Page 20 of A Rancher's Vow

The only Stone sister by birth waved at Tamara’s greeting. Her other hand rested on the bump of her belly that protruded from under her pale pink shirt. “I’m fine. You caught me awake and not snoozing with my beach ball.”

“You have a fine beach ball and napping while you can is always a good idea,” Tamara insisted. “Come. Claim your seat.”

“Yes. The cozy corner is mine.” Ginny rubbed her hands with glee, kicked off her shoes, and then nabbed Tamara for a hug. “How’s it going?”

“Not sure,” Tamara admitted. She pointed at Charity. “She knows more than we do.”

Two pairs of eyes landed on her, and a shiver of worry struck. Charity pressed a hand to her chest. “I’m only here because I was a ride along with Kelli.”

Ginny made a rude noise and gestured her forward. “But you know things. Spill. What’s the big ruckus in ten words or less?”

“Ten? That’s a challenge.” Charity considered. “Clickbait article. Dustin got doxxed. Too many strangers looking for gossip.”

The two of them both lost their amused expressions.

“Well, damn. That sucks.” Ginny rubbed her belly absently. “I heard about the article, but if it’s gone viral, Dustin will hate the attention.”

Charity debated for all of three seconds before deciding it was important enough to share. “Kelli is worried as well,” Charity said softly, “that someone will announceshe’snewsworthy, being an heiress and all.”

Tamara’s head snapped up. “Well, crap. I’d forgotten about that.”

“Because we consider her family, and it’s not anyone’s business how much money she does or doesn’t have.” Ginny made a face. “Except people like to make news out of anything these days.”

“It’ll pass,” Tamara insisted, pushing her glasses back into place. “But…how soon?”

Charity turned as the door opened once again and Luke and Dustin entered the room. They both wore serious expressions and a fine layer of dust, as if they’d been riding hard.

Caleb stepped forward. “Take five minutes and get washed up. We’ll be waiting when you’re ready.”

It should have been simple.A great Monday shift with the anticipation of his best friend’s return to look forward to. Limited heavy lifting, a wonderful ride over his favourite fields on a beautiful summery day.

Instead, he’d been interrupted in the middle of his shift by Luke’s demand to close off the field and get his ass back to the barn as fast as possible.

The terse “there’s paparazzi looking for you” was enough to make Dustin’s great mood turn foul.

Luke met him on the edge of the ranch line, and with an unknown ATV racing along the neighbour’s gravel road, Dustin was grateful to not be alone.

Stalked at his own home? No fucking way could this be allowed to continue.

He washed up quickly in the laundry room sink, the grime from the dusty air sliding into the washbasin with a dirty swirl. He could have used a shower, but his five minutes was nearly up.

He stepped into the kitchen and blinked to discover Charity was there, pouring drinks from a pitcher. She spotted him and dipped her chin, her serious expression so out of place that he wanted to rush to her side to find out what was wrong.

Then he realized she was probably frowning over him and the nonsense he was dealing with.

He accepted the glass she held out. A momentary spark of amusement struck. “Is this germ-free?”

Her gaze snapped up, her lips twitched, and her cheeks flushed.

Damn. He glanced to the floor and whispered an apology. “Sorry. Meant to be funny.”

She snorted. “You are funny, in spite of it all.”

Thank God she had a sense of humour. Maybe he could borrow some, because he figured he’d need every bit of his for the next while.

He lifted the glass in thanks.

Caleb paused at Charity’s side. “Stick around, please. I’ll have someone walk you to your car once we’re done.”