Page 6 of Backup Cowboy

“See that turn off?” Caspian’s deep voice breaks the silence as he points to a slight fork up ahead. “My family’s property is that way.”

“Is that where you live?”

“M-hmm. The Blue Canyon runs along the edge. The water is so clear you can see the rocky bottom. Makes for great swimming and fishing.”

“Sounds beautiful.”

He taps the steering wheel with his thumb. “Wanna go see?”

Before I can stop myself, I blurt, “I’d love to.”

I’m already in the car with the guy. What’s a little detour going to hurt?

He turns the truck around and drives several miles down the fork before pulling onto a dirt drive almost hidden by the trees. As we wind around, a large home comes into view, but we pass it and make our way toward a tiny house near a grove of trees that leads to the water’s edge.

The architecture is white modern farmhouse, the kind I stalk on social media. I love tiny homes and their organized simplicity.

As we step onto the drive, the gentle current babbling over the rocky bed, I would swear ambient noise apps recorded sleep sounds from this very spot. It’s the kind of sound that makes city noise feel like chaos.

“Want a mineral water?”

“That’d be great.”

Caspian opens the door to his home with one hand at the small of my back as he guides me inside. The place is gorgeous, its modern farmhouse interior immaculate. White walls and black accents give a crisp, clean feel to the well-designed space.

“Your home is beautiful.” I admire the open-concept floor plan, the exposed beams adding warmth to the space, before turning to face him. “You said this is family property?”

“My grandparents left it to my sister in their will. She set up a family trust for all the grandkids to own it equally.” He leans against the small kitchen island, his muscular body looking fit and perfect in his jeans and button down. “The main house is where family members stay when coming into town.”

He opens his mouth to say something else when the door opens and a man and woman about my age walk in. The woman has Caspian’s same sharp cheekbones and striking facial features, though her wavy hair is naturally blond. The good looking man behind her is tall and fit with a tan that hints to being outside a lot.

“Cas! You scared us—” The woman stops mid-step in front of the man, who crashes into her back with an oomph. He wraps an arm lovingly around the woman’s waist and kisses the top of her head.

“I’m sorry, Cas. I didn’t see that you had company.” The woman’s smile is wide, her eyes sparkling as if she’s both surprised and excited to see me here.

Cas, on the other hand, is not excited to see her. He crosses his arms, brows knitted together, and sighs. “This is Alexandra Tate, the VP of Magnum Records. Alex, this is my nosy sister Ruby and the man that puts up with her for some unknown reason, Eli.”

Ruby cocks her head to the side. “I saw headlights. You’re supposed to be staying at Echo Ridge, Cas. You didn’t text me to say you were coming back.”

Caspian takes a sip from the glass bottle with humor in his expression. “You saw my truck, Ruby. You didn’t have to barge in.”

Eli spins Ruby around and guides her out the door as she says, “Something could’ve been wrong!”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Tate.” Eli closes the door as Ruby cranes her neck to see through the closing gap.

“Nice to meet you…”

The door clicks shut as she’s still speaking.

“The two of you are close, I take it?”

He nods, walking toward the window overlooking the water, moonlight shimmering on the current. “Spoken like a sister. You have a brother?”

I picture my younger brother, Jax, and smile. “He’s a pain, but I’d do anything for him.” I hold out my bottle. “To siblings.” We clink glasses.

“May we always stay one step ahead of their meddling.”

Chapter 4