Distract and Sedate H.S

Chapter Thirteen

"Are we there yet?" Darcy's sugar high was only starting to wear off now. This was thanks to the airport's sweet store that she couldn't resist. Neither of us could say no when she pouted up at us with those big eyes of hers. Harry's charm was clearly hereditary. Fortunately, the next stage was her drowsiness. I couldn't wait for that to kick in after spending the last hour of our road trip listening to all her wild stories. That girl loved talking.

"Darcy, baby, look out the window. Do you think we're going to live in the middle of nowhere?"

I laughed at Harry's tone and leant back in the passenger seat. It had been a mission, but we managed to fly the Land Rover with us. Harry had been firm about that.

"Still a while, Darce," I mumbled. I planted my head against my hand and stared out at mountains in the distance. Harry said this type of farm land was reserved for tougher livestock, if anything.

We had been driving roughly two hours, and I began to notice his exhaustion when his eyes drooped unknowingly.

"Let me drive, Harry."

He glanced over at me and shook his head. "You don't know the way."

"But there is only one road?"

"There's a few forks ahead," he muttered, wiping a hand across his jaw.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked.

"My parents owned a ranch. I'm headed there."

That could be the one from the picture. "How do you know no one's taken it already?"

"It was in my dad's will," he replied.

Darcy piped up again. "When are we going to get there?"

I answered before Harry's tiresome sarcasm graced us. "There's still quite a while. Have you ever been to America, Darcy?"

I turned around in my chair and sat on my knees to see her. She sparked a smile. "Nope. Are there people around here?"

"Probably not many neighbours. Right, Harry?"

"The nearest city is an average drive away. It's fairly big as far as I remember."

I sat back down. "How long has it been since you were at your ranch?"

"We left when I was about fifteen, I think. After— yeah, I was fourteen." After Matthew died. I wish I could tell him I knew.

I turned to the window. The terrain around this area was covered by long green grass. The rocky, olive mountains broke the orange horizon in jagged peaks and beyond that, purplish-grey mountains in the far distance were tipped white.

"Businessman and a farmer," I muttered with a smirk.

He chuckled into his steering wheel lightly. It wasn't usual that he laughed or smiled, but I liked how frequent it was becoming. "My business was actually producing and selling machinery for agriculture."

I nodded my head in understanding. "I had no idea you were so familiar with that sector."

"Yeah, but I couldn't stand big cities. I would take a view of the ranch over a Times Square view any day."

"Well now I've learnt something new about you."

He smiled in the corner of my eye. "Tell me something about you I don't know."

I thought for a long moment. "I'm petrified of horses."

Harry's head shifted to me with an amused expression. "Birds and horses? This will not do, dear."