“Huh. Cleaner than I thought it would be,” Wyatt Weston said as he threw open the door to what he’d said was the cabin Travis would be staying in.

Travis laughed as he lugged in the bags of clothes and boots he’d bought at the general store—the warmest ones he could find. Mostly flannel, which was something he’d never worn before in his entire life.

“Daniella’s not into cleaning, I guess?”

Wyatt stopped and turned to look at Travis, his eyes wide. “Daniella? You called her that?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I did. It’s what was on the envelope.”

“And you survived. Huh,” Wyatt said. He dropped the bags he’d carried in on the kitchen counter and opened the refrigerator—empty, Travis noticed, and he was glad he’d run to get some groceries before they’d headed to the cabin.

“You guys don’t call her that?” He’d spent the day with Wyatt and they hadn’t even brought up Dani—he supposed he should call her Dani to protect himself—or any of the other Westons, for that matter. Wyatt had given him a run-down on the history of the ranch, what each facility did and Travis had been amazed at the size of the operation.

“Heck, no. We like to keep the peace around here.” Wyatt finished unloading the groceries and looked around, his hands on his hips. “I guess she must like us a little bit,” he said as he picked up the lone picture in the cabin—his parents and all his siblings. None of them had been married then—and so much had changed. He and Kelsi both had little ones on the way, and their parents had missed it all. He shook his head slowly and placed the picture in one of the drawers.

“Your parents didn’t mention that,” Travis said as he pulled some things back out of the cupboard. The kitchen seemed pretty well stocked with pots and pans and spices, and he hadn’t eaten much since breakfast. “They did talk about the ranch a lot, and how much they love it.”

“Huh. Couldn’t tell that right about now. They’ve been gone for almost a year.”

Travis didn’t know Wyatt well enough read his voice, but he sounded a little—not miffed. Maybe sad?

“Do you know how long they plan to be gone?” Travis asked as he reached for a pan under the stove. “They didn’t mention it to me.”

“No, I don’t. All I know is I hope they’re planning to be back for Kelsi’s baby, or I wouldn’t want to be them. But I stay out of it. I know what’s good for me.”

Travis laughed and hung his coat on the rack by the door. “I guess. I wouldn’t know. No family on my end.”

Wyatt pushed his hat back up on his forehead and looked Travis in the eye. “I might make some swipes here and there, but I can’t even imagine what it would be like not to have family. And a ton of family, at that.” He glanced at his watch and rubbed his hands together. “Speaking of family, Belinda’ll be waiting for me, so I’ll say goodbye. You okay on your own tonight? I can set you up with some things to do for a few days. And you’re always welcome to jump in over at the stables or the mechanics’ barn.

“No, I’ll be fine. Long day—not sure how you do that. My job’s a lot easier.”

“Driving race cars? I don’t know about easy, but it sure sounds fun. You’ll have to tell me more about it tomorrow,” Wyatt said and tipped his hat at Travis. “Nice to meet you, Travis. Look forward to seeing you again.”

“Same here, Wyatt. Thanks, and the ranch sure didn’t need to pick up the tab for my clothes. I could have done that.”

Wyatt waved him off. “Least we could do since you drove across the country with a truck for us. Happy to do it.”

“Well, thanks very much,” Travis said as he unbuttoned one of the new plaid flannel shirts and put it on over his t-shirt. He’d been freezing all day and the fuzzy fabric actually felt great—and warm.

“Ha, you look like you’ve lived here all your life, except for the creases where it was folded,” Wyatt said with a laugh as he reached for the door.

Travis looked down and smiled. Guess he was going to look like an outsider for a while yet, and it made sense—he was completely out of his element at the moment. But it was fun so far, and Wyatt and the other Westons he’d met today—Wes and Will—were all great guys, each offering to show him around during his stay and he looked forward to taking them up on it.

He cut up the meat he’d gotten at the store and dredged it in the flour he found in the cupboard. He got the stew together and set it to simmer—sounded like the perfect thing to make in the snow—and he sat down on the coach just as the final rays of the sun disappeared behind the massive mountains that surrounded the valley. He stood mesmerized at the plate glass window as the mountains turned pink, then purple and the sky changed with them.

He leaned back and looked around his cabin—not much to it, but it was clean and comfortable, the walls lined with knotty pine. No pictures, nothing at all that would lead him to believe that Dani lived here. Or anybody, for that matter.

He leaned back on the couch and reached for the TV remote. It had to be there somewhere, as there was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall opposite. He wasn’t much of a TV watcher, but he’d had a long day and he might be able to find a race or a re-run of one to check out his competition.

There was nothing on the coffee table, and he lifted up one of the couch cushions to check. Nothing.

He reached for the fuzzy throw at the end of the couch and lifted it up, blinking several times as a pair of green eyes blinked up at him, and a kitten yawned before settling its head back on its paws.

“Hey, there,” he said as he pushed the blanket back from the gray cat, small stripes running down to its white, furry feet.

The cat—more likely a kitten, he thought—stood and stretched, walking across the couch and plopping itself down in his lap. He stared at it for a moment before he tentatively brushed his hand across its head and was rewarded with a loud purr.

“Huh,” he said, surprised. He’d moved around most of his adult life—and his childhood, for that matter—and was never in one place long enough to have a pet. Dog or cat. So this was a new experience, and he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. He couldn’t imagine Dani hadn’t taken the cat with her.

He rubbed his finger under the cat’s chin, hoping to find a collar so he’d at least know its name. The cat yawned again and stood, and he winced as it stretched his claws that went right through his thin, cotton pants and eyed the sturdier ones across the room.

The cat jumped on the floor and headed toward the small kitchen, sniffing at an empty bowl next to a bowl of water.

“Oh, you’re probably hungry,” he said and he was pretty sure that he hadn’t seen any cat food but thought he should look again. Worst case, he could give it some milk...or maybe a little of the tuna he’d bought.

He didn’t find any cat food, so reached for the tuna. He rummaged through the drawers looking for a can opener. In the third drawer he checked, his fingers rested on an upside down picture frame and he pulled it out, setting it on the counter and reaching back in the drawer for the can opener that was behind it.

He’d barely opened the can when the cat brushed between his legs and purred even louder, doing a figure eight as he spooned a little of the fish into a small bowl and set it on the floor.

He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, watching as the cat licked the bowl clean. His gaze drifted from the cat as it settled back on its blanket to the framed picture.

Westons—all of them. He looked from one Weston to another—four men and the twins, Kelsi and Dani, all with kind, friendly ice blue eyes. In the middle of them all, he recognized Mr. and Mrs. Weston immediately, and he smiled and silently thanked them for sharing their family with him—even if it was only for a little while.