Page 114 of Knot my First Rodeo

"I regret everything."

Her laugh drifts across the pasture, and something in my stomach flutters at the sound.

That's the thing nobody talks about, there wasn't one moment where everything changed. No lightning strike or dramatic realization. It was a hundred little things that slowly stopped feeling temporary.

I pick up the hammer again, turning it once in my hands before setting it back down.

"You wanna know when I knew somethin' was wrong?"

Her expression softens. "When?"

"The day you spent the afternoon in town."

She blinks. "That's it?"

"Yep."

"That was your big realization?"

I nod since I know exactly how ridiculous it sounds.

"The house was too quiet."

It sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but it's honest, and once it's out there, I can't take it back.

Autumn doesn't say anything right away. Instead, she watches the horses move lazily through the pasture while a bird lands on the fence nearby before taking off again. Just another afternoon on the ranch, except somehow, it doesn't feel like just another afternoon anymore.

"The house was too quiet?" she asks softly.

I shrug. "It sounds stupid."

"It doesn't."

The answer comes so fast, I glance up.

She's looking at me now, and suddenly, we're right back to the question she asked in the barn. The one I've been avoiding ever since. I set the hammer down because I can't dodge it forever.

"Was Tripp right?" she asks, quieter this time.

I look at her for a long second, at the woman who showed up here expecting to stay a few weeks, and somehow turned herself into part of every room in this house. Three grown men started planning their days around where she'd be, and none of us seemed to notice it happening until it was already done.

"I think anybody looking at us could tell he was."

Her breath catches slightly.

I look back toward the pasture before I say something even more dangerous.

"The question ain't whether you're our scent match."

She shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

"Then, what's the question?"

I rub a hand across the back of my neck.

"The question is whether you want to be stuck here with the three of us, when you have a whole life with your brother, states away."

Her brows pull together immediately. "Stuck?"