Page 26 of Long Hard Road
“Evan did not trap me here,” she snapped. Then she smiled at me. “But he did woo me a little bit.”
“You aren’t from the area?” I asked, ignoring Chase’s pointed comment about Nate wooing me.
Lily shook her head and held open the door that led to the back deck. “I moved here from Denver. I was actually roommates with Harper in college. They needed some help with their books a few months back and I agreed to help out. After charming Evan into not throwing me off his ranch, he fell madly in love with me and now I have no intention of ever leaving.” Her smile was one of the happiest I had ever seen. “How about you, Madison? Where are you from?”
“Nashville, most recently. I’ve lived a few different places, though.” I actually had homes in four different states. My primary home was out in Los Angeles because that was where I spent most of my time when I was filming. But I also had a condo in New York for when I had business on the east coast and I’d recently bought a place in Nashville to be closer to my recording studio. I also owned my parents’ home in Alabama, but I hadn’t been back there in years.
“Oh really? Where?” Lily was just being her usual friendly self, but I was instantly uncomfortable.
“Um, well a lot of places. I was born in Alabama.” I tucked my hair behind my ears, resorting to my favorite nervous gesture.
“Madi?” Lily lowered her voice so that even the guys couldn’t hear us as we took the steps down to the stone path leading onto the ranch. “I know who you are.”
“What?” My heart thudded and my steps faltered enough that Nate lunged forward to grab my arm.
“You alright, angel?” he asked, letting that term of endearment slip for the first time in front of his family.
“I’m fine.” I spared just a quick glance at him and it was enough for him to see the shock in my eyes.
“She’s fine.” Lily swatted his hand away from my arm and replaced it with hers. “Now stay back and let the girls chat.”
Nate kept his eyes on me and I gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine,” I repeated.
“Let’s head toward the stables. One of our carriages should be available.” Lily yanked me forward and lowered her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Evan’s daughter is kind of your biggest fan, so I’ve seen your face plastered on her bedroom wall. I take it you’re trying to keep a low profile in Crestwood and I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Thank you.” I believed her. Lily was someone I could trust with my secret, just like Nate.
“Does he know?” she asked.
I nodded. “He figured it out right away for the same reason as you. Do you think Chase knows? Or Harper?”
“Harper doesn’t or she already would’ve told me. Chase pays zero attention to anything happening outside of Crestwood so your identity wouldn’t mean anything to him even if he did know.” Lily squeezed my arm. “Your secret is safe with us.”
It turned out that the carriage had just left with some of the ranch guests, so we continued our tour of the ranch instead. Lily showed me stables that held beautiful horses. In the nicer weather, they offered riding lessons on the ranch and took people out for long rides over the land. In the winter, the horses didn’t get as much activity. A few of them were used for the horse-drawn carriage rides, but most of them spent their winters relaxing.
“We are building an indoor arena on the other side of the big pond,” Lily said. “Then we’ll be able to utilize the horses in all seasons.”
She had a plan for everything. As she listed the dozens of projects they would be implementing in the next few months, Chase filled in the details. A lot of the work was being done by the Sullivan men and it was impressive to see what they were able to accomplish as a family.
The highlight of the tour for me was the Airstream village. Two dozen of the shiny structures were arranged around multiple campfires. Each Airstream had a different brightly colored door with white lights strung between them that sparkled off the snowy backdrop. A couple of families were relaxing in front of roaring fires.
“This is where we put the families. These Airstreams are a little larger than the ones back that way,” Lily explained.
“That’s where we put the couples. Small Airstreams that are better reinforced in case of some wild nights.” Chase looked at Nate and then at me. “Want me to book you one for a few nights?”
“Actually, yes.” I laughed at the shocked expression on everyone’s faces. “I don’t need one of the reinforced ones, but I’d love to stay on this ranch. It’s so inviting, even buried in all this snow.”
“You haven’t seen the hot tubs yet.” Lily threw an arm around my shoulders. “I think I’ve got the perfect Airstream for you.”
We ended the tour at a recently flattened section of land where they would be adding guest cottages over the next year. These would offer multi-bedroom lodging and kitchenettes.
“We’ve got some great trails for hiking most of the year and then cross-country skiing in the snow.” Lily kept waving her arm in different directions as she laid out the plans. “These cottages should help us book even more weddings, too. We’ll have an extra nice one for a honeymoon suite and then enough other ones to host wedding guests.”
“I love all of it. It sounds like a lot of work.” I took a deep breath of the cool mountain air and felt it deep in my bones. “I can see why you decided to stay here, Lily.”
Nate and Chase had wandered away to survey a drainage system that had recently been dug. They were engaged in an intense debate about something and I was completely enraptured by Nate’s fierce focus. His strong jaw was even more defined as it clenched at something that Chase said.
“I love Crestwood,” Lily said. “But that’s not the only reason I stayed.”