Page 6 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

“ D on’t fucking make a peep,” Cash said when Riley was safely out of earshot.

“About what?”

“Cooper. She doesn’t know he works here and I don’t want her to get spooked and bolt. Her alphas already tried to make her leave, and if she gets scared to see him, they’ll convince her.”

“Why would she be afraid to see him?” I asked.

“Because she knows she fucked up and we all know Cooper is stubborn as hell. She’s not in a headspace to see him and Cooper will have an aneurysm and die over her showing up engaged.”

“Does that mean we’re not telling him she’s here?” Levi asked.

“Damn right that’s what it means. You didn’t see him after she left. That man will never fucking recover if he finds out she’s engaged and moving away. I don’t think Cooper slept through a full night once for at least a year after she left. We have to die with this knowledge.”

That seemed a bit extreme to me, but Cash knew both of them. Levi and I hadn’t come into the picture until Riley had already been gone for a few years. I didn’t necessarily think Cash was wrong to keep it from Cooper because that man had a gift for crashing out.

“What if she changes her mind on wanting to see him?” I prompted.

“That’s a bridge we cross when we get to it. We can tell him in that case, but it’s going to be all hands on deck to manage the fallout.”

“Okay.” I sighed. “We’ll keep quiet. Won’t he see her name in the bookings, though?”

“Nope. She booked it under Anne Harris, not Riley Fletcher. It’s possible he might put two and two together, but he won’t be looking for it.”

“I feel bad,” said Levi as he doused one of the fires. “What if this is their last chance to see each other?”

“Vi, look at me and give me a list of what good things could come from Cooper knowing she’s here?

He’s gonna take one look at that rock on her finger and lose it.

And then her alphas are going to lose it.

He’ll get depressed and sleep-deprived, and it’ll put him through hell for nothing .

He can’t change that she’s leaving. The only thing in his head for the rest of eternity will be those fucking city slickers with their paws all over his girl. ”

“Okay, okay. Picture painted,” Levi conceded. “We’ll save Cooper from himself.”

“Good.” Cash huffed and took care of another of the fires.

I didn’t blame Cooper for struggling with losing Riley. She had a brightness I didn’t see too often, an energy that pulled you in. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see how easily someone could get attached to her. Even a few hours in her presence had me craving more.

“I’m going to get to bed since I have to be up at the ass crack of dawn.”

“Go ahead,” Cash insisted.

They would take everything else inside, at the very least getting the containers rinsed out, if not washed. I headed back to the big house, the sprawling rancher I shared with my pack.

I showered off my day, scrubbing down, and re-braiding my hair, focusing on positive thoughts instead of all of the niggling worries surrounding the situation with Riley. Collapsing into bed had the world disappearing.

My alarm for the morning woke me much too quickly.

With a quick refresh on my braid, I made some coffee and took it out to our wraparound porch, sitting in the quiet and giving myself a few minutes to wake up.

Before the others stirred I was already heading over to the kitchens, finishing the cleanup they had started and making sure I had clear space to work.

Riley rolled up at six a.m., looking surprisingly bright eyed and bushy tailed. “Good mooorning.”

“Hello there. I wasn’t expecting to actually see you. I thought you’d be cuddled up in bed.”

“We struck a compromise. My workaholics are going to do whatever they have to do until breakfast so I figured I would come here. They went to bed way earlier than me and they are not quiet people getting ready in the morning. Or maybe I’m just a light sleeper, who the hell knows.”

She pulled on the apron I offered her, shielding the front of her shorts and tank top. Her long dark hair was pulled up in a bun, not an ounce of make up on her face. She hadn’t worn much yesterday, but enough that I noticed the lack of it today.

“Hairnets?”

“Drawer on the right next to the sink.”

She plucked one out and whipped it over her hair, then washed her hands before doing a loop around the kitchen to familiarize herself with a space. “What still has to be done?”

“Everything.” I laughed.

“All righty, let’s get a move on, then. Is it just you and me?”

“We can pull in some others if we need to,” I offered.

“Nah, we can do it.” She dipped into the walk-in cooler, emerging with a couple of stacked flats of summer berries. “If you give those a wash, we can start slicing them up.” Riley stopped short. “Sorry, this isn’t my kitchen. Do you want to lead?”

“I’m happy to follow. Just tell me what you need me to do and let me know if you have any questions.”

“Roger that. Berry washing, please.” She gathered up a mixing bowl and measuring cup, disappearing into the pantry to acquire the rolled oats for oatmeal.

It was interesting to watch, seeing her move with such surety and skill.

The menu wasn’t complicated by any means, but it still had to be done quickly and safely.

“I’ll make a little more than I think we might need and I can bake any leftovers into snack bars. ”

“Sounds good to me.” I ran all the berries through a quick vinegar-and-water soak before rinsing thoroughly and making sure they were all dry.

Riley didn’t start cooking anything, just measuring and preparing, neatly lining everything up so as the time got closer it would take barely any time to complete.

“Do you all rotate kitchen duty?” she asked.

“For now. We’re looking to hire, but not everyone wants to live on-site or commute this far.”

“You guys work pretty long hours out here.”

“Technically, yes, but a lot of it doesn’t feel like work. We have our specific jobs and the actual evening programs aren’t mandatory by any means. Everyone only has to assist with one per week, but they all tend to come out anyway.”

“I would too if I worked here. Maybe the novelty would wear off eventually, but if you’re a seasonal worker the fun probably lasts a while.”

She zipped around the kitchen, the breeze of her movements rustling over me every so often.

I kept expecting it to carry her scent, but I detected nothing beyond the general sweetness all omegas carried.

I wasn’t entirely sure why I was disappointed by that.

If she didn’t want to have her scent out while she worked, that was her business.

Most people would call that common courtesy.

A lot of us didn’t bother since we would sweat off most neutralizers after a bit of hard labor, though a few staff did take blockers.

I never did, mostly so that the horses always knew when I was close by.

“Would you be interested in meeting some of the horses when we’re done?”

Riley looked up from where she was meticulously laying strips of bacon on a baking sheet. “Hell yeah. Do I get to pick my partner for the trail ride?”

“You can tell me who you’d like and I can tell you if they’re a good fit.”

“Fair enough. Do you have a favorite? Don’t lie and say you don’t.”

I laughed and set my knife down, abandoning my strawberry slicing for the moment.

“The ones I do therapy with are my favorites, but there are definitely a few characters in the herd. We also have one about to foal. She’s why Levi was late to dinner.

We bought her for therapy sessions and then she just kept getting bigger. ”

Riley grinned. “She came with a little surprise.”

“ Big surprise. We don’t raise from foal very often since it takes quite a while for the horses to get old enough to be ridden and to make sure they’re tourist friendly.”

“Cooper always used to call that idiot-proof.” Riley laughed. “Did all sorts of ridiculous stuff with those horses to make sure they were chill so they wouldn’t accidentally knock a little kid into next week.”

“He still calls it that.”

Riley’s eyes gleamed. “You know Cooper too? Cash is being annoyingly tight-lipped about him.”

Shit. I forgot we weren’t supposed to mention him. I knew all about their history; frankly it was impossible not to. Cooper had never given up on her, but I had agreed to honor Cash’s mandate.

“Hard not to know Cooper when you know Cash,” I said instead of being open with her.

My statement wasn’t a lie, but I couldn’t outright say that Cooper was part of my pack.

If Cash was right and that spooked her, all of us would lose this time to get to know her.

I was morbidly curious to see what sort of person Riley was after she’d managed to entrance my packmates for so long.

Cooper made no secret of his ongoing obsession, but Cash thought he was more subtle about it.

Any fool could tell he’d harbored a crush on Riley from the reverent way he talked about her over the years.

“I guess that’s fair. Does he think I’ll get weird if he talks about Cooper?”

“That’s something you would have to ask Cash. Would you get weird?”

She pursed her lips. “I mean, probably , but it feels even more weird to not talk about him, you know?”

“Understandable. He’s the elephant in the room.”

Why did this conversation have to fall to me?

Riley sighed, setting aside one baking sheet and prepping another for more bacon.

“When I planned this trip I’d half hoped to see them again while being terrified of that actually happening.

Now that I’ve gotten to spend some time with Cash, it’s making me more homesick than I expected.

Not for my actual home,” she clarified, “just a few of the people I left behind.”

“Who else would you want to see?”

“Definitely Morgan. She was a little burr stuck to us growing up and I miss her. Wouldn’t mind at least knowing what my half sister is up to. Not too keen on seeing most of the cousins face-to-face, but I never say no to gossip, you know? Make sure the best of them are okay.”

“Give me a list?” I offered. “I can update you if I’m familiar with any of them.”

“Maisie Combs?”

“The only Maisie I know is a Decker.”

Riley paled. “Are you shitting me right now?”

I blinked at her, not sure what I had said to upset her. “It might not be the same person.”

“She’s not with Paul, is she?”

I winced. “Unfortunately.”

“God fucking dammit. That little weasel picked on her all through elementary and middle school. I cannot believe she’d get together with him.”

“Uh, well, this probably doesn’t make it better but the rumor mill is pretty sure he pulled some fucked-up shit to get her.”

Riley groaned, staring down at the pan she was working on. “I’m going to kill him. Maybe some nice buckshot to the chest.”

“As much as he’d deserve it, I’m pretty sure a murder conviction would inhibit you going to Berlin,” I pointed out.

“How much do you know about the Deckers?”

“Not much, and nothing good.”

“Exactly. One big pile of assholes. I’m technically one, but I pretend that’s not the case.”

“How are you only technically?”

“Because my mama fucked Big Daddy Decker’s right-hand man while he was married and bonded, got herself knocked up with me.

Arlon Combs’ omega is a vicious woman, and her and Darlene, my mom, got into it.

The Deckers couldn’t get them to chill so Darlene got ostracized by the other omegas on the compound and then got herself kicked out.

God, sorry, that’s a lot of TMI personal history. ”

“It’s all right,” I assured her. “I would imagine being back here is dredging up a lot of things you thought were long buried. It’s okay to be upset about them.”

She looked up at me with shiny eyes, and my heart squeezed at the pain there. Riley scrubbed her hands too hard beneath the tap. “I just thought I was over this. Maybe I could only pretend I was healed because I wasn’t around any of this anymore.”

I rounded the island, turning off the water and pulling her into my arms, where she rested heavily against me. “Healing is complicated. When you’re back at the source, it’s easy for old wounds to tear open.”

“I wanted to be better by now.”

“Better, not perfect.” I cupped her head, letting my cheek rest against her hair.

“Healing is a journey, and I promise it’s okay that you’re not at the end of yours yet.

It takes time, and it’s often a lot more work than people expect.

You already took a huge leap, feeling healed enough to come back to Montana. ”

Riley sniffled, burying her face against my chest. “I never expected to miss it and hate it at the same time. There’s so much about this place that’s painful, and tons more I miss every day. I don’t want to feel like this and ruin it when I might never be able to come back.”

My purr kicked on, startling both of us before she melted. I held her while her breathing steadied, her fingers clutching hard onto my shirt.

“I’m sorry I cried on you.”

“No apology needed. My shirts are very absorbent.”

Riley laughed, pulling away to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “You are entirely too sweet. Thank you.” She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, collecting herself until she was right back to the same Riley who had walked in earlier. “Okay. Let’s get some work done.”