“Hadley called and told me there was someone here I should see.” Lily’s soft voice sounded like music to Peyton’s ears. “Have to admit, you were the last person I expected to turn up in Falcon Creek.”
Peyton ducked her head, tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to find her smile. “It wasn’t all my idea. Big E might have had something to do with it.”
“Big E.” Lily’s mouth scrunched in that way it always did when she was mulling over a problem. “He’s really been a bit of a wrecking ball in the family, hasn’t he? So, what are you doing here?”
Other than hiding? “I wanted to see you. Had to see you,” she added when Lily’s brow arched. She had so much she wanted to say, so much she needed to say, but Matteo was right. All that mattered was that they were family, and somehow she needed to find her way back to them. “You’re really doing okay, aren’t you?”
“You sound surprised.”
Peyton frowned. Why did people keep saying that to her? Did she really hold people to such impossible standards they automatically took offense to whatever she said? “I guess maybe I am a little.” The admission tugged at her. “Are you...” She trailed off, cleared her throat. “Are you happy, Lily? With Conner? With all this?”
“Is that why you’re here?” The friendliness that had been building evaporated. “To talk me out of marrying Conner? Because you can’t.”
“What? No.” The thought honestly hadn’t crossed her mind. “I mean it all came as a surprise, of course, but from what Fiona’s told me...” She stopped. Nothing good was going to come from her stalling. “I came to apologize, Lily. I owe you, all of you, a real apology.” Not something muttered over a cell phone or written in an email.
Lily simply stared at her in silence.
“I’m sorry, Lily,” Peyton plunged ahead, all the weeks, all the sleepless nights crowding in on her. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you all before about Dad. About our real father. About...everything.” Tears clogged her throat. “I need you to know it was never malicious. I didn’t keep the truth from you to hurt anyone. I did it because...” She struggled to find the right words, words that wouldn’t do further damage to their relationship or the memory of their mother. “I did it because one day I came home from school, and Mom was actually happy. Rudy made her happy. From that first day. He made all of you happy.” A tear slipped free, and she wiped it away. “I’m sorry I lied all these years, but after a while...” She shook her head. It sounded cold to say that after all these years the truth hadn’t seemed to matter. How could it when they’d had a good father who loved and cared for them? “What good would it have done to tell the truth, Lily? Blood or not, Rudy’s our father in every way that matters.”
“I know that,” Lily said. “Now.” She winced as if the sun was too bright in her eyes. “Sometimes I wish I’d never gotten that copy of my birth certificate. If I hadn’t, we never would have—”
“You never would have found Conner.” And seeing the instant, utter contentment on her sister’s face, the soft smile that appeared at the mere mention of his name, a contentment all the Harrisons had worried would never be found, made the last few weeks melt away. “Please tell me we can get past this,” Peyton pleaded. “I know we haven’t all been close these last few years, but I’ve missed you.” She managed a wobbly smile. “I’ve missed you all so much.”
Lily’s mouth wobbled, and she pushed off the truck. Seconds later she threw her arms around Peyton’s neck and squeezed tight. “We’ve missed you, too.”
All words, all thoughts dropped away as Peyton wrapped her arms around her sister and held on with all her might. Squeezing her eyes shut, she fought to keep her emotions in check. She forced the tears back and took long, steadying breaths, even as Lily continued to cling.
“We aren’t done talking about all this,” Lily said firmly, when she stepped back. “There’s still a lot I want to know. A lot we all want to know.”
“I’ll answer whatever questions you have. Promise.”
“No more lies.” Lily grabbed hold of Peyton’s arms and squeezed. Hard. “I mean it, Peyton. Don’t you ever lie to us about anything ever again.”
Peyton swallowed hard, thinking of the real reason she was here at the Blackwell Ranch: to hide from someone who may very well want to hurt her. But some habits were hard to break—especially habits formed over a lifetime. When it came to her family, when it came to her sisters, she’d do whatever she needed to in order to protect them. Even if that meant breaking a promise.
“I promise,” she managed.
The screen door banged open, and Hadley emerged, tears glistening in her eyes. “Good to see you two have worked this out,” she said. “Now, how about you continue this conversation inside with some iced tea?”
“Is it me, or did that sound like an order?” Peyton asked as Lily tugged her up the porch steps.
“It’s not just you.” Lily offered a patient smile. “It’s the Blackwell way.”
* * *
“YOU SEEING ALL you needed to?”
Matteo didn’t miss the guarded suspicion in Tyler Blackwell’s voice. As they bumped along the roads outlining the Blackwell property, he’d been making mental notes and, to his relief, accepting that the ranch, while certainly expansive, didn’t have a lot of points of open access. He felt fairly safe in thinking Peyton would be fine here.
With the windows open, the fall air billowed in.
“Force of habit,” Matteo responded finally. “I spent a lot of time in the service. I just always like to know where I am. What’s around me.” What’s around the people I’m protecting, he added silently.
“So what exactly do you do as Peyton’s assistant?”
Matteo wasn’t surprised at the question. He had been surprised at how long it took someone to ask the question. “Keep her on track,” he recited from the script he and Todd had come up with back in Peyton’s office. “Make sure she knows her schedule, remind her of appointments, paperwork that needs to be signed or filed or read. You know.” He shrugged. “Stuff.”
“Uh-huh.” Ty kept his eyes on the road. “Sure. Stuff. You don’t mind me saying, you don’t strike me as the work-for-someone-else kind of man. And you certainly don’t come across as anyone’s assistant anything.”
“Don’t mind you saying it at all.” Matteo kept his voice neutral. “Working for Peyton pays well, and right now that’s important.” There. Not everything he said had to be a lie.
“So, the two of you...there’s nothing else going on?”
“No,” Matteo said, even as he felt an unexpected pang of regret. He had to admit, the idea of something else between him and Peyton held a certain appeal. A very strong appeal. She was a beautiful woman. More compassionate and kind than he’d originally thought. She cared about people, from her real assistant, Todd, to how she’d been with Gino and her grandfather. But she was also driven. Career-focused.
And way out of his league.
“I’m not her type, believe me.” He’d seen her type. Smart, established, on-the-move entrepreneurs looking to make their fortunes by changing the world. There wasn’t any room in her life for a wayward stray like him. Peyton—the Blackwells—were all about family, and other than Gino, Matteo had none to call his own. “Why do you ask? Don’t tell me Big E’s got you spying on us.”
“Fat chance of that,” Ty said with a sour expression. “Not sure how much you know about the Blackwell family situation, but suffice it to say Big E hasn’t always endeared himself to his grandsons. Things weren’t as easy or friendly as they are now. And, fair warning, they still aren’t perfect.”
“He’s very proud of his family.” Matteo had no doubt the Blackwell family situation was complicated, but near as he could tell, family was the one thing Elias Blackwell always put first. And for that Matteo admired him. And envied him. “Must have come as a shock to hear about Peyton an
d her sisters.”
“Not as much as you’d think,” Tyler admitted and made a turn up a steep hill. “There’s very little about Big E that surprises anyone. One benefit to him finding out he has granddaughters is he isn’t quite as focused on his grandsons.” His lips twitched. “That old man’s managed to wheedle himself into each of our lives, into every aspect of our lives. Feels kind of freeing to have his focus elsewhere for a while. Especially when it comes to the ranch. If it wasn’t for Hadley, I doubt he’d have agreed to our plans to open this place to paying guests at all. Not that he gave us much of a choice. We had to find some way to make this stead profitable.”
“So Big E has a weak spot for his granddaughters-in-law?”
“Let’s just say my wife and sisters-in-law know how to get through to him. Now, was there anything else in particular you wanted to see? Wait, hold up.” At the base of the hill he tapped on the breaks. “Wow, that’s odd.” He pulled out his cell and pointed across the stream nearby. “Sorry. Give me a sec.”
Matteo sat back while Ty made a call, watching as a horse lifted its head from drinking. With glistening, almost-mahogany coloring and an ink-black tail and mane, the horse locked its dark eyes on them as if sizing them up in return. “One of the horses get out?” Matteo asked.
“That’s not one of ours,” Ty said. “Too bad, too, because he’s a looker. Hey, Jon. Yeah, I know.” Ty rolled his eyes. “I’m not calling to bug you about the Halloween bash. I already know Grace put it on your calendar. You missing any horses over there on the JB Bar?”
Matteo shifted in his seat. The horse took a step to the side that looked almost painful. “She’s hurt.” He pushed open the door and dropped to the ground.
“Hold up, Matteo.” Ty followed, grabbed his arm before he could start across the stream. “Let’s just make sure who she doesn’t belong to first. Could be she’s just passing through.”
“Or she came here looking for help.”
Ty looked at him. “Okay, thanks, Jon. No. Just thought I’d check. I’ve got it covered. See you tomorrow.” He clicked off and stepped in front of Matteo. “You didn’t just used to ride. You know horses.”
“I was raised with them,” Matteo admitted, not wanting to dive deeper than that. Even from this distance, he could feel the horse’s apprehension. Her desperation. And her curiosity. As if he’d stepped into a time machine, he slipped into the past and old habits. “Doesn’t matter who she belongs to. She needs help. Otherwise she’d have moved on.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Ty nodded and shoved his phone away. “I’ve got some rope in the truck. We’ll see if she’ll let us lead her in.”
A few minutes later both Ty and Matteo stepped into the rushing stream. Cool water soaked through his sneakers immediately. His palms went damp and clammy. He hadn’t been this close to a horse in over a decade. Until now, he hadn’t realized he’d missed it. The horse’s ears were pinned forward, almost flattened against her head.
“Go steady,” Ty said quietly when Matteo almost lost his footing and the horse took a step back. “Okay, I see it now. She’s got a sore right front foot. Hey, girl.” Ty bent over. “Yes, you are definitely a girl. Aren’t you a beauty?” The horse held its head high and snorted. Ty stopped moving. “I don’t think she likes me.” He held out the rope to Matteo. “You try.”
“I don’t—”
“It’s a rope, not a snake. If you want to help her, we need to get her back to the ranch. I’ll call Ethan and have him come out to take a look.” He stepped back.
The second the rope was in his grasp, Matteo struggled to breathe. Despite the pristine air and the calming breeze, it felt as if bands of iron had locked around his chest. He stood up straighter, focused on the animal, silently urging her to turn her frantic gaze on him and away from Ty.
His feet were freezing, soaked and turning to ice blocks as he managed to keep his balance and make it across the stream. “Hello, beauty.” He felt detached from his voice, as if it wasn’t really him speaking. Odd how some things came back. The routine. The tone. The awe he felt when he looked at these animals close-up. “You’re not feeling so well, are you?” He wound the rope around his hand and shoved it into the back of his jeans. Holding up both empty hands, he stepped onto the bank and stopped.
He stood there, less than a foot away from the animal, waiting for the horse’s ears to shift and relax. She let out a slow, breathy whinny and nodded her head.
“There you go.” Matteo stretched out a hand, waited for the horse to push her nose up into his palm. “Hey, hi there. What brings you this way, beauty?” He stepped forward. The horse tensed, took a shaky step back but then stopped. “You hurt your foot or your leg, didn’t you?” Matteo shifted slightly so he could get a look at the horse’s coat. There was a long, raw-looking scar along one side of her body, one that arched up her neck. The ragged healing had started a while ago but looked angry. And purposely inflicted. As did the spur scars marring her flanks.
Anger surged, white-hot and fast, but he forced it back, not wanting to scare the horse any more than she already was. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he drew his hand lightly down the horse’s side. “You’ve had it rough, haven’t you, girl? I’m so sorry.”
He could see the faint outline of her ribs, as if malnourishment was just beginning to set in. But she pushed against his hand again, even as he withdrew the rope and gently slipped it over her head.
“She belongs to someone,” Matteo called over his shoulder. “Not a kind someone from what I can tell.” When he looked back he saw Ty nodding. “I don’t think she’ll do well around people on the ranch.”
“Ethan’s got a couple of empty stalls in his clinic. We’ll keep her on her own until we figure out what to do with her. It’s a walk back. I can call one of the ranch hands—”
“No.” Matteo wrapped the rope around his hand. She’d stood there, waiting for them. Waiting for him. He wasn’t going to abandon her now. “I’ve got her. Just lead the way.”
* * *
“YOU HAVEN’T SAID how long you’re staying for.”
Peyton followed Lily back outside after drinking enough iced tea to float a small boat. The afternoon sun was beating down, tempered only by the light autumn breeze that seemed to continually blow. They wandered over to sit at a picnic table where she could watch Gino and Katie, along with a little redheaded girl in pink jeans, a matching shirt and the cutest little pink embossed cowgirl boots she’d ever seen. Both kids were hitched up on the rung of the fence, watching, almost mesmerized, as Katie called out to the trainer and horses.
Guests were milling about, some working on roping techniques, others just lying in the grass under the sun, while two ranch hands worked at getting a campfire blazing in the stone circle.
“I don’t have to be back at the office until the first week of November. Gino’s excited for Halloween.” Peyton found herself relieved she could tell the truth. For that part, at least.
“You’re taking that long off work?” Lily didn’t just look surprised: she looked baffled. “You know that’s like two weeks.”
Oh, she knew. “My boss is convinced I need a break from my usual routine. When Big E told her about the ranch, Vilette suggested I make the most of the family connection and see what business opportunities might present themselves.”
When Lily didn’t look particularly impressed, Peyton clarified. “Electryone doesn’t take over anything, Lil. We work to enhance. And Ty’s already asked me about consulting with him on ways to make the ranch more energy efficient.”
“Leave it to you to turn a family reunion and vacation into a business opportunity.”
Was that resentment she heard in her sister’s voice?
“There’s nothing wrong with liking to work.” She’d been so caught up in the fallout from their parental revelation, she’d forgotten how often she’d had to defend he
r dedication to her job. “It’s given me a pretty good life.”
“It’s given you a lonely life,” Lily said.
“You sound like Dad.” Peyton tried to make a joke of it even as she felt a little nauseous. Sure, her sisters had teased her over the years about how focused she was on her career, but this time Lily didn’t sound amused. “I seem to remember you liked your job as an adventure guide, Lil. And I wouldn’t say you took kindly to Dad encouraging you to marry Danny.”
“Didn’t exactly turn out the way any of us planned, did it?” Lily’s lips curved as she tilted her head up and into the sun. “I know Dad’s only keeping his word to Mom, to make sure we’re taken care of and looked after—”
“How nineteenth-century of him,” Peyton muttered.
Lily shrugged. “If I hadn’t almost married Danny, I wouldn’t have ended up in that RV. That meant I wouldn’t have fallen for Conner, which means I wouldn’t have found where I really belong.”
“And you belong here, in Montana?” Peyton still couldn’t wrap her head around it. “Playing cowgirl and riding off into the sunset with some hunky cowboy? Amanda’s phrase,” Peyton added when Lily chuckled.
“I won’t argue with the last bit, but I’m not playing at anything out here, Peyton. I feel like I’m home. Not just because of Conner and his mom and all the Blackwells, but I’m good with the horses. I like working them, training them. They don’t care that I can’t work my hands properly or that it takes me longer to do things sometimes. All they know is that I care about them. That’s all that matters.”
For the first time in maybe forever, Peyton didn’t hear the frustration or borderline self-pity that used to accompany Lily’s conversations about her dexterity issues. Just thinking about her sister’s childhood accident, however, even after all these years, still sent a chill up Peyton’s spine. There hadn’t been many instances she’d given in to fear, but she had that day. Lily had come out of it okay, but when it came to fidgety things like zippers, eating utensils and sometimes even writing, she needed help. She still did and would for the rest of her life. Not that she’d let any of that ever stop her from doing what she wanted.
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