Chapter 1
“People need to have their heads examined.”
The words left Beau Walker’s mouth before he was even halfway down the stairs of the old ranch house.
The kitchen fell silent.
Five pairs of eyes looked up from breakfast.
Jack Walker slowly lowered his coffee mug.
Wyatt looked downright delighted.
Luke barely glanced up from the newspaper in front of him.
Nash was already trying not to laugh.
Cole paused halfway through buttering a piece of toast.
“What?” Beau asked.
Wyatt leaned back in his chair.
“Nothing.”
A grin spread across his face.
“You just usually wait until after coffee before declaring war on humanity.”
A snort escaped Nash.
Luke folded the newspaper.
“So...” he said calmly. “Who annoyed you this early?”
Beau dropped a folded envelope onto the kitchen table.
“It came this morning.”
Jack reached for it.
“The magazine?”
Beau nodded.
“They’re doing a feature on family-owned ranches.”
“That’s good publicity,” Luke said.
“It is,” Jack agreed.
“It could bring in more guests.”
“It could help the riding program,” Cole added.
“It could make Grandma June stop complaining that we don’t advertise enough,” Nash chimed in.
Beau pinched the bridge of his nose.
“That’s not the problem.”
Wyatt took another bite of pancakes.
“So what is?”
Beau let out a long breath.
“The editor wants someone to experience life on the ranch.”
Nobody spoke.
Beau continued.
“For six weeks.”
Still silence.
“They’re sending one of their writers from New York.”
Wyatt frowned.
“So?”
Beau looked personally offended.
“So?”
He pointed dramatically toward the window where the endless Montana pasture stretched toward the mountains.
“Look out there.”
Everyone looked.
“What am I looking for?” Cole asked.
“A single skyscraper.”
Luke smiled into his coffee.
“There isn’t one.”
“Exactly.”
Beau spread his hands.
“And they’re sending some fancy New York magazine writer whose probably never seen a cow outside a children’s book.”
Nash burst into laughter.
Jack shook his head.
“You haven’t even met her.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Her name?”
Beau sighed.
“Ivy Bennett.”
Wyatt repeated it thoughtfully.
“Ivy Bennett.”
“Hm.”
“Sounds pretty.”
Beau glared at him.
“That is not the point.”
Luke picked up the letter.
“‘She’ll be documenting daily ranch life and shadowing ranch owner Beau Walker for six weeks.’”
He looked over the page.
“‘Photography, interviews, chores, horseback riding...’”
His lips twitched.
“...‘authentic cowboy experience.’”
The room went quiet for one beat.
Then Nash laughed so hard he nearly fell off his chair.
“Oh, this is going to be incredible.”
Beau folded his arms.
“No.”
“It really is.”
“I’m not babysitting.”
Wyatt grinned.
“You kinda are.”
“I’m absolutely not.”
Cole tried—and failed—to hide his smile.
“Six weeks isn’t that long.”
Beau stared at him.
“Easy for you to say.”
“You aren’t the one she’s following around with a notebook.”
Jack finally stood, grabbing his hat from the counter.
“Enough.”
The room settled.
He looked directly at Beau.
“This ranch has survived droughts, blizzards, floods, and your brothers.”
Nash looked offended.
“I’ve never flooded anything.”
Wyatt coughed loudly.
“The kitchen.”
“That was one time.”
Jack ignored them.
“We said yes to the interview.”
“So she’ll be here.”
Beau sighed.
“I know.”
“You’ll be polite.”
“I know.”
“You’ll answer her questions.”
“I know.”
“You’ll stop calling her things like ‘fancy New York kitten.’”
Beau didn’t answer.
Jack raised an eyebrow.
“Beau.”
He sighed again.
“I’ll try.”
Wyatt laughed.
“‘Try’ is doing a lot of work there.”
A truck engine rumbled outside.
Cole glanced through the window.
“That’s not one of ours.”
Everyone looked.
A sleek black SUV rolled slowly up the long gravel driveway, looking painfully out of place beside the dusty pickup trucks parked near the barn.
Beau groaned.
“You’re kidding.”
The vehicle stopped.
The driver’s door opened.
A woman stepped out wearing fitted jeans, brown boots, and a cream sweater beneath a denim jacket.
She pushed a pair of sunglasses onto the top of her head before looking across the ranch.
For a long moment, she simply stood there, taking it all in.
The mountains.
The horses.
The old red barn.
The wide Montana sky.
She smiled.
Not the polite smile Beau expected.
Not the fake smile of someone pretending to enjoy nature.
It was genuine.
Like she’d never seen anything quite this beautiful.
Beau frowned.
That...
...wasn’t what he’d expected.
Wyatt noticed the look on his brother’s face immediately.
“Oh?”
Beau tore his eyes away.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Wyatt grinned.
“You tell me.”
Beau grabbed his hat from the hook by the door.
“She’s still a city girl.”
Then he headed outside to meet the woman who, whether he liked it or not...
...was about to turn his world upside down.
