I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across my face. “Absolutely.”
“I’m back,” I told Tori as I stepped out of the office. “I wanted to tell Matthew’s daughter about the rainbow.”
“Um, what’s going on with you and this rancher?” As always, Tori had seen right through me. “And don’t bullshit me, Lolo. I know something is going on.”
“We’ve become a little more than friends.” Friends who made out like the world was coming to an end and this was our last chance for pleasure.
“I knew it! You got laid, didn’t you?”
I bit my bottom lip, regretting this conversation. “No!”
“Oh no. He couldn’t get it up? Honey, that’s not unusual with men our age. It happens.”
“It’s not that at all. He can—I don’t want to talk about it over the phone, honestly.”
“Okay.” She didn’t sound thrilled that I wasn’t giving her any details, and I couldn’t blame her. We usually told each other everything. “Well, I’m happy for you. You needed a vacation fling, and it sounds like you got one.”
This was what I’d been afraid of. “I wouldn’t call it a vacation fling. I actually like him a lot.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “You’re getting emotionally involved with him?”
“Yeah, sort of.” I could tell by her tone that this wasn’t the time to get into it with her. “I don’t know him very well yet, but we’ve decided to keep in touch.” Why did I say we didn’t know each other well? In some ways, I felt like Matthew understood me better than the man I was married to for decades.
“How can that work out? Is that why you want a vacation place out there?”
Every sentence she spoke was ruining the joy that rainbow was giving me. Without thinking, I’d already started walking toward Cottonwood Cottage, and now Matthew and Gigi were in sight. I waved to them and suddenly I didn’t care what my sister thought. What was happening between Matthew and me felt right, and that was more important at the moment than anyone else’s opinion.
“I have to go, Tori. I’ll call you again soon.”
CHAPTER22
MATTHEW
There was a picture on my phone now of Gigi and Lauren looking up at the double rainbow over the ranch. If I had questions about whether I should continue pursuing Lauren, that moment clinched it for me. Not only was I wildly attracted to her, she’d also made a genuine connection with my daughter. How could I let all of that go?
Lauren accepted my invitation to watch a movie with us after dinner, but Gigi was exhausted from another busy day at the ranch. When she went to bed around nine o’clock, Lauren and I cuddled up on my couch to watch one of my favorites,Shawshank Redemption. Turned out, she loved it, too. Not that it mattered because we didn’t see past the first fifteen minutes of the movie.
I tried to memorize everything about her—the silky feel of her hair running through my fingers, her impossibly soft lips, the sounds she made when I touched her. Time was moving too quickly, and before I knew it, she’d be back in New York and this would all feel like a dream.
As the movie credits rolled, Lauren pulled away from me, straightening her wrinkled blouse. “Maybe I should go home. It’s getting late, and you have to work tomorrow.”
Lauren wore all her feelings on the outside, even though she thought she kept them hidden. Maybe other people didn’t see them so easily, but I did.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She twisted her fingers in her lap. “I just wanted to get something cleared up tonight. At the hot springs, you said you were going to miss me, but when I asked you to visit me in New York, you kind of gave me a maybe. It’s okay if this isn’t serious for you, but I’d rather know now so I don’t get hurt. Let’s be honest with each other, okay?”
“That wasn’t about you.” I took her busy hands in mine to stop her fidgeting. “I absolutely want to visit you in New York.”
She smiled and exhaled. “Then why didn’t you say so?”
Nothing was less appealing than telling the woman I was falling for about my failing business. Before running Silver Sage into the ground, I was a successful contractor who was so in demand that I actually had to turn away potential clients when my schedule got too full. Occasionally, I still received calls from former clients begging me to take over their renovation projects because the person they were currently working with wasn’t as capable, reliable, or honest as I’d been. Moving from that level of success to being the owner of a struggling guest ranch was tough on my ego.
“Things aren’t great financially with Silver Sage.” Talking about it felt like poking a wound. “If they don’t improve, I’ll have to put the place on the market soon. I just don’t know what my future holds or where I’ll be living this winter. That’s why I hesitated. My life is kind of complicated at the moment.” We both smiled at my choice of words, which mirrored her own when I first asked about her marriage.
I waited for her reaction, knowing this might not be a huge surprise to her. Obviously, the ranch wasn’t close to being fully booked, and our facilities needed updates. She heard about me doing things most resort owners would never do, like unclogging a toilet.
She squeezed my hands. “I hate that you might have to sell the ranch. I know how important it is to you and Gigi.”
