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CHAPTER THREE
The warm Texasfall air of what should have been a lazy afternoon whiffled inside the open kitchen window above the sink. After a quick refreshing shower, Teagan had surrendered herself into the hands of drill instructors Shauni and her oldest sister, Emmy.
Since Emmy was the chef in the pub Teagan worked for as a waitress, Teagan knew her sister well enough to not get in her way. This family reunion of the Ryan sisters with their half-siblings was not only precarious because of the delicate situation. It also was the first event they hosted on the farm, and if all went well, it would be the first of many. Since they all knew the Ryan sisters, it was the perfect opportunity for a test drive.
“Not too much apples, sis,” Emmy said as she watched over Teagan’s shoulder. Teagan nodded and removed three apples from her chopping block back into the fruit bowl.
Even before the Ryan sisters passed the open kitchen window above the sink, she’d heard them bickering. They were on their way to the three picnic tables between Emmy’s vegetable garden and the outer fields of her parents’ farm.
This family reunion of the Ryan and Walker half-siblings was the most exciting thing that happened around here in a long time.
Teagan thought back about the arrival of Flint right outside of the back fences. The wild boar with the coarse black coat still came back to her almost every week for the past year. His long, blunt snout would smell her coming before she could even pinpoint his large ears sticking up from the tall grass.
Her eyes drew up to the window. She couldn’t see the fences from the ranch house, but she could picture him waiting, wanting to know where his food was.
She envied Flint. He could come and go as he pleased.
Whenever the mood struck him—or rather, whenever he got hungry, he would show up out of the blue.She loved every minute of his brief visits where she would feed him maize and cabbage, or whatever she could find from Emmy’s vegetable garden.
“Are you almost done with the apples and beets? I need them for the salad,” Emmy said.
“Yes, Chef.” Teagan liked to poke fun at her sister, and saluted her.
She glanced up to see her sister roll her eyes behind her shiny brown bangs. Emmy picked up a plate with classy, but petite amuses. “Here, T. Something to get them started.”
She took over the full plate, placed it on her under arm after taking another plate filled with little bites in that hand. She grabbed the last dish with the ten amuse glasses filled with apple crisp with cream cheese and baked apple in her free hand before she walked over to the wraparound porch. Waiting tables at her cousin’s pub came in damn handy today.
“Thanks, sis!” Emmy said while holding the porch screen door open for her.
Teagan’s reply got stuck in her throat at the sight before her.
At one of the quaint picnic tables between the wide-open green fields and cute vegetable gardens, stuck something—or rather someone out, way out of character at the Moore farm.
A man.
Not just any man. No, if she had to guess, this man lived wilder and freer than three dozen of Flints all together.
His unusual and unabashed appearance grabbed a hold of her and she had a hard time concentrating on her steps over the small dirt path to the tables.
She had only seen the back of him and already saw nothing but him. His jet-black hair fell to his shoulder on one side and he’d buzzed the other side short. An unappealing skull wearing a Viking’s helmet with two iron horns sat proudly on the back of his weathered leather jacket.‘Iron Vikings MC’ and ‘Born to be warrior’ had been embroidered for anyone who had lived under a rock and hadn’t heard of the infamous motorcycle club in Austin.
A shiver and a nervous belly flutter took over her body, almost making one plate slip out of her hand before she could put it on the table. She went straight for the third picnic table, where his statue got larger and wider the closer she got to him.
His frown made her look away before she could get a good look at him. But what she saw had piqued her interest. Jet-black hair next to smoldering eyes that were best described as pools of darkness.
Teagan attempted to act undeterred, smiling at the others seated, ignoring him.
“Hi, I’m Teagan. Welcome to the Moore ranch.”
The young woman with long black hair and the tips dipped in pink, sitting next to the man, gave her a warm smile. “Hi. I’m Catriona. And this is my brother Devlin.”
She closed her eyes for a second.
Devlin
Even his name was unique. She spared him another quick glance and her breath caught in her throat. The coarse hairs of his beard reminded her of the coat of Flint. His slightly crooked nose suited his face, as she figured a perfect, straight nose wouldn’t have looked right next to the scar running through his brow.
Damn this man for looking this good without obviously even trying with his peculiar hair buzzed on just one side of his head. At least the longer hair on his other side shone and was well kempt.
