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Maverick looked out over the ranch, looking deep in thought.
“Do you ever wonder about your mom or dad?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. I figured if they didn’t care about me and gave me up, why would I want to care about who they were?”
“Have you ever thought about doing the Ancestry thing? Maybe you have siblings out there.”
Maverick turned and cupped my face in his hands. “Where is this coming from, Lil?”
Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know. I was curious if you ever wish you had…” My words trailed off.
“A family? I used to when I was younger. When I kept getting disappointed, I stopped wishing for it and realized it would only ever be me looking out for myself. I stopped letting myself believe in a family.”
“It’s not that way now, you know. You have me and my parents. Nathan and the entire Shaw family.”
He smiled and kissed me on the forehead. “We should probably get going. Looks like a storm is coming.”
Glancing west, I saw the clouds turning darker. We needed the rain. June and July had been dry months with hardly any precipitation.
“We should have enough time to get back and take care of the horses before it hits.”
We walked back down the trail in comfortable silence to find the horses where we’d left them. The ride back to myparents’ part of the ranch was filled with Maverick talking about ranch things and the horses we were training. By the time we’d gotten back, then cleaned up and fed the horses and let them out to pasture, the storm was bearing down on us.
As I was about to suggest heading back to his cabin, Blayze called out Maverick’s name. “Maverick, hey, I hate to do this, but we could use your help. Can we talk for a second?”
“Yeah, sure,” Maverick said as he made his way over to Blayze, who was standing at his truck with Decker and Hank, parked outside the barn. I could see someone else was in the truck, as well. The conversation looked intense, and Maverick glanced briefly at me before he refocused on Blayze. With a nod of his head, he jogged back over to me.
“Some cattle got out, and they need all the help they can get.”
Something wasn’t right. Maverick looked too uneasy over a few stray cattle. “Alright. Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. I promise.”
“Then why does it feel like you’re keeping something from me?”
Maverick smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Be careful with this storm coming in.” The winds had picked up and were blowing hard ahead of the storm.
“Always.”
Pulling me close, his hand went around my neck as he drew my mouth to his. The kiss was hot and passionate…almost desperate.
The kind of kiss you give someone when you aren’t planning on seeing them for a while. It made my chest tighten with worry.
When he broke the kiss, we were both panting. “Goodness, what was that for?”
He winked. “A little preview of when I get back. Will you be at my place, or are you heading home?”
“I think I’ll head home. Text me when you get back, and I’ll come over.”
Maverick nodded, then kissed me on the forehead before he turned and jogged over to where Blayze, Decker, and Hank waited. How many cattle had gotten out that they needed so many people?
I watched as Blayze drove off. Once they were out of sight, I turned on my heels and headed straight to the house to talk to Mom and Dad.
Halfway there, I smelled something acrid and stopped. I slowly turned around—and that was when I saw smoke.
It didn’t appear to be close by, but I’d seen enough wildfires to know that could change at any moment.
