Page 3 of When It Reins (Three Rivers Trevors Ranch #5)

juniper

I’m not totally sure why I’m here anymore.

I mean, I knew why I kept coming back to Three Rivers. I knew why I was drawn to the ranch that had become like a staple in my family’s life.

I just didn’t know why I was here.

Other than the food, which was always incredible and in abundance, I wasn’t sure what it was that kept me coming back.

“Juniper! Lovely songs the other night.” Didi Cash comes to sit by me at the large dining room table. Normally in the summer months and any time it was warm enough, we would be outside. But the February temps are still cold enough that we are stuck inside.

Though that isn’t much of a burden considering how gorgeous the Trevors family house is.

From what I’ve heard, Cal Trevors’s great-grandfather built this home and this ranch on his own with the help of his wife and his sons, and since then they’ve maintained it and added more.

“Thank you so much.” I smile kindly at Mitch’s mother.

She’s always been so nice to me, welcoming our family in and making us feel at home.

She is a great mother-in-law to my big sister, Thea, who deserves to have her.

Whenever they have family events, she makes sure the invitation is extended to me and my sisters.

Even the two that are miles and miles away.

I have four sisters in total. My big sister, Thea, was the mom of our family ever since our parents died when we were all pretty young.

Then there was Astoria, who was off traveling the world.

Annmarie, who was one that stuck around, then me, who followed my two big sisters and settled down in our new small town, and then Ophelia, who was living in New York City, working in the fashion industry.

We are a big group, but rarely all together.

Today, for instance, Thea and I are at the ranch for their weekly Sunday get together, and Annmarie is taking care of the bar. We switch off who takes care of Sundays, though lately Annmarie and I both agreed to let Thea have most off, given that she is a brand-new mom.

“I can’t believe how talented you are. Felicity set me up with one of those music accounts,” she says, pulling up her phone and showing me the screen.

I blush furiously when I see the picture of me that Shelly took. I was wearing a cowboy hat and was here at the ranch during sunset. Felicity insisted we use it for my “cover,” and I didn’t feel like I should protest.

“I really appreciate that,” I tell Didi. As nice as she is, there is an underlying nerve that always hits me when talking to her. It isn’t that she is scary, but there is something about her that I wonder if she knows how many thoughts in my head are about her son.

When they really shouldn’t be.

I invited David to come with me today, and he was incredibly bummed that he had work calls to make.

As was I. It would be nice to have him here when I was sure I was going to run into the man who I was avoiding.

A rumble outside the dining room window makes me freeze. No way was I just thinking about him, and he would show up.

But sure enough, the engine of what is certainly a motorcycle shuts off, and the thudding steps of booted feet hit the porch outside before the door is opens. There is a whole wall between the two of us, and I can still feel his presence here, like something is crawling on the back of my neck.

“Oh, Mitch!” Didi says, abandoning her food and standing. Though she doesn’t have to go far, Mitch steps into the dining room, giving polite nods to those that greet him.

I shift my gaze away before he can hit it and try to make it seem like I’m more interested in my food than I am in him.

Because it’s true. I’m not interested in his lingering gaze, the heat behind it, or the way it makes me feel.

That boat sailed a long time ago, as he wished it would.

“Juniper.” I freeze, my fork full of mashed potatoes that I’m pretty certain will taste like sawdust if I actually end up putting it in my mouth.

I turn and meet Mitch’s gaze. “Yes?”

“Can I speak to you, please?”

The rest of the table goes silent as I stand from my chair.

Didi gives my arm a pat, and I smile at her, trying to conceal how weird this is, how I have a thrumming sensation pulsing through my neck at the thought that Mitch not only wants to speak to me, but asked in front of the crowd of family and friends surrounding us.

I follow him back outside and on to the porch. I’m grateful because the heat that is pooling in my cheeks is too intense for the inside temperature.

I go to the railing on the porch and let the winter breeze hit my face, taking in a grateful breath of the air. I am wearing a sweater, and it keeps me from getting too cold, but there is a sheen of heat that lances through my whole body.

Especially when I meet his gaze.

“What’s up?” I try to be nonchalant, but the squeak in my voice gives me away. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even quirk his lips at the obvious nerves I am displaying.

“I have to go out of town for a while, so I may need some time off.”

His answer does nothing to satisfy the burning in my chest. “What’s a while?”

“Couple months.”

I stare at his golden hazel eyes and lift a brow in surprise. “Couple of months? What on earth is keeping you away for two months?”

He clenches his jaw, and my gaze finds itself there, tracking the tension. He shifts, and my gaze jumps back to him. “If it’s a problem, I understand.”

“I just don’t understand why you’d need to be away so long,” I admit, probably as honest as I was going to get.

Mitch shifts on his feet, his eyes leaving mine, and I glance down at the cowboy boots I was sporting. Since moving here, the city girl that nestled deep, deep down rarely came out, and I embraced the life I lived in, including wearing cowboy boots often.

I hear him take a breath, but keep my gaze from straying to his. “Just club business.”

I almost shake my head. I knew that would be the answer. I’ve heard it before, so I don’t know why I am surprised that his answer right now would be any different.

“Fine.”

My answer seems to make him uneasy. He shifts in my peripheral, and I glance back to him, watching him watch me with a bend in his brow. “Fine?”

I shrug, confused. “I guess so. Annmarie won’t mind. You two have a little deal about this, don’t you?”

He purses his lips, and I watch his mouth far longer than should be appropriate. His scruff is more like a beard right now, and I hate that I like how he looks.

I straighten from the post I was leaning on and give him a smile I don’t feel. “Be careful, Mitch.”

Because I know he won’t respond, I don’t bother waiting for anything more from him. Instead, I leave him on the porch, pushing aside the uneasy feeling that rests in my gut every time I have an interaction with him and wonder when it’ll get any easier.