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Macie was awake early again for the third morning in a row. The week had both crawled and flown by. At least Ruby was in a decent routine now, and Macie had caught up on the jewelry orders.
A sharp jab in Macie’s leg, courtesy of Ruby’s kick, reminded her why she was awake so early. Sharing a bed with Ruby wasn’t ideal, especially since getting her to sleep in her own bed in San Diego had been a battle. Now they were back to old habits. The sun hadn’t even risen yet, although Macie was pretty sure the men in the household were already up for the day, if the sound of showers coming through the pipes was any indication.
Macie had been taking over breakfast preparation duties, which wasn’t much, since she wasn’t nearly the cook Heidi was. Scrambled eggs and toast was about what she managed. Rex sat down to eat, but Holt was in and out of the kitchen, stopping only long enough to fill a mug with coffee and say, “Good mornin’.”
Yet, Macie found she now looked forward to that greeting every day. She knew that Holt was living at his parents’ temporarily, and it only made her curious about his place. What his tastes were. She and Knox had never gotten out of the apartment stage, and she’d once dreamed of having a nice home. Being a single mom would likely never get her that.
Heidi Prosper had reminded her of that the day before.
Macie sighed. The woman could be infuriating, yet she was sweet with Ruby, and Ruby already loved her grandma fiercely. Macie would just have to swallow back any retorts about Knox. Heidi still hadn’t said a word about her cancer. Macie could respect her decision, but she also wondered if the woman needed someone to talk to.
She climbed out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt over her tank shirt. Then she made her way to the bathroom directly across from the bedroom. She’d shower later, when the men were out of the house, but for now, she smoothed her hair into a ponytail, brushed her teeth, and washed her face.
Being around men like Holt and Rex was a different experience than being around Knox or his friends. Macie didn’t feel like she was being watched or judged. Knox wasn’t asking her to get dolled up before his friends came over, and she didn’t feel like she was competing with his female friends. At the ranch, she could be herself.
She headed to the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. Maybe since she was up earlier than usual this morning, she could add hash browns and bacon along with the eggs. She hauled out the sack of potatoes from the pantry and set to peeling them for hash browns. There wasn’t much that Heidi didn’t make from scratch, so there were no bags of frozen hash browns in the freezer.
Once Macie had a half-dozen potatoes peeled, she grated them into a warming frying pan. Then she got out the bacon from the fridge and started it cooking in a separate pan. Next, she cracked eight eggs and scrambled them up. Heidi usually got up mid-morning, and it would be easy to warm up a plate for her.
Macie paused in her work to gaze out the kitchen window and watch the sun crest the eastern hill on the other side of the arena. The ranch looked like a postcard in the mornings, with various greens, rich earth colors, and painted fences. The beautiful landscape was something to be proud of—no wonder Rex and Heidi loved it. Macie wondered if Holt had always wanted to run the ranch, or if, like Knox, he’d aspired to something else.
Or was Holt truly as Knox had claimed, a puppet to their parents’ wishes?
The familiar trudge of cowboy boots on the hardwood floor told her that Holt was coming down the hallway. Yes, she recognized his footsteps now, a little quicker and lighter than his father’s. A glance at the clock near the fridge told her he was earlier than usual, too. Maybe he’d have more than his customary coffee?
She busied herself with turning over the bacon, then gave the hash browns a final stir. They were a perfect golden brown now. She switched off the element beneath the pan as Holt walked in. She didn’t turn, and he didn’t speak.
Without Rex in the room, there was no buffer between them. They hadn’t had any private conversations since that first day she’d arrived, when they’d spoken in the dark kitchen. Ruby was almost always with Macie, and Holt was always busy. Which was fine. Fine and good.
“Smells heavenly in here,” Holt said.
Macie was so used to his silence in the mornings that his deep voice sent a jolt through her. She stirred the bubbling scrambled eggs, then switched off the element beneath the pan of bacon. “You hungry? Or are you going to stick to coffee this morning?” She hadn’t meant to say so much, and she focused on scooping the bacon onto a plate piled with paper towels.
“I don’t think I could ever pass up bacon.” Holt’s voice was much closer now.
Macie hid a smile. For some reason, cooking something that Holt would eat made her absurdly pleased. “Good to know.”
Holt was suddenly beside her, and he reached for a piece of bacon, brushing her arm in the process.
Macie raised a brow as he took a bite.
“It’s hot,” she warned.
He chewed, and Macie probably shouldn’t have been staring at his tanned throat as he swallowed.
“Perfect,” he said, then winked.
She said nothing as he picked up another piece of bacon, ate that, too, then filled a mug with coffee. She watched his smooth movements, the way that his white shirt was tucked into his jeans, how his boots looked newly polished, and how his brown hair was combed back, brushing against his collar. He seemed more dressed up than usual, sans hat, today.
When his blue eyes connected with hers, she saw amusement in them. Her face heated, which made no sense. It wasn’t like she was checking him out . . .
“Got you something yesterday,” he said in that low voice of his. “Since you refuse to go into town.”
He must have overheard her conversation with Heidi when his mother was going to go grocery shopping. Macie had told her she wasn’t ready to face people yet who would ask her questions, about who she was, and why she was here.
But now she was curious. What did Holt get her? He moved to the other end of the kitchen and picked up a sack from the far counter that she hadn’t noticed earlier. He set it on the kitchen table, then pulled out two dark red shoeboxes. One large, the other smaller.
She joined him at the table, and he lifted the lid of the larger box and pulled out a pair of deep russet cowboy boots. Women’s.
