He noticed, though. Every stupid bit of skin that had touched her burned like a hot iron, and he could feel some of that heat going to his face now.
Perfect.
“Right,” Kellie said, completely oblivious to Ryan’s soon-to-be blistering skin issue as she led Talia up the steps of the porch. “Let’s head in. Are you exhausted from your trip? You must have had an early flight.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Talia replied easily, though she still seemed uncomfortable somehow. Could have been being here, could have been Kellie’s nature, could have been whatever had broken her enough to send her here.
Ryan could see the tension and the strain, and he would bet a fortune Kellie could, too.
He’d never seen his sister at work, though she’d certainly done enough to help him out of his own personal mess. He wondered how she planned on helping Talia through her mess, and what would work for the spitfire.
He frowned at himself as he hauled the surprisingly heavy suitcase up the stairs. How in the world did he know she was a spitfire? She hadn’t barked, sniped, glowered, or fought in any way yet—she’d only said she couldn’t let go of things. She could have been the gentlest soul on the planet for all he knew.
But that wasn’t right. Couldn’t be.
Somehow, deep in his bones, he knew Talia was a spitfire, just like he knew he was gonna have to watch out for this one.
He could be in a whole heap of trouble if he wasn’t careful.
He entered the house with the suitcase in tow, closing the door and habitually wiping his boots on the thick mat there. Glancing down at it, he saw the remnants of his earlier muddy excursions and grinned to himself.
His sister would have no one to blame but herself for this mess. He was just doing as he was told.
And now, whistling to himself as he wheeled the suitcase in, he wouldn’t mind just leaving a bit of mud and dirt wherever it pleased his sister to lead him.
He was just being helpful, after all.
Talia had never spent any time on a ranch or a farm, or in any place remotely resembling Texas in her entire life, outside of field trips she’d taken as a kid. She hadn’t even been a chaperone on Austin’s field trip to a farm in the first grade, which hadn’t seemed to matter at the time, but now she wished she had. It might have come in handy being on this ranch now if she had managed to develop any sort of real appreciation for it.
She didn’t dislike the place, and actually liked the charm of the big house, but she had the unsettling feeling of being very, very small in a place where she would get lost in a heartbeat if she wasn’t trampled by angry cows first.
Did cows get angry?
It was a stupid thought to have as the chipper and friendly Kellie led her down the cozy halls of the place. How it was possible to have cozy halls in a house that was this large was astounding, but it managed to do so. It wasn’t ornate in any way, and Talia was actually looking forward to wandering the place later to look at every picture and examine every little detail of its arrangements. The decor resembled everything she’d thought a ranch house would have, though there were no hay bales being used as furniture, and she’d glimpsed a fantastic stone fireplace in the main room that she was dying to sit by.
But she wasn’t here to explore a house and sit by a fire that was completely unnecessary in the Texas heat.
She was broken, and she needed help.
She was broken.
Admitting it was probably the first step, right? She could admit it until she was blue in the face—that wasn’t her problem.
Doing something about it was the problem.
Doing anything about it was the problem.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Kellie was saying as she led Talia down the hall, “but we keep the rooms pretty simple. Feel free to put up any pictures or personal touches you like. Whatever you need to make it home.”
“Thanks,” Talia murmured, though she had nothing to put up. She hadn’t cared about personal touches in a long time, and any bed would do at this point. She glanced behind her to see Ryan following with her suitcase at a respectful distance.
There was something about the guy that she liked. Whether it was his soft drawl or his crooked smile she couldn’t tell, but he had been gentle as he’d pried her fingers from her bag, and there was the same warmth emanating from him as from his sister.
If nothing else, the Prosper siblings could make this trip worth it for her.
His blue eyes rose to hers, and she forgot to look away or pretend she hadn’t been eyeing him.
A small, crooked smile curved his lips, and something in Talia’s rib cage fluttered. She swallowed and turned back, shifting the leather strap of her purse onto her shoulder. “Is there a schedule for today, Kellie? I’ve never been to a place like this. I’m not sure …”
Kellie shook her head as she turned into a bedroom, stopping just inside and gesturing for Talia to enter. “Nope. First day is always more about settling you in than starting anything. We will have an intake interview at some point today. It’s …” She paused to check her watch. “It’s eleven now. Do you want to meet after lunch?”
“I’m not hungry,” Talia told her as she looked around the room, the single twin bed covered in a quilt looking more inviting than anything else she’d seen. “I grabbed something at the airport.”
“All right,” Kellie replied without seeming too concerned about it. “What about a rest? You deserve that, no question.”
Talia smiled at the sweet suggestion, and even more that it wasn’t in the least bit patronizing. She got the sense that there wouldn’t be many opportunities to rest during the day while she was here, so that might be something to take advantage of. “I’d love a nap, but we can talk first. I might sleep better after that.”
“Talkin’ with my sister would tucker anyone out,” Ryan drawled from behind them, his voice curling as much as his smile had done.
Talia glanced over just in time to see Kellie whack Ryan across the chest with a satisfying thump, though it sounded as if what she had hit was pretty solid.
Interesting.
Ryan chuckled at his sister and looked at Talia, laughter still in his eyes. “Where would you like this, ma’am?”
There was something about the way he said “ma’am” that was ticklish, which was a strange sensation. She’d hated that word, and hated being called it even more. It always sounded like something you said to an old woman who needed help to cross the street or who couldn’t reach the groceries she needed. It wasn’t something you called a woman who was turning twenty-six in a matter of weeks.
But when Ryan called her ma’am, there was nothing old-sounding about it.
It sounded more like a one-word country song.
“On the bed,” Talia told him quickly, resisting the urge to clear her throat. “Please.”
Ryan nodded, then gave his sister a dramatically thoughtful look. “This one says please. Nice.”
Kellie hit him again, this time on the arm. “Boy, I will tan your hide if you don’t get out of here the moment that suitcase hits the bed.”
In the process of moving that way, Ryan paused a step, looking back at her. “Well, then, it just might take me a minute to do that …” He exaggerated the next step, which was miniscule in comparison to the strides he had been taking.