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Blake: You need to sit down and talk with her. And do a whole lot of convincing.
Liam: On it, boss.
I let a few seconds pass before I did my recon.
Liam: Who went with you?
Blake: Abbey, Grace, Jessie, and Alex. Why?
Liam: Just wondering who was left here. It’s like a ghost town.
I hoped that would keep her from asking too many questions.
Blake: Tori had work to do and stayed behind. She should be in her office. I didn’t have anyone scheduled for training today, so I think most of the other riders are enjoying a day off. Maybe you should too.
Liam: You’re funny. Zeus needs his butt back in shape for the season.
Blake: Okay. I’ll call you later, and we can schedule a session.
Liam: Sounds good. Go enjoy the day. And lunch is on me. Have fun.
I found myself already walking to Gavin’s office before I’d finished texting Blake.
“All clear with the girls in town. Only one who didn’t go was Victoria. I’m going to see if I can distract her.” I thumbed over my shoulder toward the big house.
Gavin laughed. “Good luck with that.”
Victoria was right where she was supposed to be—glued to her desk. I knocked lightly on the door and smiled when she looked up. It didn’t surprise me she hadn’t gone with the girls. Her pregnancy was a little rougher than Blake’s, considering she was carrying twins.
“Hey, Liam.” Her smile stretched across her face. I was glad she had found love with the twins, Caleb and Andrew, after everything she’d been through. I’d known her just as long as I’d known the Kingstons, and she’d had it pretty rough—going from one arranged marriage to the next and no one ever taking her seriously. She fit in perfectly on the ranch and made a great addition to the team. She was the one who had organized the event last week in New York.
“Hey, Tori. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. Sit down.” She gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. I took a seat and collected my thoughts.
“I wanted to ask for some advice. It’s about Abbey.”
I didn’t think her smile could have grown any bigger, but it did. She rubbed her hands together. “I don’t know her the best, but I can try.”
“Duke and I think she’s the one. We just don’t know how to tell her or how to ask her to stay.” Duke and I hadn’t talked about what last night meant, but I knew he felt the same as I did. When the other guys described just knowing, I’d scoffed at it, but now that Abbey was here, I understood.
“I wanted to do something special for her, to show her we want her to stay with us.” I rubbed at the back of my neck. “But I don’t want to scare her off.”
“What have you done so far?”
“Not much, really. We’ve hung out a few times, and last night was the first night we were all together.” Heat filled my cheeks.
“Well, that changes things a little.” She tapped a finger to her chin.
“I know she loves to draw. I’ve asked Blake to find a sketchbook while they’re in town.” I knew that wasn’t going to be enough, but I was out of ideas. It also made me want to get to know everything about Abbey, so I could anticipate her needs and her wants.
“She also loves to paint but hasn’t been able to in a long time. She mentioned she loved going to the parks to paint, but she had to stop after a while. Maybe I can surprise her with an outing and new paints to use.”
“That’s a great idea. Why did she stop?” I sat up straight. There was clearly more to the story than Tori was saying.
“You’ll have to ask her.” She shrugged, letting me know without words there was something she couldn’t say.
“There aren’t any art supply stores in town. Do you think you can help me order some? I don’t know anything about paints or what she might need. I’ve seen her drawings of the horses and the ranch so far. She’s amazing. I want to do everything in my power for her to be able to see herself living here with us.”
