57

And if she was back to herself then that meant I had no excuse not to tell her all the things I needed to tell her, once and for all.

I took in a deep breath of mountain air and let it out slowly. “Can we talk a bit? Alone?” I almost hoped she’d say no. I almost hoped it so much that I gave her an easy opportunity to bow out. “If you’re feeling up to it, because if you’re not —”

She cut me off. “I’d love to spend some time with you. Have you been up to the attic yet?”

“No.” I hadn’t even known there was an attic.

“Fabulous. I get to show you. Nobody ever goes up there, and it’s one of my favorite places on the ranch.”

I followed her into the house and upstairs to the far bedrooms. I’d explored when I’d first arrived at the ranch, but I’d spent barely any time in this area after determining it was comprised of two rarely used guest suites. Between them was what, I’d assumed, was a linen closet. However, when Amber opened it, there was a hidden staircase.

“I’m warning you,” she said bef