Page 31 of When You're Competing
A chair screeched against the kitchen tiles, and he glanced up to find Megan standing. She gathered her plate and thanked his mother for the meal before taking her dishes to the sink. Before she left the room, she stopped beside Gabby’s chair. “I’m going to go for a little walk. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Her cousin nodded.
A walk? She was supposed to meet with him. Was this her way of giving him the heads up that this meeting was going to be private? His sharp gaze followed her until she disappeared out the door. As soon as she was no longer visible, he got to his feet. “I’m turning in early. I had a long day, too.”
“But I thought you went to the city today,” Andrew’s voice stopped him cold. He’d told his brother that little tidbit in confidence.
Now, he could feel his parents’ eyes boring into the back of his head. They knew what his coffee shop meant to him. Rarely did he take a day off and when he did, it was to help out on the ranch.
So to take a day off and spend it in the city was incredibly unlike him and they would know without a doubt that something was up.
“You went to the city today?” His mother asked.
Slowly he turned and found the rest of the family staring at him. From his parents to his siblings and even those who were new to the family. Everyone watching him like he was the star of the latest soap opera. “Yeah, I went into the city. That’s why it was a long day. You know how much I hate taking that trip.”
Andrew was the only one who was grinning like the Joker himself. He knew better. He’d weaseled the information out of Daniel the moment he got back. In fact, Daniel wouldn’t have been surprised if Andrew knew exactly what he was up to and why he’d decided to leave right after Megan had left.
His mother got to her feet, confusion flooding her countenance. “That’s really unlike you. Are you okay?”
Daniel groaned, fully prepared to wring Andrew’s neck if he even dared breathe a word about Megan. “Yeah. I’m fine. There’s a lot I’m dealing with at the shop, and I needed a day to get my head on straight.”
“Oh, you’re referring to the bookstore, right? How is that little rivalry going?”
Okay, Andrew was dead to him. He better pray they didn’t end up in some dark alley together because only one of them would be coming out alive.
Daniel gritted his teeth into a smile. “It’s going as well as can be expected. Megan’s got a good deal of folks who love her shop, so my profitability has shifted somewhat.”
His mother rose from her chair and walked toward him, dismissing the family from the conversation as she did. “Gabby, tell them about your plan to host Christmas Eve dinner at your place.”
This would have been his moment to slip out if his mother wasn’t blocking his path. She reached out with her hand and patted his arm. “Is everything okay?”
“I told you, it’s fine. I’m going to figure things out—”
She lowered her voice. “No, I mean with Megan.”
He stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
She smiled knowingly. “Sweetheart, anyone with eyes can tell you have a thing for her. The way you steal glances at her across the table. And both of you going to the city on the same day? It’s clear that you went together.”
“We didnotgo together.” It was the truth, but his mother didn’t seem convinced. “I mean it. We didn’t.”
She nodded. “It’s fine, dear. The thing is, sometimes we forget that stuff in this life isn’t always certain. Money, possessions… our careers…” She smiled again. “It can all come and go in a blink of an eye. But love? True love? It lasts forever.”
He swallowed back a bark of laughter. “Are you suggesting I’m inlovewith Megan?”
“I’m saying that you shouldn’t let your work hold you back from finding someone who will make you happy.”
Everything she was saying was contrary to what he’d grown up learning. Work had always come first in their family. His parents had demonstrated that time and time again.
“Just think about it, sweetheart.” She moved back to the table as if they didn’t just have the strangest conversation he could remember.
He couldn’t linger much longer, though. He had to track down Megan before she lost her nerve and went into hiding. Daniel placed his dishes in the sink then hurried out of the kitchen. He paused in the hallway, his ears straining for anyone in his family to make a comment about him or Megan. They were all still talking about the new house.
Good, he could slip out the front door and find Megan without too much scrutiny—as long as Andrew didn’t decide to come out and make sure he was telling the truth about turning in early.
His steps were quick and quiet as he headed down the front steps. He didn’t see her right away. She could be anywhere. There were paths around the house that lead to the backyard. Or she could have made her way toward the barn.
Each step he made, he thought more and more about what he might say to her—about what his mother had suggested.
