8. Trent

Chapter 8

Trent

I watch Gunnar lead the woman inside before popping back out again, his eyes flickering back to the cabin a few times as he jogs over to me.

"Did I see her driving your truck?" I ask.

"Yeah," Gunnar nods. "She mentioned not being able to ride in the back seat and I jokingly asked if she wanted to drive. She accepted."

"And you let her?" I ask, surprised. "You don't even let Colt drive it."

"Colt drives like a lunatic," Gunnar points out. "Besides, she seemed genuinely worried about riding. She drove real slow. Took us twice as long to get here. I think she has some sort of past history with driving or something."

My arms fold across my chest. "The barn locked?"

"Yeah, the parts that need to be," he nods. "But she seems like she won't be trouble. Quiet even. And her friend didn't come. So it's just her."

I sigh. "This is a bad idea."

"She prepaid," he reminds me, as if I need the reminder. Rhett had already walked me through the entire reason multiple times despite me thinking it's a bad idea. "We gotta do what we gotta do."

I want nothing to do with her. I don't plan on interacting at all unless I have to. Lucky for me, no one will force me to do anything anyway. I can hide out in my garage and ignore the woman for a month. It shouldn't be that difficult. My curiosity be damned.

"You talked to Colt yet?" I ask.

Gunnar tenses. "No. Why?"

"He said there're some things that need to be handled and it's your turn."

Gunnar swears, his bright expression turning sour. "Can you make sure Rhett or Colt show her around?"

"No," I refuse.

"Then it's you who has to show her around and tell her the rules," Gunnar growls.

My face scrunches up. "I'll tell Rhett."

Gunnar pats me on the shoulder. "I knew you'd come around. Stay outta trouble, big guy."

I roll my eyes at his words. "Yeah. Okay."

Gunnar wanders off to find Colt and deal with whatever new business has come up. We all take turns managing it, but I know they give me less shifts than they all take. Not because I'm not capable of it, but because they know I'd prefer to stay in my workshop away from all people.

My eyes trail back over to the cabin. No movement comes from inside, as if she'd sat down and not moved again. I linger there for a minute, watching, before I turn away with a sigh. I know it's a bad idea for the woman to be here, but I can't blame Rhett for agreeing to it. The ranch always feels like we're on the cusp of going under, no matter how much progress we've made. Even now, ten years later, Rhett doesn't want to get comfortable. It's probably for the best. There's always the possibility that everything turns sour, and we'd lose it all. That would destroy Rhett. Hell, it would destroy us all.

The sound of something rattling in the garage behind me drags a sigh from my lips and I finally turn away from the cabin, dismissing the woman from my thoughts.

"Goddamn it, Sly!" I growl. "If you've knocked over them wrenches again, I'm goin' to wring your neck."

I head back inside to take care of the pest before I can finish up changing out the sparkplugs in the side-by-side. Then I can go back into my forge.

Away from people.

Away from her.