“Thank you,” I manage to say softly. “It really means a lot to me to hear that.”
Perhaps sensing my apprehension around the subject of weight, Shane picks up the platter of spaghetti and meatballs and scrapes more onto my still full plate. “Just so you know we mean it,” he offers with a flirtatious wink. “I want you to finish this plate because sweetheart, you’d look even better if you put on twenty pounds.”
Laughing outright now, I smile at each brother in turn, wondering what in my dirty past I managed to get right so that I ended up here, with Stanton and Shane.
“I just want to say,” I begin boldly but slowly trickle off.
“What is it?” Stanton asks, swallowing a mouthful of spaghetti. “You know you can tell us anything.”
I take a deep breath. “I just want to say that I’m really happy to be here. And I don’t just mean tonight, but at the Lazy R.” I bite my bottom lip, feeling silly but wanting the brothers to know the joy I feel. “Before I arrived, I was lost,” I confess. “And even the first few days, I wasn’t sure how I would manage my life here. But now,” I gesture around the room. “I feel like I’m at home for the first time in my life.”
At this proclamation, Shane and Stanton exchange delighted looks.
“Honestly Juniper?” Shane asks, “That’s the greatest statement we could ever hope to hear about someone’s time at the ranch.”
Stanton suddenly looks serious. “But tell us sweetheart: why do you enjoy your life here so much more than in Lake Puckett?”
I consider his question carefully, and then smile.
“Well for starters,” I say lightly, “the music at Skye One was frightfully loud, and I think I lost half of my hearing that night.”
The brothers laugh, and I’m warmed from the inside out.
“But in all seriousness, I was never really an outdoorsy person before. In fact, I was kind of just caught up in all the negative stuff in my hometown, and never really considered life beyond my little bubble. I didn’t even know there could be life beyond it.”
I toy with my food a bit, trying to find the words to explain how different I’ve started to feel in the last month or so.
“You know, I think it’s that people only see you a certain way. Like you’re the jock, or the nerd, or the class clown. But here, I’ve had a chance to restart. Like I mentioned before – the people I would spend time with back at home always wanted me to behave a certain way or even look a certain way. But here at the Lazy R, I work hard because I want to. Even more, I’m getting in shape because it feels good to move my body.”
I feel my cheeks turn pink at my honesty, but the words are cathartic, like I’m revealing my true self.
“We feel a similar sort of peace out here,” Shane offers. “The rest of the world is exciting to explore, but it’s important to find what works for you among all the noise.”
I nod in agreement. “Exactly. So I guess, here, I feel at peace. Even among nature, which shocked my best friend from back home. She was with me that night at Skye One. Remember, the girl whose dress busted open?”
The twins chuckle.
“Oh yeah, her. Does she know about us by the way?”
I grin wickedly
“She does, and to be honest, Bess is hoping to meet her own set of twins. She’s sooo jealous.”
Shane and Stanton chuckle.
“Well, we’ll try to think of some friends for her. Maybe do a bit of matchmaking, eh?”
“Are you serious?” I squeal. “Do you know other sets of twins who are into threesomes? OMG, Bess will just die!”
The twins laugh but Shane merely shrugs with a grin.
“We’ll see. Anything can happen, as we well know.”
But then I grow serious and look at the handsome men with curiosity.
“But what about you guys?” I ask, curious to learn more about my handsome lovers. “How did you get into this line of business?”
The brothers pause for a moment.
“Well, the Lazy R has been in our family for generations now,” Stanton begins slowly. “Our parents are still alive, but they wanted to move to another place further out in the mountains. As a result, on his deathbed, our grandfather decided to pass the homestead on to us.”
“But why make it a program for us troubled girls?” I ask, even though I am one of those girls.
Shane shakes his head fiercely. “We don’t like the term ‘troubled girls.’ As a matter of fact, people used to call us ‘troubled’ or ‘troublemakers’ when we were growing up, and it was harmful. It put you in a box, kind of like what you said about life back in Lake Puckett.”