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“I don’t want a new schoolteacher, and I’m not uptight.”
“What’s the problem here?” Nash stepped in front of him.
“The problem is I don’t want to go.”
“You haven’t left this ranch in months. You’re turning into a hermit. Now move it.”
“I’ve been busy, and I went to the conference.”
“Which you had to do because Dad didn’t. Since then you’ve played ball but not visited the few friends you have.”
“What the hell is this? You staging an intervention or something?”
“You did with me.” Nash folded his arms.
“You were in need of an intervention. I’m not.”
“Actually, you are. You used to at least go out, but even that seems to have stopped,” Nash said.
“I go out all the time.” That was categorically untrue, but he just wanted this conversation to end. “I’ve just been busy.”
“Sure, we both have, but this will do you good. We can have a beer, and you can tell me some more about that conference you went to. Nothing like a chat about artificial insemination to get the conversation flowing.”
“No.”
“I’m not leaving here without you. Luna said I have to bring you to quiz night, and you can sleep on the sofa after if you don’t want to drive home.”
Hell no!
When he stayed anywhere that wasn’t his room, it was an even worse night’s sleep. Unless he drank too much and passed out, but he’d given up on that years ago when he realized alcohol was becoming a crutch.
“Look me in the eye, tell me I’m not going to be your girl’s next matchmaking project, and I’ll go.”
“I promise.”
“You have your fingers crossed behind your back.”
“No, I don’t. I went for my toes this time. You know how I’m the only Winter with that skill.”
“Fuck you.” Ford sighed, heading inside to shower.
Chapter3
Ryker Falls was about an hour’s drive from the ranch if you weren’t in a hurry. It was small, quaint, and stocked full of eccentric, bordering on crazy, people. The truth was Ford liked it but wasn’t sure how to take it. People were always calling out his name, and he didn’t know who they were. Because his siblings had made this place home, he was now supposedly one of them.
Which was just plain weird if you asked him.
The town had a main street loaded with stores, some unusual, others necessary.
He drove in with the sun slowly setting behind the two huge mountains that stood sentry beyond the end of town. And that was another thing—who called their mountains Roxy and Phil? Apparently they were the founding father’s twins.
“And the weirdness just keeps growing,” he muttered.
It was warm, the air had a stillness to it, and he liked days like this. Hot but not too hot. He pulled in and parked near AS, Joe Trainer’s bar. The long version of the name was Apple Sours, and Ford had no idea why anyone would call their bar after candy. He was sure there was some kind of meaning behind it, like there was for all the crazy here.
He got out and pocketed his keys. “It’s like just when I’m sure this town can’t be crazier, it finds a way to dig deeper.”
Luke Trainer, youngest of the three Trainer brothers, stood in the street, staring at a banner. Tall, big-boned, and a nice guy like the rest of them, he’d recently found love in the form of Quinn Harper, kick-ass fighter pilot.
