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She wasn’t some Cinderella City Girl, for cripes sake. Roosters didn’t sound like that in the movies. If that was how they sounded, Foghorn Leghorn had let her down.

Now she looked like an idiot. Her cheeks burned along with the backs of her eyes, but she wasn’t shedding a single tear. That would make her Daddy think she wasn’t just an idiot, but that she was a weak idiot. He was never going to believe she could carry her weight on the ranch if she didn’t even know what a rooster sounded like.

Who couldn’t tell the difference between roosters and murder victims? Besides her. Her chest battled to keep her from breathing until the burn in her lungs outweighed that in her cheeks and eyes. What must Boone think of her?

You’re a constant source of disappointment. He regrets bringing you here.

Ugh! She needed the voice in her head to shut up… the one that sounded like the General.

She jumped when Boone reached over her to tuck the blanket tightly around her. When he snuggled close and weighted her down with his arm and leg draped over her, her taut muscled slowly relaxed.

“I wasn’t laughing at you, you know. I’d never do that. Your innocence sparked a joy in me I wasn’t expecting. Those voices in your head are shouting so loud even I can hear them. Those voices might be talking, but they’re talking trash, not truth. They don’t know you. So, I’m making a new rule. Don’t talk to strangers. Especially not the ones in your head.”

Tildi bit her lip and nodded. He pulled her into his chest and hugged her so tight it squeezed out all the bad voices. He was one wise Daddy.

“Since it’s not quite 5:30 in the morning, we need to get some more shut eye. We’ll be getting up soon enough and I want you to be rested. Okay?”

“Okay, Daddy. I’ll try.” She wouldn’t have believed it possible, but she fell right back to sleep.

Boone eased out of the bed later that morning around 7:00. He’d told her she wasn’t to get out of bed until she’d slept in, which meant she didn’t get up until 8:30. Apparently on a ranch, that was sleeping in because when she entered the kitchen, Boone was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, Kenzie bustled around, her hair knotted atop her head. She wore an apron that read,Don’t Make Me Poison You. The door to one of the two ovens creaked in protest when Kenzie opened it to pull out something that filled the kitchen with the delicious aroma of cinnamon sugary goodness.

An older woman stood before a large farmhouse sink scrubbing dishes and humming a tune Tildi didn’t recognize.

Tildi remained quiet, content to watch until her stomach growled loud enough to catch the attention of the older woman. She turned to Tildi and smiled. “Well, good morning. You got here just in time to be our taste tester for these butter pecan sticky buns.”

Tildi’s mouth watered. “If they taste half as good as they smell, I might have to test more than one.”

Toweling her hands dry as she crossed the room, the woman beamed a smile at Tildi that warmed her soul. Tildi loved her on sight. As soon as she drew close enough, she pulled Tildi into her ample chest and hugged her. “It's good to meet you, poppet. My name is Ruby Watson. Now, you sit down right here at the table, and I’ll bring you a cup of coffee to have with your sweet roll.”

She led Tildi to the russet marble countertop that bracketed the kitchen and separated it from what looked like a huge family room. Hopping up on a comfortable bar chair, Tildi focused on not drooling while waiting for Ruby to serve her breakfast.

Everything in her itched to help rather than be waited on. Ruby had been in the middle of doing something, and having to serve Tildi must be an annoying interruption. It wasn’t Ruby’s fault Tildi had missed breakfast. Not that she knew exactly when that had been. “What time is breakfast? I don’t want to miss it again and cause all this extra work.”

Setting down a plate with a sweet roll big enough to feed three people, Ruby smiled. “This isn’t work, poppet, extra or otherwise. Actually, you’re doing us a favor. We’ve been itching for a new taste tester, haven’t we, Kenz?”

Kenzie sat down next to Tildi and handed her a cup of coffee. “We sure have. I wasn’t sure how you take your coffee, but I hope you’re a fellow creamer aficionado. This is caramel apple crisp.”

Tildi hadn’t had creamer in her coffee in years. She couldn’t afford it when she’d been living on her own. She certainly hadn’thad any for the past year, being dragged from one compound to the next by Nico Midnight’s men.

Lifting the cup to her lips, she closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of apples and cinnamon. Taking heed of the steam rising from the mug, she sipped carefully. Sweet apple and cinnamon goodness overwhelmed her taste buds. She couldn’t hold back a groan of pure pleasure. “Oh my god, Kenzie. This is amazing. I’m going to stock my refrigerator with this one day when I have a kitchen of my own. Where did you get it?”

It tasted fresh, so Tildi wouldn’t be surprised if it were local.

Kenzie grinned. “Thanks. We make it ourselves here at the ranch.”

No wonder it tasted so fresh. “Wow! Then I’m sure you’ve gotten all kinds of feedback from your brothers.”

“Well, you’d be wrong.” Kenzie’s voice had a musical quality that set Tildi at ease. “Those goof heads only take their coffee black as smut and strong enough to choke a horse.”

Tildi gasped, as if that were a crime against humanity itself. “That’s awful.”

Ruby placed a sweet roll in front of Kenzie then pulled up a chair. “If you ask me, it’s the only way they can stand to drink that slop they make when they’re on their own.”

Oh wow. “That bad, huh?”

“That bad,” Kenzie confirmed.