I kissed the inside of his arm. “I’m glad.”
He stared at me for a moment, but it was as if he didn’t see me. His eyes were unfocused as he puzzled over something. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Can it stay just between us?”
I studied the man beneath me. The planes of his face, the stubble along his jaw, those soulful eyes. “As long as you aren’t about to tell me you’re a serial killer or plotting to overthrow the government, I can keep a lid on it.”
His mouth curved. “I might want to be king one day…”
I snorted and then kissed the underside of his jaw. “Of course, you do. All right, ask away.”
“What’s Shiloh’s story?”
I stiffened a fraction. Somewhere along the line, I’d become protective of Shiloh, wanting to shield her from prying eyes and nosy questions. But I knew Boden wasn’t just asking out of morbid curiosity. There had to be a reason.
“She was kidnapped when we were in the fifth grade.”
All the muscles beneath me tensed. “But they found her.”
“Ev saved her. Everly’s father suffered from some serious delusions and took Shiloh, saying he rescued her from her evil family. After days passed and he wouldn’t let her go, Ev rode her horse miles into town in the dark and told the sheriff.”
Boden let out a long breath, one I hadn’t realized he’d been holding the entire time I spoke. “I can’t imagine what they’ve been through. Their family seemed so…”
“Perfect?” I finished for him.
He nodded. “But I guess no family is.”
I traced circles on his pec. “No, I think that’s impossible. But the Eastons love one another, and they love Ev and Addie as if they’ve always been a part of the brood.”
“And they love you, too.”
“I guess so.” Even though I was a newer addition to their group, they had all welcomed me with open arms.
I looked up at Boden. “Why did you ask?”
He worked his jaw back and forth. “She comes here sometimes.”
I sat up, the sheet falling to my waist. “Shy comes here? To Ramsey’s?”
Boden nodded. “I’ve seen her a few times now. She sits on the hill and watches Ramsey with the horses. I’ve never seen her talk to him or anyone else. She just sits with that wolf-dog of his and watches.”
I worried the corner of my bottom lip. Shiloh had always had a thing for animals—horses in particular—but I couldn’t imagine her family being thrilled at her being on this ranch. Ramsey had been cleared of the crime he’d been accused of, butrough around the edgeswas an understatement when it came to describing the man. He’d gotten into more than one fight at local bars, and now he mostly stayed to himself.
“Does she seem okay when she comes here?”
Boden toyed with a strand of my hair. “I get the sense she’s never completely okay. And with what she went through, I think that’s understandable.”
My chest squeezed as an image of Shiloh filled my mind. The day she finally returned to school. Everyone had stared as she walked down the hallway, and I hadn’t missed how her hands trembled. She knew what it was like to have your life upended by a single event. One moment, and you were never the same again. Maybe Ramsey understood that, too.
“He’s a good man,” Boden said.
“I never said he wasn’t.”
“I can feel the tension running through you. The worry. Ramsey might not be warm and fuzzy, but I’ve seen him with an abused and broken horse. There isn’t a cruel bone in his body.”
I bent, taking his mouth in a kiss, pouring everything I felt for him into it. “You’re a good man, too.”