“He might be on to something though. To him, you and Jesse are old as fuck.”
“How is thirty-two and thirty-four old as fuck!?”
“I don’t make the rules, man. I’m just saying. And there won’t be any Pleasants from our line to leave this place to if one of you don’t meet a woman at some point.”
“Yeah, I’ll ask Evie how she feels about the concept of heirs as soon as you fly Natalie over to—”
“Natalie and I . . .”
“You what? Oh! That’s why you came back.”
“Yeah, that’s over. It was my first time meeting her parents, and the second we get off the plane she tells her mom she’s expecting a proposal any day.” That stopped Zach in his tracks. “That’s what I’m saying!” Sam said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I very calmly told her that I wasn’t there yet.”
“You guys have been dating for three months.”
“I know, man.”
“Well, she tripped herself up there. Did you know Jesse was Evie’s emergency contact?” Zach knew he should let it go, but the fact that his brother and Evie had been in touch this whole time was still working his nerves. What else didn’t he know?
“No.”
Zach pulled a fresh T-shirt over his head, then turned back to Sam. He knew when his brother was up to something. “But you’ve kept in touch with her too, haven’t you?”
“Yes . . .”
“What the fuck?”
“Listen, that beef was between you two. We’ve been friends on Facebook and then Instagram this whole time, and then I ran into her at this thing in the Hamptons last year. She asked about you, but you know Evie. It was mostly shit-talking, and then she had to go kiss some network ass. What do you want me to say?” Sam laughed.
“Nothing. Just like your ass did this whole time. You and Jesse. Man, I swear.”
“Oh, come on. What? We were keeping you from the love of your life?”
Zach spun on his brother and pointed a finger right in his face. “Exactly.”
Sam laughed, shaking his head. “So you going to give it the old college try now? After how many years of acting like the idea of you and her was big nay-nope? Now that she can’t freaking remember you?”
“One, she does remember me. Sort of.” Zach told him about how he accidentally made her cry and she told him about the dreams. “She remembers parts of me.”
“Yeah, ’cause she was in love with you.”
Zach sat on the edge of the bed and tugged on some fresh socks. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
“You don’t know how badly I wish I could stick around and watch you fuck this up.”
“Yeah, she’ll come around and stab me with a fork any day now. But in the meantime, let’s ride.” Zach clapped his baby brother on the back, then the two of them headed over to the ranch.
Chapter 8
A ride, even a short one, was just what Zach needed. He and Sam saddled their horses, then set out on Cooper’s Trail, the wider, smoother trail that made it easier to ride Majesty and Steve side by side. Sam had stories and jokes, but they were both quiet after a while. Zach was indifferent to Natalie, but he couldn’t pretend his brother hadn’t just gone through a breakup, even if Sam had jumped off the subject faster than he’d brought it up. Natalie meant something to Sam if he’d agreed to go meet her folks for Christmas, and the breakup had to have been brutal enough for Sam to hop on a flight right back home. Zach made a mental note to check up on Sam over the next couple of weeks, even if his brother was busy doing his Hollywood thing.
They turned back as the sun started to set, and as they headed back to the stables, Sam told him more about some projects his management had lined up for him. It was a good distraction, hearing about his brother’s career. It kept all his thoughts about Evie at bay for a little bit longer.
“I know I won’t win shit, but I do want something I can get a nomination for,” Sam said as they finished rubbing their horses down. They stopped their conversation as a few guests kicked up a fuss, wanting to see the horses even though all equine activities were done for the day. He saved Kurt, Felix’s right hand, the stress of persuading the guests to head back for dinner by offering to give them a quick tour himself.
Kurt finished up with Steve and got him settled in his stall while Zach took his sweet-ass time introducing the couple to nearly half of the over seventy horses they housed at Big Rock. He loaded the couple from Portland down with so much horse-related information they were anxiously eyeing the exit as he launched into the breeding history of draft horses and why, though they weren’t as exciting as thoroughbreds, they still did an important job at the ranch, providing the literal horsepower to cart visitors on the extra-fun hayrides. He did this whole song-and-dance in a fake Southern accent, mind you.
When they finally excused themselves for dinner, Zach felt like he’d given them their money’s worth. Distracted them from possibly recognizing Sam too.