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“Goodnight, pa.”
He smiled and started pulling the door shut. “Goodnight, Alex.”
Three
Spendingthe entire weekend on the ranch didn’t provide a single answer. Alex sipped her coffee as she stared out across the yard toward the barn. There were still too many questions and she knew the solutions weren’t going to come unless she swallowed her fear and did something to move things along.
The sun was climbing over the mountains, illuminating the ranch in that shimmering haze she loved to see. It would be a shame to ruin such a nice day but continuing to put this off was going to drive her crazy.
Ranch hands were walking in and out of the barn and she inhaled a steadying breath and whispered, “Let’s get this over with,” before setting her mug on the back porch rail and stepped down into the yard. She could count the number times she’d been scared on one hand and today was one of them.
She entered the barn and stood silently by the door as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting inside. When she could see and spotted her father near the stalls, she whispered, “please don’t say no, pa,” to herself.
She crossed the space between them and cleared her throat, pushed a stray strand of hair from her face and lifted her chin another notch to try and look more confident than she felt. When he turned to face her, the words she’d been practicing for the past week stuck in her throat.
Her pa still stood above most men in height, his dark hair, along with the stubble on his chin, were starting to show signs of gray but his eyes were still a clear sky blue. There was intelligence and a cunning most Avery men had shining back at her and the reason she’d sought him out fled with that small glance.
He smiled, the tiny lines forming around his mouth when he did made the look in his eyes seem less harsh. She glanced away to collect her thoughts and tried to relax. The speech she’d rehearsed came back to her in seconds and she reminded herself that the worst he would do was yell.
She cleared her throat again and smiled back. “I wanted to talk to you about something, pa.”
“I figured as much. You’ve been following me around the ranch for two days now.” He laid the horse brush he’d been holding down and took off his gloves. “What is it?”
Those irritating jitters in her stomach were back. She licked her lips, clenched her fists and took a deep breath. “Well, it’s about the cattle drive. I wa—”
“No.”
Alex stared, her words cut off by his quick reply. “No?” She blinked. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
He smiled again, this time those lines by his mouth were joined with more than a few around his eyes. He was amused. “Yes, I do. You want to go and my answer is no.”
“But—“
“No buts.” He started across the barn in her direction. “If this is why you’ve been stalking me and sneaking around the ranch as if no one has seen you, then you’ve wasted a lot of time for nothing. You’re not going on the cattle drive, Alex, and that’s final.”
He paused when he reached her side and laid a soft kiss on her forehead before continuing on to the house. She sighed, crossed her arms under her breasts and stared after him.
“Told ya he wouldn’t let you go.”
The childish giggles echoing inside the barn irritated her more than the words did. Alex looked to the loft and saw Holt peering down at her. “I don’t need your advice, little brother.” She glared at him. “And what are you doing spying on me?”
He laughed again, then sprang to his feet. At eleven years old, he was full of mischief. He reminded her of herself at his age and hardly faulted him for it. He came down the ladder faster than he should have, missing a few steps on the way, and landed at the bottom with a hard thump. He pushed the brim of his hat up a few inches, a gesture she’d seen her pa do a thousand times over, and grinned in her direction. “He’s letting me go with him.”
Alex’s mouth gaped, her eyes widened and her blood heated and raced through her veins. “What!”
Holt laughed again, the look in his eyes filled with glee. “Ma said this morning it was okay if I skipped out on school for it. Her and pa both think it’ll be a good learning experience for me.”
“A learning….” Alex screamed and marched from the barn, her fist clenched along with her teeth. She didn’t stop seething until she’d reached the house. She jerked open the back door and stomped into the kitchen, nearly knocking her younger brother, Landon, down in the process. Her pa and Laurel turned to look at her. “Holt gets to go?”
Her father’s eyes widened a fraction, the small action enough for her to realize she’d yelled at him. She inhaled a quick breath, let it out and allowed her shoulders relax. “Sorry for raising my voice, pa, but why can Holt go and I can’t? He’s only eleven years old.” She glanced toward Landon where he stood by the door. “Is Landon going?”
Laurel shook her head. “Landon is staying here with me.” She told the boys to go outside and play then gave her father a comforting pat on the arm and left the room. Figures. Laurel always left when a fight was brewing with her father.
Her father spoke before she had a chance to open her mouth again. “For one thing Holt is a boy.”
“And that matters why?” she asked. “He can barely lift his own saddle. What good will he be on a cattle drive?” Her voice was rising again. She took a calming breath and grabbed onto the back of a chair, gripping the wood to try and gain control over her emotions. “Come on pa, you know as well as I do that I’m as good if not a better cowboy than half the cowpokes on this ranch. I can do this with my eyes closed.”
“I know you can, Alex.”
