Page 79 of Ride Me Cowboy

It's on the tip of my tongue to tell her I like waking up early, that I’d love to ride out with them, but a couple of things stop me. Until I can confidently ride a horse, I’d just be a burden. But mostly, I can tell Mackenzie is hungry for this responsibility, and given that she’ll be taking over from me in a couple of months—if Cole lets the social media project keep running, that is—then she should start learning.

“Okay, great,” I say. “I’m trying to get a mix of landscape and portrait footage, so I can use some as posts and some as reels. We can always zoom in and edit, too.”

She glances up at me, then, and I can tell she’s trying to say something, but struggling to get it out.

“Anything else on your mind?” I prompt, gently, giving her an opening. It’s possible she wants to talk about Cole and me. I remember the warning she gave me, not to get involved, not to hurt him. Maybe she wants to redress that.

“I sing,” she blurts out, then colors to the roots of her hair.

It’s the last thing I expect her to say. “What do you mean?”

She looks toward the door, like she’s scared someone’s going to burst in, then pulls her phone out.

“They don’t know,” she explains, then hits play on her phone. Mackenzie’s voice, but different to how she speaks, fills the room. She quickly presses the volume down, still flushed, bright as a berry. The song is sweet and sad, talking about not belonging, about being lost, not having a home, and then, toward the end, there’s an uplifting verse about finding her place, amongst the trees and the stars, and the never-ending fields.

My heart turns over at the heartfelt lyrics, but it’s so much more than that. It’s the beauty of her voice.

“I thought…I’ve never really wanted anyone to know, but if you thought it could, you know, help. With the ranch, I mean.” She looks toward the door again. “If it helps earn extra money…”

And just the way she says it has something clicking into place for me.

Mackenzie knows; I’d almost bet my life on it. And now she wants to do whatever she can to save this place that saved her.

“I think some footage of you singing would be a huge hit,” I say, honestly. She’s absolutely beautiful, has the voice of an angel, and such feeling in her eyes.

“Footage? Oh, no, that’s not what I meant,” she shakes her head quickly. “I just thought as background music, you know?”

“That’s good, too, but you singing on camera would be incredible.” I tap the side of my mouth thoughtfully. “It’s up to you, though.”

She looks at me for several beats, like she’s trying to work out if she should trust me or not. “I’ll think about it.”

This is a girl who’s been rejected and hurt a lot in her life, and no matter how much bravado she shows on the farm, she’s terrified of putting herself out there, in case it happens all over again. We’re a lot alike, in that way. Maybe that’s why I like her so much.

“You know, it’s nice having another girl around,” she says, as she stands up. “Cass is great, but she’s away so much.”

“What’s she like?”

“Pretty much like one of them,” she hitches her thumb toward the door. “Longer hair, swears a fair bit more.”

I smile at that. “I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

Mackenzie considers that. “A word of warning, Beth. She’s super protective of these boys. I reckon it’s on account of them not having a mom, and her having been the only girl in the family, she’s always seen it as her job to keep them on the straight and narrow, even though she’s the youngest. If she thinks you’re messing around with Cole, she’s likely to kick you right out.”

My jaw drops. “Seriously?”

“Oh, shit, yeah. Of all of them, he’s the one she worries about the most. And I don’t reckon she’d think you were a good choice for him.”

“I’m not…he hasn’t ‘chosen’ me for anything,” I say, breathlessly.

“That won’t much matter to Cass.”

“Why does she worry so much about Cole? I’m pretty sure he can take care of himself.”

“Has he told you about their mom?”

I frown. “I mean, a little.”

“Messed him up a fair bit,” Mack says. “Just…be more careful about where you guys…you know. If you don’t want the headache of the others finding out.”