"I imagine you don't have a lot of trouble filling your cabins, do you?"
"Nope again. Actually, we built some new ones this spring, including a couple of honeymoon cottages behind the main lodge. You'll be staying in one of those."
"Please tell me I'm not displacing any honeymooners."
"No. We just finished them, so they weren't booked. Your timing was excellent."
Before Shelby could answer, Kyla pulled over a small rise, and the ranch spread out below them, nestled in a valley so green it hardly looked real.
"Here we are!"
Shelby felt her mouth fall open as she took in the log cabins, the rustic lodge, and the bright red barns. White paddock fences and gorgeous horses made her blink, sure she was looking at a photo. But no. It was real. And it was otherworldly beautiful.
It was also the exact sort of place Daddy had dreamed of owning someday-the kind of place he would have owned if his money hadn't disappeared in a Ponzi scheme that had imploded two years ago.
Kyla pulled around the back of the lodge and parked the truck in front of a picturesque little cabin set against a hillside, and Shelby exhaled carefully. Breaking down right now, after holding it together all day, was not gonna happen.
"Here's your cabin-Periwinkle."
Kyla hopped out of the driver's side, and Shelby waited a beat, flipping down the mirror to check her eyes and lipstick before she slid the sunglasses firmly back on and opened the door. She pasted a smile on her face, trained to be ready for the flashbulbs, but then she let that smile fade. There were no flashes here. No snapping shutters. Just … birdsong and horses and a radio muted so low she couldn't hear anything but the outline of a song.
"It's so-"
"Quiet?" Kyla raised her eyebrows.
"Yes."
"A little different from where you live?"
Shelby nodded slowly, not even sure how to answer that question. Where did she live? Certainly not in the Nashville mansion that was already under foreclosure proceedings. Not in the bus where she'd spent the past twelve years crisscrossing the country. Not … anywhere.
Kyla hauled one suitcase out of the truck, then another, and Shelby shook her head quickly, trying to quiet her thoughts as she pulled down the other two.
"Come on. Let's get you inside. You must be exhausted."
She followed Kyla into the cabin, stopping just inside the door so she wouldn't crash into her as Kyla tried to maneuver suitcases into the living area.
"So it's not the Ritz, but it's our best cabin. We really hope you'll be comfortable here."
"It's adorable." Shelby felt her shoulders slowly relax as she glanced around the open, homey, sunlit space that would be her home for the next month. "I'm sure I'll love it."
She followed as Kyla showed her the stocked fridge and cupboards, the gorgeous bedroom with its canopy bed and handmade quilt, and the oversized claw-foot tub in a sunny bathroom. In the open living area, wood was piled next to a stone fireplace, and a bookshelf was filled with at least a hundred novels and a pile of board games.
"I imagine you won't be playing a lot of Monopoly, but we stocked the bookshelf for you. And if you need anything in town, just keep a list, and one of us will come grab it from you when we head in."
"Thank you. That's very kind." Shelby looked around at the pains Kyla had obviously taken to make her feel comfortable, probably at warp speed, since she couldn't have had more than a few days' notice of Shelby's arrival. "It's lovely."
It was a beautiful place-she'd give Nicola that. If she'd had to pick a hideaway for herself-not that she was in the habit of picking anything for herself-she might have even chosen Whisper Creek, too. The porch of this cabin alone might have her moving here permanently, if not for … everything. With its huge Adirondack chair and white double swing, it invited lemonade, cicadas, and a good, long book.
When was the last time she'd had enough free hours to pick up an actual book?
"Okay." Kyla smiled brightly, but Shelby could sense her nerves under the smile. "I'll let you get settled, but if you need anything, just use that phone there. It rings straight to the office and the kitchen in the main lodge." She pointed downhill toward the rambling lodge, which looked warm and inviting as the cool summer breeze danced through the cabin windows.
"Thank you." Shelby nodded, desperate to be alone so she could let go of the calm, unemotional mask she'd worn all day long.
It was the same one she'd first donned at sixteen when she'd had to go onstage in spite of a one-hour-old breakup, the same one that had gotten her through countless concerts in countless cities over the past decade … the same one she saw flashing back at her from newsstands in every airport.