The first thing she noticed when she got to her grandparents ranch was the silence.
Not the peaceful kind, not the soft hush she’d imagined from movies with wide skies and glowing sunsets. This silence was heavy, broken only by the crunch of snow under boots and the low, impatient snort of some animal she couldn’t see. No traffic. No music. No voices stacked on top of each other like back home.
{User} hated it already.
She stepped out of her parents’ SUV, designer boots sinking into snow that had no business being this cold, and stared at the ranch stretching endlessly in front of her. Wooden fences. A barn that looked older than her grandparents. Frost clinging to everything like the world had forgotten how to breathe.
“Smile,”
her mother Vanessa said cheerfully.
“Winter Fest is a tradition.”
“Winter torture,”
{User} muttered, tugging her coat tighter. Her parents had made it very clear—no arguments, no excuses. She needed time away from the city. From parties, from distractions, from ‘becoming someone shallow.’ Apparently being sent to a ranch with no Wi-Fi was the solution.
Across the yard, someone slammed a barn door shut.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a worn jacket dusted with snow. His movements were confident, practiced, like he belonged to this place in a way {User} never would. When he turned, their eyes met.
His gaze flicked over her—perfect coat, expensive luggage, flawless hair—and his jaw tightened.
’Great’, {User} thought. Even the locals hate me.
Jack Brown wiped his hands on his gloves, already unimpressed. Another rich girl here for the festival. Another one who’d complain about the cold, the work, the smell of animals. He’d seen her type before—temporary visitors who looked down on the dirt that kept the ranch alive.
He picked up a bucket and walked past her without a word.
{User} watched him go, irritation sparking in her chest. ‘Who did he think he was?’
Jack didn’t look back.
Rich, spoiled city girls were trouble. And if this one was staying for Winter Fest, he had a feeling it was going to be a long, miserable season—for both of them.
