Wild Trail (Clean Slate Ranch #1)(5)

He angled the rearview to get a look at Sophie’s fiancé, Conrad Massey, whose exaggerated frown at the passing town almost made him laugh. Conrad was a city boy like the rest of them, and he didn’t hide his emotions well—something Wes really liked about him. Wes had no more time for secrets or lying, so he looked forward to having a brother-in-law who spoke his mind and didn’t hold things in.

“The town’s not much,” Wes said to all four of his passengers, “but the pictures from the ranch are amazing.”

“I think the town’s quaint.” The unexpected comment from Miles Arlington surprised Wes into angling the mirror again. He caught a snatch of Miles’s ashy brown hair, but his face was hidden by Wes’s headrest. Conrad’s brother Derrick was squashed into the middle seat, even though Miles was the smallest of the three guys in the back. After they’d packed up the SUV, Miles had pulled Wes aside and flat-out refused to be sandwiched between the two big men for close to an hour.

Wes had acquiesced quickly. Miles had been his coworker for about two years, and roommate for almost a year. He was the quiet to Wes’s loud, the tame to his flashy. And Miles needed a week away from the city more than anyone else in the car. Something had been off with him for a couple of weeks now, and Wes was starting to worry.

“Quaint is one word for it,” Sophie said. “It’s like the place went to sleep in 1975 and never woke up again.”

“Like an American Sleeping Beauty, only without the thorns,” Wes added.

“At least there are people. Look.” She pointed at a pair of elderly men hobbling along the sidewalk, each walking a dog on a leash. “That’s adorable. I wonder if they’re a couple.”

Wes snorted. “I doubt it. Why any gay man would live in Podunk, California, when San Fran is so close is too insane to ponder. No, the dog walking is probably their daily exercise regime, followed by checkers at the local park.”

“You think this place is big enough for a park?”

“You guys really gonna rag on the town this whole time?” Derrick asked, speaking for the first time in at least half an hour. Dude sounded kind of annoyed. Wes didn’t know him as well as Conrad, and it dawned on him that the Massey brothers had been born and raised in a Podunk town like this, and Derrick still lived in one. He hadn’t grown up and moved to the glory that was San Francisco like his brother.

“Sorry,” Wes said. He could be overbearing at times, but he was also fully aware of being overbearing. Sophie said it was part of his charm. Wes was pretty sure it was why he was chronically single.

Whatever. Men were too damned complicated, anyway.

Why couldn’t I have been born bi or pan? Women are so chill.

His GPS told him to make a right in half a mile. The directions he’d read online said to look for two big boulders. Sure enough, two big boulders marked either side of a dirt road. The place didn’t have the expected big wooden sign hanging between wooden poles, announcing the name of the place. Instead, the boulder on the right had the name chiseled into it.

He nearly bit his tongue off after he hit the first pothole only a few feet onto the road. “Holy shit.”

“Slow down, your shocks can’t take this,” Conrad said. “Damn, man.”

“Sorry!” Wes eased off the accelerator—not only to be nicer to the vehicle and his passengers, but also to take in the view on both sides of the road. Sprawling grassland, distant mountain peaks, tall trees and swooping birds. It was like something out of the movies, and Wes didn’t usually wax poetic about the outdoors.

A chain-link fence surrounded a big patch of dusty ground that was supposed to be the parking lot. Four other cars were already in the lot. Everyone was supposed to be there by 10:00 a.m. for the ride up to the main ranch, and they were right on time. He’d read about this part, but hadn’t told the others. Surprises were part of the fun.

“Wes, what’s this?” Sophie asked.

“This is where we get picked up.” Wes parked next to a blue minivan, then shut the SUV off with a flourish. “This is as far as we drive, lady and gents.”

“How do we get to the ranch? Are they bussing us?”

“Better.” Wes hated seeing Sophie so confused, but her reaction to their historical transportation would be worth it. He hit the locks, then popped the rear compartment. “Grab your shit.”

They’d picked Sophie’s vehicle for the trip because it had the most space for everyone’s luggage. Wes had agreed to drive in order to secretly soften the blow of planting her baby in a parking lot for a week.

Other folks were milling around the lot, chatting and waiting to be picked up. Wes ignored most of them while he and his friends pulled suitcases and travel bags out of the SUV and piled them with the other luggage under a sign marked Luggage Drop-Off. Miles rescued his digital camera before stepping away from his bag.

An excited screech rose up from near the minivan. A little boy was jumping up and down, waving into the distance. Another boy similar in age joined him, followed by a pair of women who looked extremely similar in appearance. Sisters? Best friends? Wives? The ranch advertised as being LGBT friendly, so anything was possible.

“Is that our ride?” Sophie asked.

Wes followed the direction the boy was pointing. From over a bend in the road, two horses pulled a large, uncovered wagon toward them at a steady pace. “Yup,” he replied. “Old-fashioned experience from the start.”