She widened her eyes, shooing him away. “Yeah, I am, and yes, the gravy is supposed to have those little bubbles, unless you want it to be lukewarm and basically curdling.”
“That sounds disgusting, and I may lose my appetite,” Ryan proclaimed as he made a face, turning away from the kitchen to pat his stomach.
“With the aromas comin’ from that oven, you must have the intelligence of a gnat,” drawled the annoyingly fit form of Westin Farr from farther down the counter, where he was almost gleefully mashing potatoes.
Ryan scowled at his old friend. “Just because you’re the biggest brownnoser this side of the Mississippi doesn’t make you right.”
“You leave West alone,” Kellie scolded as she opened the oven to check on the chicken fried steak. “He was nice enough to offer to help, unlike someone else.”
“Yeah, Reid,” Ryan barked, turning to scold the dark-haired guy standing by the table, watching the scene in the kitchen like it was some sporting event. “You could have offered.”
Reid Browning flicked a crooked smile in their direction. “I know where my skills lie, and they are not in the kitchen. Kellie knows she can ask me to carry this or hold that, but unless otherwise instructed, I’m gonna stand right here.”
“Yeah, where it’s safer!” Kellie laughed, tossing a grin over her shoulder. “I haven’t forgotten the scrambled eggs incident, Reid. I think there’s still soot from that fiasco around here.”
West snorted a laugh as he continued his mashing. “Did you lose both eyebrows on that one, Chute Boss, or just the left one?”
Reid returned the laugh with a mocking one of his own. “Very funny. Can we just agree that I’m doing the most helpful thing I’m capable of by being over here? Ryan’s just being a pest.”
“Supervising,” Ryan corrected, picking up the basket of bread and bringing it to the table as though he had intended to do that all along. “Very important.” He looked down at the basket, then turned to look at his sister with folded arms. “What happened to making another loaf, Kells? This ain’t your work.”
“You really gonna talk to a lady like that, Prosper?” another voice drawled from beyond the screened porch door. “I see your manners ain’t improved much.”
Ryan felt his mouth spread in a wide grin before adopting the doleful expression of a younger brother. “My sister is no lady to me, Lars, and that’s just the way it is.”
The porch door opened, and three men walked in, each face a more welcome sight than Ryan could have predicted.
It really had been too long.
“Hats off, boys,” Kellie hollered without looking, and they all complied in smooth motions.
“Hey, boys,” Eric Davis greeted, his towheaded blond hair slightly matted from the hat. “Kellie.”
Ryan strode over to them, shaking hands and clapping them on the back. “Thanks for showing up, guys. Good to see you.”
“It’s better to see your sister, I reckon,” Eric admitted, his gaze moving to the kitchen. “Lookin’ good, Kells. Been a long time.”
Kellie came around the counter, smiling as though the gang had come just for her. “Sure has, Eric, but your flirting hasn’t improved. Good gravy, y’all look exactly the same.”
“Beggin’ your pardon, Miss Kellie,” Ford Hopkins grunted from behind the other two, “but I have put on a good twenty pounds since I saw you last, and it’s all muscle.”
“Between the ears, maybe,” Lars Jackson guffawed, slapping Ford on the back. “Not anywhere else.” He looked at Kellie and sobered a little, nodding. “Thanks for having us here, Kellie. ’Specially on short notice. I know Ryan probably didn’t warn you.”
“Not much has changed there, that’s for sure,” Kellie confirmed. She smiled at them all, sighing just a little. “I never thought I’d say it, but you are a sight for sore eyes.”
“I know,” Reid admitted soberly. “I have that effect on people.”
Ryan coughed a laugh, and the others chortled along with him, the dynamic between them so familiar, it was as though no time had passed since they’d last rode or competed together.
They’d been at a lot of the same rodeos since leaving college, so their paths had crossed more often than not, but since his injury, Ryan had taken no pains to stay in touch. That sort of thing didn’t matter too much, all things considered, but it bothered him now. They’d been close once, but the years had given them some distance. There had been a close camaraderie in their days as a team, and that sort of bond didn’t have an easy definition. It was a brotherhood of sorts, even on the days when they couldn’t stand each other. Even when they competed against each other, they always had a mutual respect and understanding that you couldn’t find anywhere else.
There was a kinship between almost all rodeo riders, really, but what the Original Six had …
Well, it was different, and that’s all Ryan knew.
And he’d missed it.
A motion beyond the kitchen caught his eye, and he watched the petite figure of Talia James move into the great room just beyond the dining room. Her eyes darted to their gathering, though she wouldn’t have seen all of them, given the angle and the doorway, but it was clear she was trying to be discreet for whatever reason.
Maybe to give them privacy? Or to go undetected? Whatever it was, he found it oddly adorable that she was actually tiptoeing into the room like it was Christmas morning, her fuzzy socks pulled up over the leggings she wore. With the distance from here to there, they wouldn’t have heard her unless she marched in, but the effort was cute. Why she thought she needed to be so quiet and unobserved was curious, though. There were rules at the ranch, but not involving the actual rooms of the homestead. She could come and go as she pleased, and they were well used to guests coming into the kitchen during all sorts of family dinners.
Not that Talia would know that, or the guys, for that matter. Kellie’s takeover and renaming of the place had happened well after their college days, but none of them would care if Talia wandered in. Heck, they’d probably invite her to sit down with them and start trying to make her blush with compliments.
But it was clear she had no intention of coming into the dining room and kitchen area; she just sat on the hearth of the stone fireplace. There wasn’t even a fire going, but she sat there, looking into it as though the hypnotic motion of the flames captured her attention.
“I thought the guests went out for the evening,” Ryan murmured to his sister as the guys joked with each other about something.
She followed his gaze and made a noncommittal noise. “Talia’s new, and one therapy session with the others hasn’t been enough to make her comfortable. She just wanted a quiet evening here. I offered to have her join us, but …”
Ryan frowned just a little, though he shouldn’t have been surprised.
He had seen and met and worked alongside enough of the ranch guests to understand that time was always a key factor, as was patience. His sister was well trained, well educated, and damn good at her job, if the praises sung by her former guests were anything to go by. She had found a way to help all of them, and she would do the same with Talia.