chapter 1
DEAN
“If you don’t get the hell out of here, you’ll never make it to Billings in time to catch your flight.” Kaden steps in front of me on my way to the cattle barn.
“I just want to make sure—”
“We got it, man. Now go. Alana’s been waiting on you for a half hour already.” He dodges to the left when I go right, then to the right when I go left, refusing to let me pass.
I sigh and drop my head, rubbing the back of my neck. He’s right. We’re going to be late if I don’t quit double-checking everything. But dammit, the Magnolia Blue Ranch has been my life since I was seventeen years old. I have a daily routine, and walking away from it, even for a few days, has me feeling out of sorts.
Kaden, Ben, and Cooper can handle the ranch just fine without me, I know that. And if they run into anything they can’t manage, ranchers Wilder and Levi James are less than twenty minutes away.
“All right,” I concede, lifting my hands and stepping backward toward my truck, where Alana, my boss’s girlfriend, has indeed been waiting. We’re headed to Las Vegas to watch Holden, said boss and pro bull rider, ride his way closer to another world championship.
“Do us all a favor and relax a little this weekend,” Kaden adds. “You haven’t taken a day off since I started last fall.”
He’s not wrong, but I’m not about to admit that to him. He’s Holden’s younger brother, and when Holden’s out on the rodeo circuit, he helps me hold things down at the ranch. Having him around has been great, but if I let his head get too big, he might get to thinking he should be the ranch foreman. It was bad enough that I had to step aside when the ranch went up for sale last year and I couldn’t afford it on my own. But to lose my role here, too… a role I’ve had for going on ten years now… I don’t know what the hell I’d do with myself.
“Dean, are you coming or not?” Alana hollers from the passenger window of my truck. “I have enough anxiety about flying as it is. I don’t need to worry about missing our flight, too!”
Kaden chuckles. “Have fun with that one.”
I roll my eyes. Traveling with Alana is the least of my concerns. Once we get to Vegas, she’ll go her way, and I’ll go mine. It’s what happens after that—my cousin T.J.’s wedding—that I’m dreading the most. Too many family members in one place.
“All right,” I say again. “Call if you need anything.”
“I won’t, but if it makes you feel better for me to say I will, then I will.” He grins, and I flip him off.
Ten minutes later, I merge into traffic on the interstate, with Alana singing along to an Elvis classic on the radio.
“Do we really have to listen to this?”
“Viva Las Vegas! Come on, Dean, get in the mood.” She slugs my arm.
I groan. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
* * *
Alana slept through most of the flight, thank god. As much as I adore the girl, her excitement for the weekend had me considering booking a flight home almost as soon as we boarded in Billings.
Now she’s busy texting Holden and lying her ass off about being in Vegas, while I wait for our luggage and make mental plans to ditch her as soon as we get to our hotel. Shitty? Yes. Do I care? Not even a little. This is my first weekend away in friggin’ years, and all I want to do is drink whiskey, play some blackjack, and maybe twirl a pretty bridesmaid around the dance floor a time or two.
“He has no idea I’m here,” Alana says with a smug sigh as she drops her phone into her oversized purse. “This is going to be so fun.”
“Are you heading over to the arena right away?”Please say yes.
“After I get settled into my room and freshen up a bit. What’s your plan?”
“I’m meeting up with T.J. and his buddies in a couple hours. We’re gonna blow some money before the rehearsal dinner.”
She smiles. “I know you’ve been on the fence about this trip, but I think you’re going to wish you’d taken a vacation a lot sooner.”
I snort. “I’m already thinking about all the shit I have to do when we get back.”
“Dean…” She puts her hand on my shoulder. “The ranch will be there when you get back, I promise. More than that, you work harder than anyone I know—don’t tell Kaden that—and you deserve this break.”
I swing a glare at her.Taking a break means getting things back under control when I get home, and that will probably make this trip more hassle than it’s worth.
