“Sadie and I have colluded on your behalf. You’re welcome.”
He muttered good-naturedly to himself as he put on his seatbelt. “This is what I get for hiring good people.”
“Hoisted by your own petard.”
He dipped his head. “You should’ve seen Reed. He’s been laughing at me all morning.”
“You know that’s your own fault, right? If you hadn’t been so stubborn, people wouldn’t be fussing so much over you.”
“I don’t like being fussed over,” he grumbled.
“Don’t I know it.”
Kit shifted uncomfortably as we made our way out to the highway, and by the time we hit the two-lane, I sent him a look.
“What?” he asked, shifting again.
“Something wrong with the seat? Do we need to adjust it for you?”
“No. I’m fine. It’s a comfortable ride. We made sure of that.”
“That we did.”
Normally, I’d be the one to carry the conversation, but I wasn’t feeling it today, and he sat in determined—if shifty—silence for the first few miles.
Finally, I gave in. “You’re awfully loud for someone who isn’t talking, cowboy. You got something to say?”
He grunted and looked out the window, and I let the non-conversation continue.
“I got a lot to say,” he said, finally breaking the silence, “but I don’t know how to say it.”
I reached over and squeezed his forearm. “True or false: You’d rather muck out stalls than get this MRI.”
“True.”
“True or false: You’re doing this because you’ve been bullied into it by me, your son, and all of your staff.”
“True. And you left off my ex-wife.”
I patted his arm. “Aw, poor baby. Everyone sees you’re in agony and wants to make it better. How awful for you.”
“Shut up,” he said, but I knew he didn’t mean it.
“True or false,” I continued, letting the smile slip onto my face. “You’re also doing it because you think I’m sexy.”
He slid his eyes over to mine. “True. And I’ve got more to say on that, too.”
“Which part is making you squirm more? The MRI or the guy driving you?”
“Both. Equally,” he said, disgruntled. Even as his lips gave a happy twitch.
“Tell you what. Given how bad you were limping this morning already, let’s focus on the MRI for now, then we’ll focus on the sexy man on the way back. How does that sound?”
He took off his hat, running a hand through his hair. “Sounds like a fair deal.”
“Excellent.”
I turned on the Bluetooth and let him connect to his favorite Spotify list, which was, unsurprisingly, full of old country songs.
