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Being a teenager… I honestly wasn’t sure how that would feel because I never got to experience those years. As soon as my parents died when I was twelve years old, I got promoted to being an adult and taking care of my brother. I never had the chance to slowly find my independence or be able to craft my own identity. I got one thrust onto me—Miranda Caffery, sister and problem fixer to her big brother, drug-user Evan Caffery.
That had always been how I was perceived. My brother was the center of attention in our family because my parents constantly had to chase after him and make sure he wasn’t doing anything stupid. I never got a chance to be irresponsible or express myself. I was pushed off and forced to be like a mini grownup who took care of herself.
The more I thought about my childhood, the more I resented my brother for robbing me of the adventure of getting to find myself.
“Let me show you something,” Austin said, gently taking my hand and leading me out of the living room, up the stairs, and into a room I hadn’t been in before. Champ was passed out on the floor, so she didn’t follow us.
“This is my library, my place to unwind after a hectic day,” he said, as he opened the door. In the room, there were bookcases lining all the walls, and they were filled to the brim with books. In the middle of the room, there was a small table and two comfy looking chairs—a perfect place to read for hours.
I felt like I was in the scene fromBeauty in the Beastwhen Beast gifts Belle his library. It was my favorite part in the film.
“You’re welcome to read any story you’d like in here for as long as you stay. The fiction books are organized alphabetically by their author’s last name. The nonfiction books are organized by their subject,” he shared and pointed where each collection began.
Holy cow. Where was I going to start? There were so many! Oh! This was beyond exciting. I had to contain myself from dancing in place. Ever since I was in kindergarten and learned to read, I had had an absolute love for books.
“But if you want to read some books focused on age play, they’re over here,” he said, pointing to a section with colorful book spines.
I approached the area and glanced at the titles. A couple of them I had read previously, but many I hadn’t.
“These are incredible,” I said, running my fingertips over the spines. I looked back at Austin and smiled. “Thank you for showing me this and letting me read any ones I want.”
“You’re welcome. I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have, but I think sometimes being able to read stories, even if they’re fiction, can help you understand topics better.”
I completely agreed.
“Austin? Mind if I bother you for a few minutes?” a man shouted from somewhere downstairs.
I jumped at the disruption but calmed when I recognized it as belonging to the man I had accidentally let see me earlier today. Austin trusted him, so I did, too. He could’ve been a cousin of my host’s for all I knew. They sure did look a hell of a lot alike. They had similar muscular bodies and were the same height. Their hair curled around their ears the same way, except the stranger had blond locks, instead of brown like Austin. Even the way they dressed was similar. They had both been in jeans that hugged their butts like a glove and they had plaid shirts on. Mmm, a girl had to be careful with all of the eye candy around here.
“That’s Luke,” Austin said, pulling me out of the mental comparison I had going on in my head. “It’s time for us to go over how things went today and plan what we want to do tomorrow. Would you feel comfortable if he stayed to eat dinner with us, so we could also discuss our plan to get Declan? He’d be a valuable resource to help catch the jerk.”
“He won’t mind my current attire?” I asked, motioning with my hand at the makeshift outfit Austin had given me.
He smiled and said, “Nah. Luke’s a good guy. As long as you don’t come downstairs naked, he’ll be fine.”
“It’s okay with me then,” I said, as I held back the wave of nerves trying to make me panic. I didn’t like the idea of making another person bear my problems, but if Austin thought it for the best, I wasn’t going to argue.
“Great. Spend as much time as you’d like in here. Luke and I are going to go over ranch business until dinner. We can discuss what we plan to do then. Okay?”
I nodded and turned toward the bookcase. He gave my shoulder a squeeze before he left the room, and I took on the dilemma of which story I wanted to escape into first.
I found Luke in my study where we normally went over the day’s happenings. He was scratching Champ’s head making her look like she was in pure doggy heaven. She sure had spun everyone around her paw. Then again, as well-behaved and cute as she was, I could see why.
“How did today go?” I asked, taking a seat behind my desk and turning my computer on to see if I had missed any important emails while busy with Miranda. Surprisingly, there weren’t any.
“Great. All the cattle needing vaccinations got them. Billy and Wyatt mucked out the stalls while we did that. Colt, Travis, and Mason worked on the requirements the government sent over for the organic raspberry fields. Everyone else stuck to their normal chores.” Luke leaned back in the leather chair and grinned. “How did your day go? Anything interesting happen?”
“You know, now that you mention it, something interesting did happen,” I said, as Champ came over by me to get some attention. I petted her, and she gave a small woof of appreciation.
“Care to explain, or do I have to guess until I get the right answer about your guest?”
I looked my second-in-command square in the eyes. “You have to swear to tell no one what I am about to tell you. Not even Billy, Wyatt, Colt, Mason, or Travis.”
“Of course, boss.” Luke’s body stiffened, and he sat up straight. “Is everything all right with Miranda? She isn’t in any trouble, is she?”
This was a trait of his I appreciated. We could be joking around one moment, but the second things got serious, Luke focused, and all kidding ceased.
“Yes, but not by her own doing. She has a brother who is MIA and owed that guy Declan some money for drugs. She paid it off, but he wants more from her. He wants her to become his wife. She ran, and he chased her all the way here from Utah.”
