Page 16

The front door opened again, and three of the most gorgeous, intimidating men she’d ever seen filed out. Well, not counting her Daddy, of course. She knew what the rest of the Daniels men looked like from video chatting with them on the phone. But seeing them on a teeny, tiny, static-filled screen was one thing. Seeing all that alpha maleness in person, walking toward you, was totally different.

Tanner reached her first. He gave her a side hug because he had one arm in a sling. Concerned, she demanded, “Tanner, are you okay? What happened to your arm?”

He had the most adorable grin. Normally she’d return his infectious smile, but she didn’t feel like smiling when he was hurt.

“Aw, it’s nothin’, chickabiddy. I got tossed off by Dozier last week down in Texas. Don’t worry, my shoulder broke my fall.”

He laughed, but Tildi didn’t think it was funny. “Who is this Dozier? Do I need to find him and kick his butt for tossing you like that? Then again, with a name like Dozier, no wonder he’s mean.. Didn’t his parents like him?”

Chance stepped forward to hug her. “That would be the 1900 pound bucking bull this idiot insists on riding at whatever rodeohe’s at. Maybe you’ll be the one to talk him out of riding them. Lord knows the rest of us have tried and failed.”

Hugging Chance was like hugging a warm slab of marble. He was just like Boone, all muscle. But it still felt nice to be welcomed by his hug. Was this how normal families greeted one another? In her experience, hugs were saved for photo ops. She could get used to long, warm hugs that lasted more than a few seconds.

Without moving, Chance whispered, “Wait for it.”

“You want to get your arms off my girl, brother? If you need that long of a hug, you need to find a girl of your own.”

Chance grinned down at her and winked. Turning to Boone, he said, “I’m pretty sure from how she was smiling at you when you walked up, you got no worries about her getting a few brotherly hugs from me.”

He crossed to Boone and gave him one of those slap-on-the-back hugs that men give.

“Welcome to Wild River Ranch, sweetheart,” Trace said as he stepped closer. “I’m glad Kenzie finally has a friend.” He winked at her. “That way, maybe she’ll stop pestering people when they’re trying to work.”

Kenzie faked a frown. “I’m sure I’ll still find time for plenty of pestering. As a matter of fact, now you’ll all get twice as much pestering because now there are two of us, right, Tildi?” She hooked her arm around Tildi like they’d been besties forever.

Tildi’s heart almost stopped. The last thing she wanted to do was get on everyone’s nerves. Of course, she didn’t want to disappoint Kenzie. “Oh, um, I’m not… that is?—”

“Stop teasing my girl, brat,” Boone said with a smile. “I’m sure going along with your antics will keep her in trouble, but can we at least wait until she gets settled in?”

“Hmm.” Kenzie pretended to think. “I’ll have to figure out the best ways to not get caught. That way we can have fun and not get in trouble at all. Oh! That reminds me!”

Kenzie dug her hands into the pockets of her jeans. It took her a minute to get her hands around whatever it was she held there. Turning to Tildi, she grinned. “I wanted to have a parade for your arrival, but there wasn’t time. But there’s always time for this.”

With that, she pulled her hands from her pockets, each filled with fistfuls of sparkling confetti.

“Kenzie, no! Wait!” Chance shouted, but it was too late to stop his sister.

Kenzie shouted, “Welcome to Wild River Ranch!” Tossing both handfuls of confetti into the air, she kept her hands in the air and began to dance as the confetti drifted to the stone-paved ground.

Tildi couldn’t keep back her laughter. It was all so exciting and fun that before she realized it, she was dancing beside Kenzie in the confetti rain.

Her new bestie pulled her close and grinned. “We’re in big trouble now.”

Everything inside Tildi froze. They were in trouble? Already? She just got there, and she was in trouble already. Heart racing, she ran through her damage control options. She’d clean up all the mess, of course. That was a given, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to do something big to show them she wouldn’t make any more messes if they let her stay.

She didn’t dare check to see how upset Boone was. She’d probably embarrassed him in front of his family. Stupid. She was so stupid. The world around her faded, and she must have an elephant on her chest because she couldn’t breathe.

Kenzie’s face showed concern. “Tildi? Boone, what’s wrong with her? Tildi?”

And then she was in her Daddy’s arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Breathe with me, Tildi. No one is upset. And even if they were, they wouldn’t be upset with you. You didn’t do anything wrong. Kenzie shot off the confetti bomb, not you.”

The warmth and strength of his arms broke through her panic. “I couldn’t let Kenzie be in trouble by herself. We’re sisters.”

Another set of arms wrapped around her waist. Kenzie pressed against her back. “I’m sorry, Tildi. I didn’t mean to scare you. We’d never be in trouble for being happy and excited. I’ve never had a sister, but I’m glad I have one now. We are going to have so many adventures!”

Sighs echoed off the stones around them. With Boone beside her, Tildi was brave enough to look around. Everyone stared at her, but with concern, not anger. Actually, they weren’t upset at all.

She grinned back at her new friend. “That sounds like fun. I want to learn to ride a horse.”