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“Doesn’t it make you wonder why he’s never mentioned his family in all that time?” Tilly demanded. “Doesn’t that seem a little odd to you?”
“I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready,” she said, not sure about that, either. And that was if he even came back to the ranch.
Her sister turned in her chair to face the couch. “Let’s say it’s true love, that Pickett Hanson is the man for you. How would you two live? I mean, doesn’t he stay in part of the bunkhouse on the ranch?”
Oakley sat up, wishing she hadn’t brought any of this up. She needed her sister on her side, but from the look on her face, that wasn’t the case. “I didn’t say I wasmarryinghim. I haven’t even... He hasn’t even...” She stood. “I don’t know what we would do, but I bet we’d figure it out. I’m going to bed.”
“YOU’RELATE,” HOLLYJOSAID, hands on her slim hips, as Duffy joined her in the stable the next morning. He’d had a restless night with little sleep and hadn’t awoken in the best mood. He’d been helping the teenager with her horseback riding lessons out of the goodness of his heart.
He started to point that out but stopped himself. Just because he was in a bad mood, he didn’t need to take it out on her. “Sorry,” he said.
“Rough night?” she asked, cocking a brow at him.
He couldn’t help smiling at the girl. Smart and sassy, she had a lot of fire in her. He still wondered how she had come to live at the ranch or what his father’s connection had been to the girl’s mother. Apparently, it hadn’t been romantic. Holden had gone away one day and come back with the girl and no real explanation why.
“Feeling guilty for breaking another girl’s heart?” she teased.
He shook his head, seeing that she was trying to get a rise out of him. “What makes you think that she didn’t break mine?”
“Because you’ve never been that serious about any of them, except...maybe this one,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.
The kid was tall for her age and also insightful, he’d found. He’d liked Holly Jo the first time he’d met her, accepting her like the older brother he’d instantly become, something she hadn’t done with Treyton, who never had two words to say to her.
“How about we just go for a ride today?” he asked her. She’d been working with both Pickett and Cooper, along with Tilly, on her horseback riding tricks.
She had some fool idea of being the best in the world. Duffy had never wanted to be the best at anything. He found her drive remarkable and wished he had more of his own.
“All right,” she said, obviously disappointed. “But only if you tell me about your date.”
“Yeah, hold your breath on that,” he said as they saddled their horses. He listened to Holly Jo’s chatter with only one ear and mulled over last night with Oakley. Maybe he shouldn’t have kissed her. He didn’t want to lose her as a friend and now he worried that he might have.
“Is she the one you think is so wonderful?” Holly Jo asked, making a face.
“Sorry?”
“The one you were out with last night. I saw the way you kept looking in the mirror before you left for your date.” She laughed and brushed her hair back, mocking him as she pretended to primp in front of a mirror.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “One of these days you’re going to meet a boy and then you’ll know what I’m going through.”
“Boys are awful,” she said as they led their horses outside. “I want nothing to do with any of them.”
“Keep that attitude as long as you can,” he said as they saddled up and rode toward the mountains. “How’s things going with that boy that was bothering you. Gus?”
Holly Jo shook her head. “I can handle him.”
“If you need my help—”
“You have enough trouble of your own,” she said. “So about the date. Maybe she’s just playing hard to get.”
Duffy ignored her chatter as they rode. There were still patches of snow on the north side of the mountains, but the valley was mostly bare. That wasn’t a good sign with the drought they’d been having for several years now. He often wondered why his father kept ranching with so many odds against him.
Next to him, Holly Jo had fallen silent, her face turned up to the sun, as she absently patted her horse’s neck as she rode. Her look was one of absolute contentment. Duffy couldn’t help feeling jealous. Had he ever felt that way? Would he have felt that way if things had gone differently last night? Or had he wanted Oakley even more after seeing the way she had been looking at Pickett?
“When is Pickett coming back?” Holly Jo asked.
Her question made him groan. What was it about Pickett? “I don’t know.”
“I miss him. It’s not the same without Pickett here.”
