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“Keep an eye on her,” his friend asks.

He doesn’t think she meant the big, red stars adorning the back pockets of the tightest jeans he’s ever seen.

“You coming?”

Lifting my gaze from the Appaloosa munching on the hem of my shirt, I shrug at Yasmin. It’s just the two of us left in the barn, everyone else already gone for lunch, and I can’t say I’m all that keen to follow. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

My new coworker nods, eyes flitting between me and Daphne. “She really likes you.”

The corner of my mouth twitches. “Yeah.”

“All the horses do.”

Course they do. I grew up with half of them.

Earned their love with sugar cubes and ear scratches.

The new additions, I plan on doing the same.

One morning and I’ve already got that Palomino eating out of the palm of my hand—right now, she huffs in her stall like she’s jealous of the attention I’m showering my sweet girl with.

Placating the mare I learned is named Bowie with a scratch behind the ears, Yasmin eyes me with an expression I can’t quite decipher. “You really know what you’re doing.”

Again, of course. Just like the horses remember me, my body remembers what to do. I wouldn’t say I breezed through the morning’s work, but I definitely earned the right to be a little smug. “You sound surprised.”

“I mean you really know what you’re doing here .”

Her tone makes me itch—too inquisitive for my liking.

It’s not like I’m trying to hide who I am, but I’m not exactly broadcasting it.

If my siblings don’t want to introduce me, I won’t either.

Honestly, I can’t be bothered. With the questions, the curiosity, the gossip.

It’s my business, not anyone else’s. Plus, even if I never say a word, they’ll find out eventually.

Serenity has never been the place to harbor secrets.

Sighing, I tilt my head at Yasmin. “Is there a question in there somewhere?”

If there is, she doesn't ask it. She just stares a little longer, eventually nodding before turning on her heel and heading outside. Before she disappears from sight, she throws over her shoulder, “You might wanna hurry. The guys’ll eat everything if you give them half a chance.”

Right on cue, my stomach rumbles. Nudging her nose against my middle, Daphne practically pushes me out of her stall, and I snort as I oblige her command. “Bossy ass.”

My horse snorts right back, tossing her mane like the diva she is.

I wish I felt an ounce of that attitude right now. I wish I could stay in the barn all afternoon. I wish, I wish, I wish, but alas, there’s no point. Nothing will change. I’ll still have to step foot in that house and face my match eventually.

Might as well get it the fuck over with.

Like a dog with my tail between my legs, I slope out of the barn and towards the people scattered across the porch.

A handful of steps later, I come up short at the sound of an actual dog.

And there I go again, smiling . I couldn’t stop it if I tried—I challenge anyone not to grin like a fool at the sight of an Australian Shepherd sprinting full-pelt in your direction, tongue lolling and ears flapping in the wind.

Dropping to my haunches, I brace for the onslaught of my favorite kind of affection, and that’s exactly what I get. Two paws slamming into my chest, wet puppy kisses make me scrunch my nose, but I don’t put up much of a fight.

“My Grouch,” I croon, smacking a kiss of my own on the soft, curly head of one of the many, many stray creatures Serenity has accumulated over the years. “At least someone’s happy to see me.”

What was once one of the five tiny puppies my brother’s ex-girlfriend found hiding in the barn with their mother, and is now a fully grown menace to society, barks as if to say ‘of course I am.’

Grouch yaps in protest as I get to my feet, drawing a laugh out of me that abruptly dies when I lift my gaze and realize everyone is frowning at us. Except for Adam, who must be inside. And except for Finn too.

Finn smiles.

Obviously.

“She likes you.” Theo sounds bewildered, and I get it.

If I had a dollar for every time someone cracked a joke about me and Grouch hating everyone but each other—the phrase kindred spirits has been thrown around a lot over the years—I wouldn’t need to be back here, working my way to financial freedom. “Why does she like you?”

Yasmin slaps her boyfriend on the chest with the back of her hand. “That was rude.”

Jaw hanging crookedly, Theo exhales incredulously. “That thing almost bit off my thumb when I tried to pet it.” He flicks his hand in my direction, at the dog trying her hardest to climb up my damn leg. “Now look at it.”

That thing. It . Don’t piss me off. “She has a name.”

“Yeah.” He scoffs. “ Grouch . She doesn’t like anyone.”

Yasmin corrects, “She likes Finn.”

My smirk drops. Eyes flicking to the man in question, I crook a brow. “Oh, yeah?”

Broad shoulders lift and fall casually, but there’s something decidedly provocative about the quirk of his mouth. “She’s all bark and no bite.”

The hum of an engine fills the air, but I ignore it, more focused on the buzz beneath my skin as I narrow my eyes at that smarmy, smug smile. “Oh, she’s got plenty of bite.”

“Are we still talking about the dog?”

“You’re talking.” Taking the few short steps to the porch, I snag one of the wrapped sandwiches from the basket balanced on the railing. “I’m leaving.”

Or at least I try to. I turn away from the group, away from smirks and frowns and the sad, doe eyes of a girl who doesn’t seem to understand yet that I am not the gal pal she’s been yearning for, with the intention of scampering back to the barn only to come up short.

To back up a damn step.

To shrink as I revert back to a kid or a teenager or whatever version of me is responsible for how the sight of my sister makes me feel.

Not scared, not anxious, but something that’s both and more. Something that stems from everyone who’s supposed to love me doing the opposite instead, as if I have some kind of genetic repellent. Like I am the repellent.

Except I’m not repelling Lux right now. As she climbs out of her truck, clad in the pencil skirt and silken shirt that hint to her having spent the morning in Business Mode, she kicks off her heels and strides barefoot towards me, grim determination lacing every facet of her being.

The urge to flee knocks me back another step.

And then it turns me to the side, in the direction of the other barn on the property, the newer one that we renovated a few years ago, turning it from a dumping ground for old shit to a dumping ground for the overflow of horses my sister can’t resist saving.

A stable. A refuge. A hiding place that I only make it a handful of steps toward.

“Charlotte.”

I halt, my gut flip-flopping like a damn fish. Another voice repeats my name, someone else saying it like a question, and I hear an oh and an ah and a what the fuck?

Ignoring the tangible curiosity thickening the air, I slowly around.

“Huh.” My head drops to one side. My hands find my hips, thumbs hooking through my belt loops, fingertips drumming against the buckle that’s been digging into my gut all day. “You do know who I am.”

Her stance not all that different, Lux sighs.

“Out of sight, out of mind is kind of a big thing for you, huh?”

Eyes flitting to her gaping staff behind me, my sister runs her tongue over her teeth. “That’s enough.”

“Right.” I snap my fingers and laugh, nothing joyous about it. “You didn’t want them to know. My bad, boss .”

Lux twitches at the accusation. And then she closes the distance between us, fingers locking around my bicep in a touch that only lingers long enough for her to drag me a couple steps closer to the house before I shake her off. “We can talk inside.”

“I’m working.”

“Your boss will forgive five minutes.”

“I don’t know. She can be a real bitch sometimes.”

Lux flinches, and fuck if I don’t make myself flinch a little too. “I know you’re upset with me for not picking you up yesterday, but—”

“I’m not upset,” I snap, my tone so fucking contradictory to what I claim. “I am shockingly unsurprised. In fact, I’m amazed you even remembered to send someone to get me. Did you pay Finn the big bucks for taking on such a horrendous task?”

“Hey,” the man in question barks, and I swing on him, ready to bark right back, to bite , only to realize he’s not barking at all. He’s calling out, trying to catch Lux’s attention, and when he gets it, he asks, “Alex feeling any better?”

My gaze flies back to my sister just in time to catch a tired smile. “A little.”

Now I, I definitely bark. “What’s wrong with Alex?”

Wary eyes assess me, like Lux has no idea what information is safe to offer me, like discussing her son with me is the last thing she wants to do. “He’s sick.”

Something lodges in in my throat. “How sick?”

“Strep.”

I wince. “But he’s okay?”

“He’s fine.”

“That’s good,” Finn chimes in again, sounding closer than before—he is closer than before, leaning against the porch railing right beside me and Lux, hovering over us like a fucking umpire. He might be looking to my sister, but I swear he’s talking to me as he says, “He was pretty bad yesterday.”

Just like that, my anger fizzles out. Not only does the wind beneath my fucking wings die, but said wings get chopped off too, plummeting me into a mucky pit of guilt.

She didn’t pick me up because Alex was sick. Her son was sick enough that she didn’t want to leave him, and I’m giving her a hard time. I called her a bitch.

Fuck, Lottie. Why are you like this?

Why can’t I stop being like this, why do I have to lift my chin in an automatic, unnecessary display of defiance and maintain a blank expression lest I dare to show an emotion that doesn’t stem from anger?

I know the answer. My sister knows the answer. Them , I should say. The answers , plural.