Page 16 of Shielding Serena

And so, when she’d turned twenty-one and earned her bachelor’s, she’d changed her last name back to Blackstone and struck out on her own, free of Parker’s icy indifference, except when it came to expectations.

As always, thinking about her father and their relationship--or lack thereof--depressed her, so she shook off the thoughts and went into the bathroom to freshen up a bit. It didn’t really look like she’d cried, merely that she was tired, which anyone with a brain would understand.

She peeled back the bandage on her head. The wound had scabbed over and looked hideous, but she hid it with a side sweep of her hair after deciding to leave the bandage off.

She tilted up her chin, squared her shoulders and left for the main house.

The porch of the main house was as welcoming as the one on her little cottage, but on a grander scale. Becker and Holmes greeted her as she walked across the gravel driveway and she stopped for a moment to give them some pets. Knowing that they were there, even if she was only here for the night, made her feel more like herself. She stood on the porch and turned around to see the stunning view.

With dusk approaching, the air around them had gone soft, the tiniest bit misty. Piñon and pine scented the air, sharp and earthy and exactly the opposite of what she’d left behind in Dallas.

The door opened, and she turned to see Walker framed in the doorway, looking like the star of every delicious cowboy movie she’d ever seen.

“You’ve made yourself a beautiful place here,” she said, meaning every word.

He nodded in agreement and stepped out to join her. “It took a lot of work. We built everything but the house and barn ourselves, albeit with the help of an architect and a construction boss,” he granted, and she realized he looked so much lighter than he had in town. This wilderness seemed to fit him.

“Do you ever go back to your old place?” she asked, referring to the home he’d been raised in on the other side of Rimrock Creek.

He shook his head. “Nah, it was just a rental. While I love my parents, and I love them for making this life for us here in the village, that place never really held me.”

“And yet you moved back,” she said.

“I’ve always loved the land, and no matter where I was in the world, I thought of it,” he said. “What I didn’t miss were the theatrics and small-town nonsense. Luckily, out here we’re pretty insulated from it.”

“Now that I understand,” she said with a smile. “I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get people to accept the fact that I was changing The Menagerie, and even then it took two months of free coffee and pastries for them to even walk across the threshold.”

“But now it’s better?” he asked.

“You saw Otis yesterday,” she said with a grin. “You know how much of an accomplishment that is, especially the explaining he’s gonna have to do when Addie finds out.”

“Are you two still at it?” Walker asked with that mystified air of a man who didn’t understand female rivalries.

“I don’t know that we’re still at it. I really don’t have time for silliness, especially over a man. That year was the one time I was happy to leave here, even as it broke my heart,” she said.

He looked a bit affronted, and she hurried to amend her statement. “Not because I left you, you dumbass,” she said. “Because she was being a bitch, and I got more than enough of that at school in D.C. I didn’t need it here too.”

“Well, at least it wasn’t me,” he said straight faced. “I don’t know if my manly pride could have handled anything else.”

She lightly punched him on the shoulder, glad that they could talk about the past with the levity it deserved, rather than it being uncomfortable or awkward.

“What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

“It would be much better if Hunter was here,” Quentin said mournfully as he took a bite of his pork chop.

“It’s delicious,” Serena said, defending Walker’s honor, as he’d been tonight’s chef. It was, in fact, pretty good. “But you’ll have to invite me out when he’s here,” she said with a grin. “So I can compare and contrast.”

Quentin was an interesting man, she thought as she studied him. He was average in almost every way. Average build, shaggy brown hair two weeks past a cut, brown eyes clear and intelligent behind old-school horn-rimmed glasses.

If she passed him on the street, she’d never have looked twice.

He obviously took no shit from Walker but gave his friend a subtle deference. She wondered if Walker had been his boss in the military, but that’d been a long time ago, even if that were the case.

They jabbed good naturedly back and forth over the meal, with Kujo watching the byplay with quiet scrutiny.

When dinner was over, Serena helped with the dishes, over the men's objections, then settled in to listen to them talk about their new venture. Walker had made no mention of her butting out, so she tagged along as they crossed the gravel parking area to the bunkhouse.

"I like what I've seen so far," Kujo said. "Quentin's got your comms tight."