Free Sunset Ranch by A. Destiny Page A

stared at myself in the mirror. “But what about the long sleeves?”
    â€œHere.” She jumped off the bed. “Do them like this.” She rolled them to my elbow, then undid one more snap down the front. “There. It looks cute. And you look like a real Colorado chick, which Stephen will love. His last girlfriend was a native, you know.”
    â€œ Last girlfriend.” I sank down on the bed and stared at her. It hadn’t even occurred to me that of course he must have had others. “What was she like? How ‘last’ was she?” I parted my hair in the middle and started twisting one side into a braid.
    Dana tilted her head. “Um, let’s see—well, it was last summer and she was one of the maids. I think she was a year older than him. They were super gushy—like every second you saw them together, they’d be holding hands. He called her Button, seriously.”
    â€œNo!” I snorted laughter. “Button?”
    Dana nodded. “Oh yeah, it was nauseating. I think they were in touch all year until pretty recently. Maren. That was her name. She was really short, like five feet, and sort of cute—really blond, blue eyes.”
    I finished doing my second braid and put down my brush. My giddiness trickled away like air from an old balloon. “And they were gushy?”
    Dana sat down beside me on the bed. “She was totally annoying. Everyone thought so.”
    â€œExcept Stephen.”
    â€œYeah.” Her voice was reluctant. “And Rick, actually. I think they knew each other from school. He used to go down to the laundry room and flirt with her.” She frowned. “Then Stephen and Rick had a big fight—over her, I guess. It was bad. They got into it during dinner one night, and Stephen actually shoved Rick over a bench. I thought Rick was going to tear Stephen’s head off with his bare hands. Both Jack and Miguel had to hold him back.”
    â€œSeriously?” I stared at her. “I can’t believe Stephen would hit Rick. He always seems kind of scared of him.”
    Dana shrugged. “Maybe he was mad his brother was flirting with Maren. It was pretty egregious of Rick. We were all kind of shocked he would be that obvious about it. Anyway, Stephen practically crawled on his knees in front of Rick the rest of the summer.”
    I could believe that. “What happened to Maren?”
    â€œShe left early. Some story about a place in an acting program opening up. But I think she wanted to leave after all that drama.” Dana got up from the bed and picked up her toothbrush.
    I stood up too, but more slowly. My mind was swimming with all she’d told me. I had the sense of a muddy, slow-moving river coursing beneath the peaceful pastures of the ranch. The water was murky and dark with memories.

ChapterSeven
    I walked down the dusty little path that twisted among thick clumps of silver-white sagebrush. The ground under my feet was hard, baked, the dirt a rich rosy orange. Reddish dust powdered my hiking boots and the hem of my jeans. Towering red rock rose on either side of the path. Their faces were faintly rough, porous, like adobe—not like Ohio’s shale. The corners of these giant rocks were rounded, holes and bridges carved out by thousands of years of wind. Some were twisted into weird shapes—little towers swirled like ice cream; round balls balanced on spires; platforms of rock extended out from the sheer sides. Every huge rock was studded with dozens of small holes, and now and then we passed a couple of rock ­climbers, clinging to the walls like giant, brightly colored spiders.
    The air down on the trail was absolutely still, held in by the sun-warmed rocks, and scented with the sharp fragrance of sage. I stopped to inspect a little orange-and-purple flower that grew close to the ground. It reminded me of a little flame held between stiff green leaves. “Indian paintbrush,”