And now, for some reason, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. The fact that she had...

She had cried.

She’d had sex with Gabe, and then she had cried like a baby. It was the most horrific, awful thing she could even think of. And yet it was her life. It was what she’d done.

And she had no one she could confess that to.

It would require having so many other conversations she didn’t want to have. Thankfully, everybody finished breakfast pretty quickly. On Saturday mornings there wasn’t much time to dawdle. It was high season, and weekends were always packed out at the ranch these days. Jamie had a ride starting soon, so they could beat the heat. But when everybody dispersed, Wyatt held back.

“Is something going on?” he asked.

“Why do you...? Why do you think that?” she asked.

“You’ve been moody.”

“I’m not moody,” she said, realizing that her protest sounded a bit moody indeed.

“Look, I’m sorry about the other night. I told Lindy what happened, and she said that I was being a dick. I didn’t realize that you wanted to hang out.”

“Oh. I didn’t really. It was fine.”

“No,” he said. “That’s what I thought. I thought you were being a brat, and throwing a fit about dinner. But that wasn’t it, was it?”

“Look, Wyatt, it’s not a big deal.”

“I know things have changed a lot around here,” he said. “I know that with Dad leaving, and Lindy and I getting married...”

“I’m happy for Dad. Freda is great. She’s been awesome for him. Even though they’re in New Mexico and we don’t see them very often, it matters to me that he’s happy. I’m happy for you. I’m happy for Bennett. I’m happy for Grant.”

“Jamie, I’m not saying you aren’t happy for us. But it’s changed things. And it’s easy for me to get so wrapped up in being married...”

“You should be. At least, I think maybe you should be. Wyatt, we didn’t grow up with married people. How would we know? We just had what we had. I am happy for you. And you don’t need to placate me.”

“I don’t want to placate you. But sometimes... Sometimes, Jamie, I think you’re bulletproof. At the same time, sometimes I’m so aware that you’re my younger sister. Twelve years younger. That’s a lot of years.”

She wondered exactly how much older than her Gabe was, and what Wyatt would think of all that.

She decided she didn’t want to know the answer to either question.

“I think that’s why sometimes things can be difficult between us. Because I think I overprotect you sometimes when I shouldn’t, and don’t protect you at all when I should. The other night is a good example of that. I can’t be acting like you can’t go out and handle a job with Gabe Dalton, and then ignore the fact that you’re obviously feeling a little bit lonely.”

“I’m not lonely,” she said, drawing back, feeling snappish and exposed, mostly because she felt raw, anyway, and to have Wyatt get up in her face about her feelings right now was truly the last thing she wanted.