LITMIR.BIZ

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from the back seat of Brady’s truck, and Melissa McCall wrapped Piper into a tight hug, while Ace and Checkers, the family’s blue heelers, circled happily with their tails thumping against her legs. Brady silently unloaded her suitcases and climbed back on the front seat without a word.

      Her brothers appeared from the stable and took turns lifting Piper off the ground as they greeted her with bear hugs.

      “Your dad is out in the north pasture, but he texted me to say he’d seen you arrive and would be in soon,” her mother said.

      Piper nodded and watched Brady drive his truck to the foreman’s house across the ranch yard, where he’d lived with his father his whole life. He parked under a large tree and helped Connor out.

      The little boy gave a wave to her, which she returned, before he ran inside with an awkward six-year-old’s gait.

      “That Connor is such a sweet kid,” her mother said, putting an arm around Piper’s shoulders and walking her into the house. Zane and Josh each grabbed a suitcase and followed.

      Piper swung her backpack onto the bed she’d slept in for eighteen years, then cast a gaze around her childhood bedroom. Her mother had changed little about the decor since Piper had left for college seven years earlier, and the familiar pink-and-gray chevron pattern of the curtains, the 4-H ribbons and high-school rodeo trophies on her bookshelf, and the ragged stuffed rabbit, nestled with the throw pillows on her bed, flooded her with a nostalgia that tugged in her chest.

      “Jeez, Piper, did you leave anything in Boston? You’re only gonna be here a week. You needed two suitcases for seven days?” Josh griped as he tossed her suitcase onto the bed next to the backpack.

      “Plus a backpack,” Zane added as he brought her second piece of luggage into the room and dropped it on the floor at the foot of her dresser.

      “Hey, careful with that! My laptop’s in there,” she said, frowning at Zane. “And yes, I need two suitcases. I brought work clothes and boots for helping in the stable or pens, nicer things for dinner or going to town, and dressy stuff, shoes and makeup for Mom and Dad’s party.”

      Josh snorted and shook his head. “Whatever. Glad I’m not a girl. I like to travel light.”

      “Is travel light code for not change your underwear?” she said with a smirk.

      Josh faked a belly laugh. “Oh, sister dear, you are a riot!” She play-punched his arm, and Josh caught her wrist, pulling her into another bear hug. “It’s good to have you and your hundred-pound luggage home again, Pipsqueak.”

      She hugged him back, then turned to give Zane a similar squeeze. “I missed you two lugs.”

      “Of course, you did,” Josh replied, ruffling her hair, which he knew good and well she hated.

      Though her brothers were technically identical twins, each had developed a look that matched their individual personalities. Zane, the oldest by three minutes, was also the studious and more responsible one. He kept his raven hair cut short and his square jaw clean-shaven. He’d made marginally better grades than Josh or Piper, primarily because he’d applied himself more diligently.

      She yanked away from Josh’s manhandling and scowled at him. “Jerk.” She knocked his black Stetson off his head, a retaliation which she knew would irritate him, and gave him a triumphant grin.

      Josh, who’d been the more athletic and adventurous twin from the get-go, wore his hair past his ears and often neglected to shave for a day or two at a time, leaving him with a scruffy shadow of a beard. Their mother claimed Josh was part wild stallion, hard to tame, and he had seemed pleased to live up to the reputation. Both had piercing blue eyes that made girls swoon, and they were happy to take advantage of that benefit. Piper had envied her brothers’ blue eyes, her own being a lackluster shade of gray.

      Josh swatted at Piper with his hat as he picked it up, and Zane snorted a laugh at her expense.

      “Well, some things never change,” said their mother from the doorway with an eye-roll for their shenanigans. “You two leave your sister alone and let her unpack in peace. I’m sure she’s tired after traveling all day.”

      The family cat, a brown and black Maine coon mix named Zeke, trotted in and hopped up on her bed to sniff her suitcase. She reached over to pat the feline, glad to see the family pet after months away. She really needed to rethink the apartment she was in with the no-pets rule, she decided. She scratched Zeke on the cheek, the chin, then stroked his back, finishing with a scritch at the base of his tail. Zeke ate up the attention, tilting his head this way and that, encouraging her to continue.

      “Can I get you something to eat, honey?” her mother asked. “Or maybe a glass of lemonade? Dinner’s not for another hour, and I’m sure you must be famished.”

      “Actually, Brady, Connor and I had ice cream on the way home from the airport. But lemonade sounds great. The airplane air really dried me out.” She grabbed her throat and stuck out her tongue as if dying of thirst.

      Giving a mrrp of protest when she stopped petting him, Zeke climbed on the suitcase and rolled over to show the long, silky hair of his belly. Piper couldn’t resist plowing her fingers into the thick, super-soft fur and giving Zeke a belly rub. “Good boy, Zeke. I missed you, too. I bet these mean ole boys ignore you, don’t they?”

      Their mother smiled as she said, “Zeke lets us know when he wants attention. Believe me!” Turning to leave, her mother crooked a finger, motioning to Zane and Josh. “Let’s go, boys. Back in a minute with your lemonade.”

      Zane lifted a wave as he turned for the door. “Later, then.”

      “No, don’t go. I don’t need quiet to unpack,” Piper said, stopping him with a hand on his arm. “In fact, I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to. What’s the gossip in town?”

      “Gossip? How the hell should I know?” Zane said. “We don’t keep up with all that he-said-she-said, who’s-doing-who crap.”

      Piper pulled a face. “You know what I mean. What’s happening around here? How’s the ranch?”

      Zane and Josh exchanged worrisome looks.

      Josh rubbed a hand on his scruffy chin. “Honestly, not so good.”

      “What?” she said, sitting heavily on the edge of her bed. Zeke nipped at her wrist, demanding more pats, and she stroked the cat’s head while focusing on her brothers. “What’s wrong?”

      “Man, don’t dump it on her now,” Zane said. “She just got here.”

      “Dump what on me?” She divided a wide-eyed glance between her brothers, her pulse kicking into high gear. “Tell me, ’cause my imagination is going to fill in the blank with the worst possible scenarios if you leave me hanging.”

      “We’re planning a family meeting after dinner.” Zane put a placating hand on her shoulder. “We’ll tell you then.”

      She shrugged Zane’s hand off and shifted toward Josh. “Tell me, Josh. Give me the bullet points at least.”

      Josh shoved his hands in his pockets and sent Zane a defiant look. “She has a right to know.”

      Zane only sighed.

      “What!” She was ready to clobber them both if someone didn’t end her suspense.

      “We’re in pretty bad financial straits. We’ve had a couple turns of bad luck, had some investments go sour and...” Josh took off his hat and raked fingers through his shaggy black hair. “Thing is, we need to find a new income source or we could go under.”

      Piper let her jaw drop and her shoulders sag in shock. She narrowed a hard stare on Josh, then cut a querying glance to Zane for confirmation. “Go under? As in lose the ranch? Have to sell?”

      Zane raised a hand. “It’s not time to panic yet.” He shot Josh a dark glare. “Tactful, man. Way

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