountains, trees, and birds carved into the metal, turning it into a mural.

“That was a gift from the Governor of Molis on the ranch's hundred-year anniversary. Stunning, isn’t it?” Dee sighed.

“Is that what the hundred written on there was for?” I questioned.

“No, that's actually the address. We’re one hundred Creek Valley Trail,” Dee answered. “The governor thought it would be a fitting gift to mark the occasion.”

“I’ll say,” Warrick muttered. “How long did that take to even make? The whole thing had to take months to weld together.”

“That’s the coolest thing about the gate. It only took a month since they used this new laser-cutting technique the governor’s brother created. Since the news article about our gate was published, the man’s simply been slammed with work,” Dee interjected.

Something told me that gate wasn’t just a gift out of the kindness of the governor’s heart, but I wasn’t going to rain on her parade. After the longest driveway I’d ever seen, we arrived at the house. I’d been picturing a typical two-story farmhouse with the wraparound porch you always see in the movies, but this was anything but that. Gareth’s childhood home was a single-story ranch-style house that seemed to be the size of three houses connected together. It was made out of river stone and dark wood with lots of flowers surrounding the front of the house. There was even a pond with a pier for fishing or possibly swimming. A fountain was in the middle of the pond, adding to the liveliness of the property. Off to the right, if you continued to follow the gravel road, you’d end up at what I would guess to be one of the barns. With horses grazing in the pasture, I made a good guess it was where they were kept.

Gareth had said many of the farm hands still preferred to work with horses over ATVs, needing sharper turns and faster responses to situations. The only horse I’d ever been on was a pony at the carnival that walked in circles. I loved all animals and couldn’t wait to slip them all some carrots or a sugar cube or two. Taking everything in, my body practically vibrated with excitement, so much so it had my two Alphas grinning from ear to ear.

“God, you’re the cutest thing ever, Care Bear,” Warrick said, wrapping his arms around me from behind and kissing my head. “I never knew how amazing it would be to feel the world through your emotions.”

I caught Gareth’s mother looking back at us as she pretended to check her makeup in the visor mirror. Deanna had a twinkle in her eyes that only pure joy could create. Yet I could also see a shadow of wistfulness as she watched Warrick nuzzling his face into my hair.

How lonely this life must be for her not to have her pack or kids around to keep her company.

If I hadn’t been sure about making this trip, I was now. Deanna seemed like a wonderful woman who deserved more than what she was getting out of life right now. There had to be a reason she wouldn’t leave the ranch to see her grandkids. Surely, they wouldn’t turn her away if she made the trip into the city to see them, right?

The vehicles stopped at the front door under the awning that shaded us from the bright sun. It wasn’t overly hot, but I knew being at a higher elevation meant the sun was much stronger. Thankfully, I had a bit of a glow after the week on the beach. Most of the guys had turned into bronze supermodels, leaving Vili and me looking like ghosts with our fair complexion. Poor Vili seemed to become pinker rather than golden.

“Come in, come in,” Dee urged, gesturing us to follow her into the house. “I’ll have the ranch hands set your luggage in the back rooms. I’m sorry I don’t have a space big enough for all of you to stay in one room, but I think the two guest suites will work out well. There’s always Gareth’s room too, if needed. I made sure to keep his room just as it was in case he ever needed it. Looks like all my worrying was for nothing, but that’s what we mothers do.”

Deanna led us into a large family room with vaulted ceilings, a giant stone fireplace, and lovely artwork hanging on the walls. It perfectly blended masculine and feminine energy with leather, dark wood, fluffy pillows, and plants filling the space.

“Sit, I’ll get some sweet tea for us to sip on,” Dee instructed.