“Don’t you dare,” Leigh whispers firmly.
“Don’t I dare what? Comment on what must have happened to make him stop brooding?” She laughs mischievously.
“Quinn, shut your mouth,” she hisses back.
“Fine. Fine, mouth is shut.” Quinn climbs off the ground and holds out her hand to Leigh, helping her up.
I was about to open my mouth and ask her where my hug was, but she turns around the second that Leigh was standing, and the expression on her face has me snapping my mouth shut.
“You know what I want,” she tells me with a hard tone.
“Uh,” I mumble.
“You know what I’m waiting for,” she continues, wagging her brows.
What the—clarity strikes, and I have to bite back a laugh. The conversation I had with her in the barn when she was trying to figure out what was going on between Leigh and me comes back in a rush. “How about you let me worry about that now and leave it alone knowin’ that there’s a greater chance of you gettin’ what you want if you don’t scare my girl off before I even have a chance to take us there.”
“I’m not sure if that’s good enough.”
Weird as hell, my sister is. “It’s gonna have to be.”
“What are you two talkin’ about?” Clay asks, breaking into our little huddle.
“Nothin’ worth repeatin’ right now,” I tell him, my eyes still on Quinn so she knows to keep her mouth shut.
“You said your girl.” Quinn gasps the words out, her eyes wide as she looks between me and Leigh. “You said . . . holy shit! You said YOUR GIRL!” She screams the last part and leaves her mouth hanging open.
Leigh giggles again, but doesn’t respond to Quinn.
“Did you know about this?” Quinn continues, glaring at Leigh.
“Uh, yeah . . . seeing that I’m the girl in question, I would reckon that’s a good guess, Q.”
“You knew and didn’t tell me!”
Leigh steps closer to me, wrapping her arm around my back and digging her fingers into my side. I look down and see her wink, returning the gesture and pulling her closer to my side with one arm over her shoulders. Her other arm comes up, Quinn’s wide eyes following the movement, and rests it against my stomach. I feel my abs clench with just the smallest touch from her.
“We’re tellin’ you now, Q.”
“Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Oh. My. God,” my sister mutters under her breath, eyes even wider. “Clay,” she says with a gasp, reaching out blindly behind her to find him, not looking away from the two of us. “Clayton!” she screams when her hand can’t find him.
“Jesus, Quinn, take a breath,” he grumbles, grabbing her hand before she can slap him.
“It’s happening,” she breathes.
“You are the weirdest person in the world,” Leigh says, laughing.
“I knew one day this would happen. I just knew it.”
Leigh squeezes my side, but I’m too busy rolling my eyes at my sister to give her my attention.
“You’re happy for us?” Leigh asks. Something in her tone makes me finally look away from Quinn. When I look down and bend so that I can see her face, I know this is a question that isn’t being asked lightly. She really does want to know if Quinn is happy. How she has to question that with the way Quinn is acting is beyond me, but I keep my mouth shut and tighten my hold. She needs this, for whatever reason.
“God, yes,” Quinn breathes. “You have no idea how happy I am. For both of you,” she adds, looking away from the girl in my arms and back into my face. “So damn happy for you.”
I know the last part is meant for me and me alone. I clench my jaw when the burn of emotion hurts my throat. Damn, that feels good.
“Just in case anyone is wondering how I feel, I just want to add, it’s about time.”
We all three laugh, the girls both a little wobbly, when Clay finally speaks, his deep voice washing over all of us.
Yeah, that feels real damn good.
After leaving Clay and Quinn, we grab one of the four-wheelers and head out. Leigh knows how to ride, but even though holding on to me isn’t necessary, she still keeps her arms wrapped tight around my stomach. Her head resting between my shoulder blades feels almost as good as her hands rubbing against my torso.
Because the Davis ranch is so big, it takes us a little while to reach the line that used to separate the two ranches. Since Clay doesn’t use this part of our property anymore, and there are no longer animals being housed on the old James ranch, the gate had been taken down, but I would never forget the line that took me to my sanctuary.
A little while later, accompanied by some squeals and laughter coming from Leigh when I hit the gas on the uneven earth we’re riding over, we pull up to the part of the property I had been telling her about earlier. It doesn’t look like much now. The old barn is still in good repair, even if it hadn’t been used in years, but it would need work. I would never allow that piece of her past to be torn down, so it’s a big focus in what I’m hoping to create here.