Free A Family Name by Liz Botts

live?"
    Will chuckled. "Wyatt lives in the apartment
above the horse barn."
    Lexi wrinkled her nose. "That's so gross.
That means he smells horse poop all the time."
    Charlotte burst out laughing and Will laughed
harder. He felt better suddenly, the pain that had threatened
earlier leaving him as quickly as it had started. Maybe Charlotte
and Lexi were the elusive cure for his migraines.
     
    ****
     
    Despite the general feelings of good will and
friendliness flowing all over the place, Charlotte knew that just
agreeing to walk around the ranch meant that she had compromised
the upper hand. The more time Lexi spent there, the more she would
want to move there. And who could blame her? Will's ranch was a
dream that Charlotte had harbored her entire life, especially her
teenage years growing up in her foster family's cramped two bedroom
apartment. Space to roam. Horses to ride. Family to come home
to.
    "Lexi, we need to go soon. I have some work I
need to go over." Charlotte hated the way her voice sounded as soon
as the words left her mouth. The sternness didn't sit well on her,
and she longed to shrug it off like a coat on a warm spring day.
Still, the tiny sane part of her brain told her that enough was
enough. She would most likely lose her job over all this, and if
they stayed even a minute longer she wouldn't care. She would pack
them up and move them here herself. The craziness of the idea made
her dizzy.
    Charlotte felt herself sway slightly, and
reached out for the nearest something to steady herself. That just
happened to be Will's arm. Embarrassed she jerked back, nearly
stumbling over a small tree root as she did so. Will reached out
and caught her before anything could happen. He kept a solid arm
firmly around her shoulders as he drew her gently back to his
chest. She leaned her head back against him briefly, loving the
feel of the firm muscles under the soft flannel.
    "Are you okay?"
    The sound of Will's concerned voice snapped
Charlotte firmly back into reality. Embarrassment flooded her as
she stepped back quickly.
    "I'm fine," she mumbled, not quite able to
look Will in the eye. Her gaze landed squarely on his nose. "Just
not used to this elevation."
    Will laughed, the chuckle rolling deep in his
throat. "Yeah, Rapid City is so much lower than Mountain View."
    Charlotte looked up at him, and felt the heat
on her neck and cheeks deepen as he winked. Thoughts flooded her
head, but they were too jumbled for her to sort out. All she knew
was that she needed to step away from him because he acted as a
scrambler for her common sense.
    "Are you guys coming or what?" Lexi called
from down the path.
    "We'll be right there," Will called back. He
waited a beat, and then asked, "So, you're sure you feel okay? I
mean, we can go back to the house if you need to."
    Charlotte shook her head. "I'm fine."
    She hoped he couldn't tell that she was
lying. The way Will studied her made her squirm inside. It was
almost like he could read her thoughts. She had never felt so
tongue-tied around a man before, not even when her first big crush
asked her to a dance in eighth grade. Ever since Will had run into
her car he had invaded her mind at the most inappropriate times.
And now here he was again invading the life that she had so
carefully set up and envisioned. She cursed herself for getting
caught up in dreams that couldn't come true, that had no way of
coming true. She had worked in her field long enough to know that
no placement was ever truly permanent, unless adoption was
involved.
    "Dad, what is that awesome house out there in
the field?" Lexi came sprinting up the path toward them. Her choice
of words was not lost on Charlotte, and a glance at Will told him
he was affected by it as well.
    Will cleared his throat. "That's the original
farmstead," he said, his voice breaking.
    Charlotte felt herself wobble again at the
sound. Was that a real wobble or did she just imagine it? She knew
she couldn't let this man affect her like