Resisting the urge to tackle his brother for putting her on the spot like that, he took a deep breath before responding to his brother through tightly clamped teeth. “It’s business. Temporary.”
“Got it.” Preston nodded. “I’d better go clean up for dinner. Hear what Mom has to say after greeting you two.”
“Thanks.” Kade hugged his brother. “For everything.”
“You know us.” He stepped out of the embrace. “One for all and…”
“All for one,” Kade finished, took hold of Cassidy’s hand and proceeded toward the barn. They walked a few feet before he spoke without looking at her. “Do you mind this?” He lifted their clasped hands.
“No,” she responded without hesitation.
“We’re going to have to play the part for Mom. Little things like this need to be natural.”
“Of course.”
Inside the barn, a few of the horses poked their heads over their stall doors, dark eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Her eyes wide, Cassidy moved slowly, cautiously, as if having entered the sacred halls of a grand cathedral. Her voice low and soft, she glanced up at him. “They’re beautiful.”
That was not what he’d expected, even though he agreed that horses were some of the most majestic animals on earth.
Pausing at the first stall, her hand slowly moved forward, palm up, letting the horse sniff her hand as if she were approaching a skittish canine. When the horse kissed her palm, she giggled. Not a lick of fear in her. That was a good thing, for the most part.
“This is Boots. She’s one of the gentlest horses on the ranch.” At least she used to be. A pang of something akin to regret or perhaps shame washed over him at the realization that he had no clue if the ranch had acquired gentler, sweeter animals. “Next time we’ll bring some apples or carrots. I have a feeling you’ll have them all eating out of your hand in no time, both literally and figuratively.”
“I’d like that.”
And he liked that she seemed to be taking so much in stride. Though it hurt him to think that was probably a long-ago acquired skill learned from years of being passed around from family to family, never knowing what situation she might be tossed into.
In the distance he heard Carson calling from the house. “Table’s set. We’re all ready to gnaw on wood.”
Cassidy frowned and Kade bit back a laugh. “I think that’s our cue to face more music.”
Her shoulders straightened and some of the light in her eyes gave way to a hint of nervous anticipation.
“It’ll be fine. You’re doing great.”
“Thank you. I’m trying.”
“And succeeding.”
They’d barely set foot in the kitchen when his nephew Mason flew across the room and skidded to a halt in front of him and Cassidy. “Are you Uncle Kade’s new wife?”
Cassidy blinked, then quickly gathered her composure and squatted to his height. “I am.”
“I want a cousin. Are you going to have a baby?”
The room erupted. Alice gasped, half-horrified, half-amused. Jess swooped in to scoop up her son, her cheeks a bright, furious red. “Mason! We do not ask people questions like that!”
Carson was laughing so hard he had to lean against the wall for support.
Gathering his own composure, he leaned in to answer for her, when to his surprise, she smiled at the presumptive boy.
“Well,” she said, her voice full of gentle gravity, “I guess we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”
The dining room was a master class in controlled chaos, a world away from the quiet, solitary meals Cassidy was used to. Standing in the doorway, she took in the sheer magnitude of the nightly event, the long expanse of polished wood, the mismatched chairs that somehow all fit together, the platters of food being set on the table. So many people. She’d practiced the names of the siblings and their spouses before leaving Vegas, on the plane, and on the drive to the ranch, yet she still wasn’t sure she could remember who was who without fumbling at least a name or two—or three.
“Kade, take your regular place by Preston. Cassie, you sit to Kade’s other side.”
