I searched for a nice, pat answer, but couldn’t find one. “It’s all right. This online job was supposed to be a short pit stop. Just until I got back on my feet after—after my mom died.”
She nodded, sympathy shining in her eyes. If I expected to find awkwardness, it didn’t come from her. She listened without judgment or jealousy.
“I was planning to start a firm with a friend, but that fell through a while back. I guess I haven’t decided what I want to do next.”
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’d consider coming back to Magnolia Ridge, would you?”
I fumbled for an appropriate response. I’d been thinking about coming home for more than just a visit, but for all the wrong, rancher-related reasons.
“I’ve always liked the idea of having an interior decorator set up shop back here.” Marilyn glanced around as though envisioning something more than the furnishings around us. “An in-house designer would be a wonderful addition, don’t you think?”
I looked around, too, my eyes following hers through the store. I could almost see a work table set up in the far corner, stacked high with specialty fabric books and furniture catalogs. Working out of a shop like this could be ideal for a decorator just taking off on her own. She’d have independence, but she wouldn’t be completely alone. I tried to contain the zing of excitement fluttering through me in case I’d read too much into the conversation.
“My girls both went into teaching,” she went on. “And I’m out of my depth when it comes to customers asking anything more than ‘How many throw pillows is too many?’ I’ve had a steady increase in sales the last five years, and we get a lot of foot traffic. If you were interested in working with me, I’d like to keep it in the family.”
That brought me out of my fevered imaginings of bolts of damask and rolls of wallpaper.
Marilyn looked back at me with a mix of trepidation and boldness. “Your father and I haven’t been together very long, but I know what I feel. I had thirty-one wonderful years with my husband, Darren, before I lost him six years ago to a heart attack. I didn’t think I could ever love another man like that, but here I am. And I do love your father.”
She smiled softly, her eyes glistening. Whatever innocent infatuation I’d imagined between her and my pop disappeared in the light of the real love glowing plain as day in her face.
My eyes stung with tears over my own selfishness. I had been so caught up in how I felt about my father dating again, I hadn’t given much thought to what it meant to him. Seeing how much Marilyn truly loved my father made me want to wrap my arms around this woman and beg her to never let him go. He had loved my mother dearly, and had grieved her since she’d gone. If Pop could have that kind of happiness again, I wanted it for him with all my heart.
I reached across the display table and took Marilyn’s hand in mine, tears finally spilling from my eyes. “I’m glad he has you.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
ty
“Thanks for turningyour schedule around again,” I said as Aaron let the last horse into the pastures for the evening. They’d spent the day cooped up in their stalls beneath circulating fans and were ready to run free in the fresh air all night. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“No problem.” Aaron secured the pasture gate behind Opie, who galloped the length of the enclosure twice before he settled down. “I wouldn’t have my job at Belton Grove if it weren’t for your recommendation. I owe you my start, man.”
“Remember that one day when you’re training world famous racehorses.”
He laughed, but a spark of determination fired up in his eyes. “One day.”
We walked to the barn, where he hung the halter he’d been using on its peg on the tack wall. I paused, breathing in short, sharp gasps until the stitch under my arm eased away.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I might have overdone it yesterday.”
“Just yesterday?” He grinned over his subtle dig.
“Hard to pinpoint it.”
All I knew for sure was that the ache in my chest had worsened. Probably just all the excitement of the last few days, what with bringing the horses in from the storm, and then holding June to me like she could patch together all my broken pieces and make me whole again. One or the other.
“You want me to clean out the stalls, or is your friend coming by?”
I hesitated. After her ride and our incredible kiss, we hadn’t gotten around to logistics. “I think you’d better do it. She doesn’t need to keep doing this.”
“Why on earth not?” came a voice from behind me.
The woman lived for catching me by surprise. I turned around to see June smiling innocently at me.
“How long were you standing there waiting for your cue to pipe up?”
