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One

“Gentle your family jewels”

Unfazed by his grandeous comment, Stone McNair ducked low as his horse sailed under a branch and over a creek Gran prided herself on being the unconventionaljab carried on the wind as Stone raced with his cousin

Alex pulled up alongside him, neck and neck with Stone’s quarter horse Hooves chewed at the earth, deftly dodging the roots of a cypress tree, spewing turf into the creek

Even as he raced, Stone soaked in the scents and sounds of hoh the pines Churned earth and bluebonnets waving in the wind released a fragrance every bit as intoxicating as the first whiff of a freshly opened bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey

This corner of land outside of Fort Worth, Texas, had belonged to the McNairs for generations, their homestead as they built a business empire His blood hummed when he rode the ranch Ownership had branded itself into his DNA as tangibly as the symbol of the Hidden Gem Ranch that had been branded onto his quarter horse’s flank

Outings on the ranch with his grandmother and his twin cousins were few and far between these days, given their hectic work schedules He wasn’t sure why Gran had called this little reunionand i i them all away from the McNair Empire

His other cousin, Ahter full and uninhibited “How’re the fa up?”

Without waiting for an answer, A behind her just like when she’d been ten instead of thirty Rides with their grandular occurrence when they were children, then less and less frequent as they grew older and went their separate ways None of them had hesitated when the fa Stone owed his grandy e or checked into rehab

Again

Darandmother a debt he couldn’t repay She’d been there fro the best care possible to detox her crack baby grandson Gran had paid for her daughter to enter detox prograain with little success Year after year, Gran had been as constant as the land they called home—for his cousins, too

And she’d given each one of theed the family lands—Hidden Gem Ranch, which operated as a bed-and-breakfast hobby ranch for the rich and fan house and stores Dians, from rodeo belt buckles and stylized bolos to Aztec jewelry, all highly sought after around the country If everything went according to plan, he intended to expand Diah with international offices in London and Milan,fund-raiser this fall And Ans for new pieces to meet the expected increase in demand

Yes, the world was finally coeo

But he didn’t want to think about Johanna Not today Not ever, if he could avoid it Although that was tough to accomplish, since Johanna worked for Hidden Ge when they’d saddled up Would he bump into her after his ride?

The possibility filled him with frustration—and an unwanted boot in the libido

Gran slowed her favorite palomino, Goldie, to a trot near the pond where they’d played as kids Apparently race time was over Maybe now she would explain the reason for this surprise get-together

Stone stroked along Copper’s neck as the horse dipped his head to drink “So, Gran, care to enlighten us on the reason for this fa?”

His cousins drew up along either side of her

She shifted in the saddle, her head regal with a long gray braid trailing down her stiff spine “The time has come for me to decide ill take over the reins of the McNair holdings”

Stone’s grip tightened on the po”

“No, dear” Gran paused, drawing in a shaky breath at odds with her usual steel “The doctor has told et my affairs in order”

Her words knocked the wind out of him as fully as the first time he’d been thrown from a horse He couldn’t envision a world without the indomitable Mariah McNair

Ahtly, as , and Gran didn’t show any signs of leaving the saddle Which was probably the reason their grandmother had chosen this way to make her announcement

“Gran, what exactly did the doctor say?”

Alex patted Gran’s other shoulder, he and his sister protecting her like bookends They always had

Amie’s and Alex’s childhoods had been more stable than Stone’s, with parents and a ho into their house and beco rather than a cousin Once he’d even overheard his grandement But Amethyst and Alexandrite’s mother made it clear that she could handle only her twins Another child would be too eants and her son’s rodeos