“Just a thought,” Cody replied with a wickedsmile.
What was that allabout?
“Don’t tease him,”Madisonsaid.
She hadn’t spoken a word all morning. She also hadn’t touched her plate. Cindy wanted to ask how she was feeling, but knew better than to say anything in front of the entire family. Maybe later she’d have achance.
“Sorry,” Cody said. “I thought he could takeajoke.”
“Let’s just finish breakfast.” Abby bumped her shoulder against herfiancé’s.
“I really don’t want to put anyone out,”Cindysaid.
“You’re not,” Drew said. “If anything, we should be apologizing to you for tricking you into coming here under falsepretenses.”
Everyone at the table glanced at Madison before looking away. Cindy felt bad for her. In a weird, twisted way, she understood what Madison had tried to do. She just wanted to help her brother-in-law find the same happiness that everyone else in the family shared. It wasn’t acrime.
Drew scraped his fork across his plate to scoop up the last bit of egg. After eating it, he took his napkin off his lap. He stood and carried the dishes into the kitchen. When he returned, he walked to the head of thetable.
“I’ll get the horses prepared in the barn,” Drew said. “Dress warm and come out when you’reready.”
“Okay,”shesaid.
As soon as Drew left the room, the heaviness in the air dissipated. The conversation returned to mundane chatter, but she couldn’t help the pit of dread in her stomach. Drew clearly didn’t want her around. His family had basically pressured him into entertaining her fortheday.
Maybe she should just go to her room and hide until she could figure out what to do next. Gallivanting around on horses wasn’t the best way to plan out the next few weeks of her life. She couldn’t stay at the ranch forever. The sooner she found a new hiding place, the better. Although... theyhadoffered her free room and board for a week. With her dwindling savings, that would help a lot, at least in theshort-term.
She finished what was on her plate and pushed back from the table. Drew would be waiting for her, so she had to at least go tell him that she wasn’t coming ontheride.
“Have a fun trip,”Macksaid.
“I will.” There was no point in telling him that she had no intention of going. He’d probably just pressure her the way he’d pressured hisbrother.
Upstairs, she dressed in layers of clothing. After struggling to get into a pair of long underwear, she pulled on a pair of snow pants guaranteed to keep her warm in freezing weather. Not that she’d be outside that long, just long enough to tell Drew that she wasn’t going ridingwithhim.
She slipped the matching long-sleeved shirt over her head, and then wrapped a scarf around her neck. The thick, water-resistant jacket came next, followed by a pair of wool socks and sturdyboots.
By the time she finished dressing, a thin trickle of sweat rolled down her back. But the warmth would be short-lived. The moment she stepped out of the front door, the latent heat dissipated. She wasn’t cold by any means, but she wasn’t warmeither.
The chuff-chuff of her pants sliding between her thighs cut through the stillness of the air. Other than the occasional whinny of a horse, silence covered thelandscape.
When she reached the barn, she opened the side door and stepped inside. The grassy scent of fresh hay hung in the air. The subtler, musky scent of horses followed as she strolled past the woodenstalls.
“I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.” Drew stepped out from one of the stalls on the far end ofthebarn.
“It took some time to wiggle into these layers,” she said, trying to lightenthemood.
“You look…” His gaze raked up and down her completely coveredform. “Warm.”
“Do I look ridiculous?” she asked withagrin.
“Not any worse than the tourists who flock to town in thewinter.”
He flashed a dazzling smile. All of the Grant brothers shared the same sexy lips—kissable lips. The kind that could make a woman do something completely foolish, like fantasize about kissing them. She forced herself tolookaway.
“You don’t have to do this,”shesaid.
“Dowhat?”
