Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Nothing,” I said. As Levi said, “Pregnancy.”
Caden glared at him. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”
Levi panicked for a second. Then blurted, “Ensley’s pregnant!”
“Levi!” I nearly shouted, as Caden turned and gaped at me.
“Holy shit! Are you serious?”
I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Shit! Yes. But you can’t say anything to anyone! I just found out myself less than an hour ago. She’s not that far along.”
Caden’s face erupted into a wide smile. “Emeline is pregnant, too.”
“Hey!” Levi said, as Caden grinned wickedly.
Levi shot him a look that screamed two can play at that game. “Yeah, well, so is Lilibeth.”
“Dude! I told you that in confidence.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. “Jesus, what is wrong with this family? Can none of you keep a secret?”
“Hey, I’m good at keeping secrets,” Levi stated matter-of-factly, which made Caden laugh.
“You’re terrible at keeping secrets.”
“Who’s keeping secrets about what?”
The three of us turned to see Gatlin standing there.
We all said in unison, “Nothing.”
His eyes bounced between the three of us before he took a sip of his beer, shrugged, and said, “Then I guess you don’t want to hear my secret.”
Gatlin turned to leave, but Caden grabbed hold of his shoulder. “What’s your secret?”
“I’m not telling you my secret until you tell me yours.”
Caden scowled at his brother. “It doesn’t work that way, Gatlin.”
Shrugging, he said, “Is that so? Okay, I’ll let you three girls get back to gossiping then.”
“Wait!” Levi said. “Seriously, what’s your secret?”
Raising a single brow, Gatlin asked, “What’s yours?”
Levi grimaced. “I can’t tell you.”
“Then I can’t tell you, either.”
“For the love of God, what in the hell is the matter with the three of you?” I said, unable to stay out of it. “You all suck at keeping secrets. Every single one of you.”
“Excuse me, but I do believe none of you know my secret.”
I pointed to him. “But you were ready to sell your secret for more secrets.”
He rubbed his chin. “You’ve got me there.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “I’m going to go find Ensley.”
It didn’t take me long to find her in the kitchen. She was in a corner with Nellie and Vivianne, both women beaming at her.
“Oh no,” I whispered, as I made my way over.
“What’s going on?” I asked, wrapping my arm around Ensley. I’d missed whisking in and saving the day in moments like this. I’d happily be her hero for the night.
“My mother and grandmother have this crazy idea that I’m pregnant.”
My eyes widened as I glanced between the two of them. “How did you know?”
“Colt!” Ensley shouted. “Why?!”
Vivianne started to jump up and down, right along with Nellie.
“I can’t believe all three of my girls are pregnant at once!” Vivianne shouted—before slamming both hands over her mouth.
Ensley gasped. “What? Lilibeth and Emeline are pregnant again?”
“I’d really like to know what’s in the water on this ranch?” I interjected, and was promptly ignored by all three women.
“What’s going on in here?” Ladd asked, as he walked into the kitchen with Gus.
The four of us all cried out, “Nothing!”
Ladd held up his hands and took a few steps back. “Oookay. That’s our cue to head back out, Dad.”
Both men slowly started to back up, retreating from the kitchen.
I turned back and looked at Ensley. “Just so you know, no one in your family can keep a secret to save their life.”
She nodded. “That’s the truth.”
Ensley
“This is my favorite family tradition,” Emeline said, as she put everything for the hot chocolate on the trays. We had crushed candy canes, shaved chocolate, cinnamon sticks, mini marshmallows, sprinkles, and shredded coconut. It was something our great-grandmother, Lilith, had started.
“Too bad your uncles couldn’t all make it this year,” my mother said, as she poured hot chocolate into one of the three carafes.
Emeline stepped back and looked at her handiwork on the tray as she said, “Caden told me that Uncle David and Uncle Mike are retiring at the end of next year.”
Surprised, I asked, “They are?”
Mom nodded. “They told Caden and Gatlin they’ll be officially handing over the running of the ranch to them. They’ll stay on through the end of next year, but will be taking a pretty big step back.”
Emeline and I exchanged a smile. If I knew my two brothers, they were most likely flying high at the prospect of being in charge of running the ranch.
“And the horse side of the ranch?” I asked.
My mother looked at Emeline, then me. “Well, I mean, Emeline runs it now, but if you’d like a bigger part in—”
“No!” I said, cutting her off. “I don’t want anything to do with the running of the horse side of the ranch. I mean, of course, I’m always here to help you, Emeline. You know that.”
She smiled and nodded.
“But Colt and I are going to merge our businesses and make it one.”