Page 8 of A Rancher's Vow

Fern placed two cookie sheets on the table and pointed to the cupboard over the refrigerator. “Not that I’m changing the subject, but I’m totally changing the subject. Dustin, your turn, please.”

He chuckled even as he stretched up to grab two bags of chips. “I’ve never asked. Why do you put your chips in the tallest cupboard? If I’m not here, you have to haul a chair over to get at them.”

“Exactly. It’s either put them out of easy reach or not have them in the house, and I’d prefer to have them around for when I really want them.” Charity pointed to the grater and block of cheese on the counter. Dustin obediently got to work. “When I put them on the top shelf, I can’t access them without making a deliberate choice. Ergo, I don’t grab them as often as I would otherwise.”

It was brilliant, in a twisted sort of way. “Good idea, I guess.”

“Thanks for the enthusiastic endorsement.” Charity grabbed a couple of ripe avocados off the counter and began making guacamole. “Since Fern doesn’t want us poking into her business, let’s go back to my original question. What deep thoughts were you pondering? Or were you just sad you didn’t get to trip the light fantastic all night?”

Really? “Who the hell says things liketrip the light fantastic?”

For some reason that made Fern snicker.

Charity paused in the middle of crushing the avocado and shook her fork at him. “Deep thoughts?”

“Social media.”

“Ohhhhhh.” Fern alternated the nacho chips with cheese as he completed grating handfuls. “The evils of this modern reality or the amazing pros?”

“The annoyance factor at the moment.” He didn’t want to look at his phone to see how many messages he was currently ignoring. “It appears my name was mentioned in some clickbait article, and now anyone who’s ever been in contact with me has to find out what I thought of the article and if it’s true.”

He wasn’t going to tell them about thefriendswho had already tried hitting him up for a loan.

“Damn. That is annoying,” Charity agreed. “I had something go viral once. It wasn’t pleasant.”

Fern frowned. “Is that why you have zero social media accounts? To get away from it?”

“Pretty much. I can talk to everyone I want to in other ways.” Charity shrugged. “Just my thing.”

Exactly. Dustin looked her in the eye and nodded. “I like being able to keep in touch with friends. When I want mindless entertainment, people doing wild shit is right there for a short-term, no-commitment kick. I don’t like so called friends who only seem interested in my three minutes of glory.”

“All hail the power of connection—five miles wide and half an inch deep.” Fern popped the loaded trays into the oven. “Sorry you’re having to deal with that.” She hauled out her phone. “Which clickbait site? Oh, never mind. I’ll google you.”

“Fern,” Charity scolded as she poked in the fridge. “Give him a break.”

“Give him a beer,” Fern suggested, eyes glued to her phone screen. “Ohhhh. You’re a rich man, are you? Shall I put some caviar on your nachos?”

Dustin blew a raspberry as he took the beer Charity pressed into his hands. “Careful, Fields. The urge to actively investigate your love life is growing…”

“I’m all aquiver.” Fern popped a jalapeño in her mouth and hummed happily before patting his arm sympathetically. “Sorry, bud. Thathashtagis rude.”

“Being called a stud makes me feel like one of our horses.”

Fern’s eyes widened. “Oops, yeah, that isn’t the bad one.”

Damn it. “Show me,” he demanded.

She held out her phone. Some comedian had added on#OneCockyCowboyto the article, and now that and#SilverStoneStudwere both being sent around with the clickbait.

Dustin sighed. “Fuck it.”

Fern grimaced. “Again, sorry. Fingers crossed it’s over and wiped away by tomorrow’s next Big Deal. Okay—next on the agenda. Distraction by movie selection. Tee, you and Dustin go arm wrestle to decide what’s up first.”

It wascomfortable having them in her space. Fern and Dustin.

Fern made sense. After all, they hung out together whenever possible.

Dustin, however— They were friendly. They were friends, absolutely.