Jaxson, Lucas was close to his first cousins. Knox was like a second father to him. Magnolia didn’t know what it was like to be part of a close-knit family. The money was all she had—all she knew. No wonder she was so desperate to get her inheritance.
He wondered what the next few days would bring. He was dreading meeting Magnolia’s grandfather. He could tell that Magnolia feared Lucas wouldn’t measure up. While he put up a confident front to Magnolia, the truth was, he was in way over his head here. If only he were more like his cousins. When he’d gotten the new clothes, he felt a bit like Ramsey—the sharp dresser of the bunch. Lucas wished he had Cash’s quick wit and brains or Noah’s finesse. Heck, he’d even settle for Jaxson’s bullheaded confidence right now. Lexi had always accused Lucas of being on the defensive where their cousins were concerned. “You need to stop comparing yourself to them,” Lexi said, “and be yourself. You are enough!”
Was he enough? He certainly didn’t feel like it. There was part of him that was riddled with holes. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t plug the leaks. The practical side of his brain insisted that all he could do was be himself and try to buff out the rough edges. He and Magnolia had decided to keep their stories as straightforward and close to the truth as possible. They’d reconnected when Lexi went to stay with Magnolia prior to the reality TV show. The narrative was short and sweet. He could handle that.
Lucas thought back to the handful of dates he and Magnolia had gone on. In some ways, it seemed like it was another lifetime. And then, in other ways, the foibles of the past still clung to them, wrapping them in a shroud of regrets that would be better off buried and forgotten. The night they went to the drive-in stood out in his mind. They’d connected, never running out of things to talk about. Lucas could tell that Magnolia was crazy about him. It scared him. Back then, he wasn’t anywhere near ready to settle down, so he’d played it cool, intending to politely put distance between him and Magnolia. She wasn’t going to have it, however. She pressed the issue, which led to their fight. They’d called each other names, said cutting things, and went their separate ways.
Now, here they were, years later. Life could be a strange beast sometimes. Snow was falling harder, sticking to the windshield despite the wipers’ efforts to wick it away. Magnolia stirred. Lucas tensed. She was not going to be happy when she learned that he’d taken a detour. There was a ranch for sale that he’d found online. According to the GPS, it would only take an extra hour to visit it. Lucas figured they’d might as well check it out while they were so close. It wasn’t as if an extra hour would make much difference in their schedule. Then again, with the snow coming down hard, they would be delayed more than an hour.
Turn right in two hundred feet, the GPS instructed.
He slowed, pulling onto a gravel road.
You have arrived, the GPS announced. Lucas surveyed the area. He’d hoped there might be a For Sale sign or ranch entrance—something to let him know that they were in the right place. But there was nothing.
Magnolia opened her eyes as she sat up and looked around. “Where are we?”
“I decided to take a detour,” he said casually. “There’s a ranch that I want to check out.”
Her eyes flew open wide. “And you picked today, of all days, to go and look at it?” Her expression held a mixture of disbelief and frustration.
“Yeah, the ranch was pretty much on the way. I figured it would be easier to look at it when we were in the area, rather than having to come back later.”
A layer of red seeped into her cheeks. “How much time is this going to cost us?”
“I figured it would take an extra hour.”
He could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She was irritated by his deviation from the schedule and yet, she was trying to be understanding. He admired that about Magnolia. How she was trying to find some common ground with him. Finally, she sighed. “Okay, that’s not too bad.” A second later, her voice pitched. “The snow’s coming down hard.” She threw him a worried glance. “It wouldn’t be good