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“Can we help you unload the car?” Preston asked.
“Yes, please,” she said. “It’s been a really long day, and some jerk at the grocery store tried to pick me up.”
A snicker came from Preston.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Colby said, smacking Preston on the arm.
She popped the trunk of the car. “Someone grab the suitcases and I’ll take the groceries.”
The two men rushed to do her bidding, and she couldn’t help but smile. When she reached the door, she pulled out the key the lawyer in town had given her.
It was an old-fashioned lock and she struggled to open the door.
“Here, ma’am, let me,” Preston said.
The man smelled of leather as he set her suitcase down and took the key from her. Their hands brushed and a tingle of awareness spiraled through her. What was wrong with her today?
The big cowboy jostled then unlocked the door. Pushing it open, he waited for her to step inside.
From the dirt lane, the house had looked beautiful. Inside it was dated, but still a very nice home.
She walked through the house until she found the kitchen and set the groceries down. The two men took the suitcases up the stairs. She wasn’t about to go exploring until after they’d left.
In a moment, they hurried back down, their boots clunking on the wooden stairs.
“How did you know the Parkers,” Colby asked.
She sighed. She would never understand why her father had not introduced her to her grandparents.
“My father was their son,” she said.
The men glanced at one another and frowned. “They had a son?”
A little laugh escaped from her. “Yes, though I didn’t know about them, and he never mentioned his parents. Always told me his family was dead.”
Shaking her head, she glanced around. “I would have loved to have met them.”
“They were the kindest people,” Colby said.
“Yes,” Preston agreed. “Everyone in town loved them except for Jim White.”
If she hadn’t been so tired, she would have asked about Jim White, but right now, she didn’t care. Food and a bed were all she was interested in.
She walked around the main room and gazed at the pictures on the mantel.
“Nothing has been touched since they died,” Preston said. “Will died about six months ago and Lillian a month ago. We miss them something fierce.”
“Their partner, Ben, died at least ten years before,” Colby said. “I never met him.”
Partner? She’d not heard that they had a partner in owning the ranch. That seemed odd.
“Where did you come from?” Preston asked.
With a laugh, she couldn’t help but think how different her world was compared to this place.
“New York City,” she said. “My job took me to the Big Apple.”
The two men glanced at one another.
