Right Move (Clean Slate Ranch #6) - A.M. Arthur Page 0,5

each other hard and for a long time, but Levi was glad Robin had moved on. He was house hunting still with his boyfriend, Shawn, and they were a lovely, committed couple.

The sort of relationship Levi craved more and more, but he lived in a semiremote area now, which made meeting people kind of tough. Dating apps hadn’t netted him much success in the past. And visitors to Bentley were usually not locals so flirting there was a waste of time. Maybe some people simply didn’t get that one big love of their life, while other people like Robin got two.

Didn’t mean Levi would stop trying. Hell, today’s Thanksgiving dinner would be full of people he didn’t know, including ranch staff and Garrett locals. Maybe he’d luck into someone—if for nothing else, a good roll in the hay.

Dinner officially began at two but guests were allowed to start arriving any time after noon. Since Levi lived a brief five-minute walk from his destination, he left at right around arrival time with his platter of cut cornpone. He loved the bit of land he was currently parked on, secluded from all roads without feeling too desolate or remote. Levi had gotten used to campgrounds and similar areas to park his home, so the isolation was new. Ginger darted out of the brush and trailed him for a few dozen yards before retreating, as was her habit. Even when he went running in the morning, she followed him for a bit before turning back.

Such a mama cat.

Not that she’d ever be an actual mama, because he’d gotten all three of his kitties spayed as soon as they were old enough.

The collection of vehicles parked around the Garrett-Bentley house came into view before the actual structure. Levi hadn’t been around last year for the celebration but he had to wonder how that many people fit inside the smallish, two-story cabin. Robin had mentioned that a lot of the ranch staff who attended carpooled but that was still a heck of a lot of vehicles.

He was more familiar with the employees of Bentley Ghost Town than of the neighboring Clean Slate Ranch, but he was very good with faces, and Levi exchanged greetings with several people as soon as he entered the house. It had a log cabin exterior, but the inside was an eclectic mix of styles. The first floor had a huge open living space, with the social area near the door and a long dining table in the rear near a bank of wide windows. The view was gorgeous. To the left were stairs to the master loft, and below that was the kitchen and spare rooms.

Levi liked the design of the place a lot, and it was already swarming with people.

Wes Bentley, one half of the duo who owned the place, popped right over with a bright smile. “Hey, welcome! You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“I know but this is a family favorite.” He handed over the platter. “Cornpone. Like cornbread, only way better.”

“Excellent. Drinks are in coolers over there. Please help yourself. And there are appetizers on the table already.” Wes bounced away with the platter, his energy already infectious when the guy had probably been cooking for hours by now.

Levi had liked Wes from the moment he met the high-strung actor, much like he’d liked Wes’s bear of a boyfriend Mack Garrett, who was also Levi’s boss up at Bentley. The names could confuse folks a bit—after all, how many couples lived between towns named after them—but they were good people. He spotted Mack in the kitchen with an older lady he guessed to be Wes’s mother, as she’d been named one of the primary participants in cooking today’s menu.

While Levi could hold a conversation with just about anyone, he poured himself a plastic cup of root beer and lingered by the coat closet, watching rather than participating. The slowly growing crowd was a mix of straight and queer couples, as well as single folks like himself. He spotted the owner of Clean Slate Ranch, along with the man’s foreman and the lady who ran the guesthouse. More ranch hands. One of the servers from the ghost town’s saloon.

When Robin and Shawn arrived, Levi exchanged brief hugs with both men. He genuinely liked Shawn, who was quiet and polite and made Robin shine like the sun when Robin smiled at him. The kind of in love Levi missed, but he also wasn’t sure he wanted to risk another