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“Or you can stay at my house. Scott and Ty are coming back today from their cattle rotation, but you can use the guest room. I’ll let them know you’re staying,” Grace chimed in, and my spirits lifted a little. I couldn’t wait to see them, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about staying in their homes without them. I knew I could trust Blake and Grace’s men, but I hadn’t met them yet, and it made me uneasy. Meeting the men felt like it was a big deal, and Blake and Grace needed to be the ones to make the introductions. I knew their men loved them, but I still didn’t know the full details of how their relationships worked. Jeff always kept my conversations with the girls short, so we never had the chance to have full-on girl talk.
“It’s fine. I’ll call an Uber to take me to town and find a hotel.” I twisted my hands in my lap.
“Sorry, ma’am, but thisisa small town. We don’t have Uber or cabs or anything like that,” Duke said, eyes glued to the road as we headed for King’s Ranch.
I let out a sigh, and my shoulders drooped. “You should turn around, and I’ll sleep in my car for the night then.” Maybe if I rolled the windows down a little, I could get a breeze to come in, but then I’d have to fight off the bugs.
Grace and Blake’s voices jumbled together as they told me how wrong it was for me to even think about doing that.
“Nonsense. She’ll stay with me until you guys get back.” Duke’s firm voice echoed around the cab, silencing everyone. He clenched his jaw and glanced at me.
“Duke, are you sure?” Blake asked.
“I’m sure. I was on my way home from work when I saw her, and I have the next three days off, so she won’t be alone. I’ll watch out for her until you guys get here tomorrow, and then you can work out whatever arrangements you want.” Duke pulled the SUV off to the side of the road and looked at me. “If that’s all right with you, of course.”
His words bounced around in my head. They were all letting me choose what I felt comfortable with. Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I blinked a few times to push them away. I was finally beginning to see how many of my choices had been taken away from me while I was with Jeff.
“I’ll stay with you until they get back. Thank you.”
Having Office Bennett in the house with me made me feel a little more at ease with staying in a new place. Duke was a stranger too, but oddly enough, I didn’t feel as uncomfortable about being alone in his house for the night. Maybe it was that he was a law enforcer, or maybe it was because we had already been through introductions, but it was different.
“That’s settled then. Abbey will stay with me tonight, and you ladies need to drive safe. I don’t want to be getting any calls in the middle of the night.” Duke pulled onto the road.
“You got it. Thanks, Duke,” Blake said.
“Can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Abbs,” Grace squealed at the end.
“Bye, guys,” I called out before Duke pressed the end call button. “Thanks, Officer Bennett. You didn’t have to offer your place to me.”
“Duke. And it’s the least I can do.” He glanced at me before jerking his chin to the windshield. “Welcome to King’s Ranch, Abbey.”
My jaw dropped as Duke pulled into the entrance. We drove under the massive archway over the dirt road and continued on toward a group of buildings. Green pastures lined both sides of the road—these with horses in them, unlike the ones I’d been staring at for hours.
The driveway opened to a number of large buildings. I could tell two of them were barns on my right, and there was a large mansion on the left.
“The big house belongs to the Kingstons,” Duke said, pointing out the windshield. “We have the training arenas behind us now. And the structure behind the barns is the dining hall.”
I was in complete awe at the sheer size of this place. Now I understood why the girls had decided to stay here, apart from finding the loves of their lives.
“Are those houses?” I pointed into the distance.
“Yes. The staff who have families all have their own houses on the property. The others stay in the bunkhouses.”
“I’m not barging in on your family by staying with you, am I? You mentioned your place. I’m assuming it’s not the bunkhouse.” I whipped my head to face him. My stomach twisted thinking about intruding on his family.
“No. When I’m not working as an officer for the town, I work security at the ranch. Liam and I share the house. He’s with Blake and Grace, so you won’t have to worry about him.”
My shoulders relaxed a fraction.
Duke pulled off from the large dirt area and followed a well-worn path around the side of the barns to a row of widely spaced houses. Parking in front of the first house, he jumped out and made his way around to the passenger side. Before I could finish unbuckling my seatbelt, Duke had the door open and shouldered my messenger bag.
“Why this house?” I asked as he helped me from the car.
“It’s easier for me to get in and out of here in a hurry if I need to.”
“That makes sense.” I followed Duke up the front steps leading to the porch.
He opened the front door and stepped aside so I could enter. “And this is my home,” Duke said, closing the door behind us. “I hope you’re a dog person,” he said, right as a black and white fluffy dog pranced over and started licking my hands. I kneeled and greeted the friendly pooch. “This is Jax. Liam and I got him a few months ago.”
