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The huddle broke up, and Starla tucked her dark hair behind her ear as she found her personal space again. “Hey, everyone.”
“What are you doing here?” William asked.
“Just visiting.” Starla exchanged a glance with Gina. “It’s a holiday, and we’re closed today.” The lodge never closed, and while Starla did love it here, she also liked having time off. She actually had flower beds this year, and real food in her fridge, not takeout. She hadn’t started painting yet, but she had restored her grandmother’s old trunk and now used it as a coffee table in her house in a quaint suburb in the city.
“We’re going to the afternoon movie,” Gina said. “Everyone is okay here?” She should’ve been off work already, and Starla knew she’d been loitering in the kitchen simply to wait for Starla to arrive.
“We’re good,” Will said. “Have fun.” He grinned them out of the kitchen, and Gina linked her arm through Starla’s as they entered the main room of the lodge. It was quieter out here, and as it wasn’t mealtime, the guests wouldn’t be here.
Several people worked in the half of the building with desks and tables, and Starla knew them all by name. One thing about the Texas Longhorn Ranch was that they didn’t have a huge amount of turnover. They paid great, and there was always something to do. If anything, they had a problem keeping the place fully staffed, especially in the summertime.
“Ice cream?” Gina asked. “Blake gave me free two-scoop coupons, and you can meet Kyle’s girlfriend.”
“I’ve met Maddy,” Starla said dryly. “I’m not going to say no to free ice cream, though.” She did find it funny she’d had to get free coupons from her husband, but Starla didn’t say so. “Where’s Jesse?” She lowered her voice to ask about him, as she and Gina talked about him every now and then.
Mostly, Starla wanted to know how he was doing and how he was treating everyone on the ranch. Gina had reported that he was doing “well enough,” and he’d been “the nicest she’d seen him,” in the past couple of months since Starla had left the ranch.
Her pulse accelerated at the mere thought of him, but she had no plans to return to Chestnut Springs. He had no plans to leave his family ranch and join her in the city. They’d shared some feisty kisses, some passionate kisses, and some soft, sweet kisses in the recent past. She liked him a great deal, but it sure felt like a giant had dropped a set of blocks from up above, and they had to navigate their way around them.
“He’s managing the ice cream topping tasting,” Gina said. “Ash is running it.”
Starla nodded, trying not to dwell too much on any one thing. “Nash?”
“Nash wasn’t feeling well,” Gina said. “Last I heard, he went home.” She glanced over to Starla. “You don’t really care about Nash, do you?”
Starla looked at her. “I mean, I care about him as a human being.”
“Did you tell Jesse you were coming?”
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“And?” Gina prompted, and that was one thing Starla liked about her. She didn’t hold back.
“Nothing. He said he might see me, but he had a lot going on today.”
Gina frowned, but Starla looked away as they pushed back outside to go over to the ice cream booth. She started talking about a new dessert recipe she’d been trying at home and how she couldn’t make it big enough to be useful in the lodge kitchen. When they got to the ice cream booth, a couple of people waited in front of them.
Maddy worked fast, and she had someone with her. Starla didn’t know who it was, but he was tall, dark, and handsome—like most of the cowboys at the ranch. “Who’s that?” she asked.
Gina craned her neck to see the man in the booth. “Oh, Silas is out here today. Holly hired him a few weeks ago.” She smiled in his direction. “He’s great. All the guests love him.”
His loud, deep laughter lifted through the world, and Starla could see why. She also noted that the people in front of her were both females, clearly too young for Silas. His eyes shone like he didn’t realize the girls were half his age as they moved away. “Well, here’s trouble,” he said, clearly flirting.
Starla’s eyebrows went up. “Is that right?”
Silas’s smile slipped as he looked at her. “I just meant Gina’s always trying to get free ice cream.” He tapped on the tablet in front of him. “What can I get you ladies?”
“I actually have coupons for free ice cream today,” Gina said, dropping the tickets on the tablet.
Silas looked at them and then at her. He grinned as Maddy wiped the counter, stretching to get in front of where he stood. “Look at that.” He picked them up and showed them to Maddy.
“Mint chocolate chip?” she asked Gina.
“For me,” Gina said. “Starla?”
She studied the flavors in the bins in front of her. “Rainbow sherbet, please.”
“Comin’ up.” Maddy started to scoop the abnormally green ice cream while Silas took over on the sherbet side. They took their cones only a handful of seconds later, and Starla turned to follow Gina to find some shade or some air conditioning when she heard Jesse’s voice.
