Chapter Twenty
Stan had never been much of a joiner. There was the ranch life to one side, with him and his dogs on the other. And now he wondered why he’d been that way.
Here he was, sitting on the ground to one side of the campfire circle. Jodie sat between his legs and leaned back against him as if it was the most natural thing. A beer in his hooks and a woman in his arm. It was so…normal.
Luke and Zoe sat much as he did. Patrick was over with the remaining ranch guests on the other side of the fire. It was changeover night, so any one-week guests had left this afternoon and only a handful of multi-weekers remained. Chelsea was over there, as well as some of the other hands. Lauren and Emily were sitting comfortably nearby as a buffer on his other side.
Sparks were dancing up into t
