Page 184 of Knot my First Rodeo

"Gidge." She turns the phone so we can see it.

Two words.

Gidge- Wheels up.

That's it. Just two words that tell us Virginia is officially on the way.

The rest of the day drags so slowly, I consider taking up a hobby just to have something else to hate. Hunter doesn't answer texts, because apparently flying across the country makes a man impossible to reach, even though I'm pretty sure airplanes have Wi-Fi. Peter spends the morning alternating between yelling and laughing to himself in a way that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

By late afternoon, the sun is sinking toward the mountains, when the sound finally reaches us.

An engine.

Autumn is on her feet before any of us say a word. She crosses the porch and steps into the yard with Clint right behind her, one hand settling at her lower back. I move to her other side, because there's no chance in hell I'm letting her face whatever’s coming alone. Briggs stands just beyond Clint, arms folded, expression unreadable in that deeply annoying way of his.

A black Hummer appears, crawling up the driveway like it owns the place.

Beside me, Autumn goes very still.

I don't think she realizes how many times she's looked toward the road today. How many times she's checked her phone. How many times she's pretended she wasn't waiting for this exact moment. Her shoulder brushes mine once, and I shift close enough that she knows I'm there.

The Hummer rolls to a stop in front of the house.

The driver's door opens, and Hunter steps out, his dark eyes laser focused on his sister. The same stubborn set to his jaw Autumn gets when she's about three seconds away from doing something reckless.

His gaze rakes up and down Autumn like he’s making sure she’s actually okay. He lifts a brow but says nothing. I wonder how long before he notices that we’re with his little sister.

The passenger door opens next, and the woman who climbs out isn't what I expected. The auburn hair catches my eye first, then the attitude. She isn't tall enough to be intimidating in the obvious way, but everything about her says she doesn't need height to hurt someone.

Three huge bikers climb out behind her. They position themselves around her without anyone saying a word: one slightly behind, one beside, one hanging back.

The redhead ignores all of us until her eyes find Autumn.

"Scrappy."

Autumn's face breaks into a smile so fast it nearly knocks the breath out of me.

"Gidge."

Just like that, she's moving. Autumn crosses the yard and Gidge meets her halfway, pulling her into a hug that looks like it could bruise. Gidge's hand cups the back of Autumn's head, and Autumn holds on like she didn't know until that exact second how badly she needed to. When they finally pull apart, Autumn wipes quickly at her cheek and gestures toward the men behind Gidge.

"Gears. Arrow. Acid."

The three nod.

"Biker sister," the scariest one says.

Before Autumn can answer, Briggs huffs beside me.

"Not a biker anymore. She's a cowgirl, or at least, she's on her way to being one."

Every head turns toward him.

Autumn's cheeks go pink, and I bite back a smile because this is probably not the time to look delighted by my cousin being emotionally competent.

"You gonna greet your brother?" Hunter asks.

Autumn flips him off.