“I don’t want to ruin them.”
“Nonsense.” Kate waved away Trish’s concern. “They’re work boots. They’re meant to get dirty. And hun, youwillget dirty. You okay with that? If you’d rather stay back here and write—”
“No,” Trish said. “I’ll go. It’s what I signed up for.”
“I’m notthatterrible to be around, am I?” Wade teased, unable to take a steady drink of his coffee because he’d started laughing. “You make it sound like you’re coming along to muck out stables.”
Trish eyed the spread of muffins on the counter and swiped a blueberry one with icing. “I don’t know. Youdidlet me think your pregnant sister was yourwife.”
“Wade James Holbrook!” Kate snapped at him, hands on her hips. “Why on earth would you do such a thing?”
“It was a misunderstanding. It’s cleared up now. I could never be married to you, even if you weren’t my sister.” He wrapped her in a hug from behind before she could scold him further in front of the writer, adding, “Ty Riggs is a braver man than I could ever be.”
Kate squirmed her way from his hold and turned to Trish. “I’ll grab you those boots.”
“Youreallydidn’t bring a pair of boots?” Wade asked. “I mean, even rain boots? They’d be better than those. Does everything you own sparkle?”
He caught the reddening of her cheeks before she ducked her head and focused on peeling the wrapper from her muffin. “It was sort of a last-minute trip.”
Wade was surprised at how curious he was at that. “Why did you decide to come?” He had to know. There was something intriguing about this particular writer. Not alluring. But intriguing, he reassured himself. If he was going to be paired up with her all week, he might as well discover her motive.
“Here you go. Brought you some gloves too,” Kate interrupted, extending a pair of faded lavender boots toward Trish. “They’re pretty worn, but they’re perfect for what you’ll be doing today.”
“Thank you.”
“And you’ll look cute in them,” Kate added with a wink she directed at Wade. He returned it with a scowl. If he didn’t know better, both Grams and Kate were cooking up some little scheme, and he wanted none of that. He’d have to make that clear once he and Trish were on their horses away from meddlers.
“Need a cup of coffee before you head out?” Kate asked.
“Yes, please!” Trish’s eyes lit up at that prospect.
Kate pointed a finger at him. “Wade, fix the woman a to-go cup.” To Trish, she added, “I’ve got caramel creamer in the fridge. Want some?”
“What you got to fancy up the coffee for, Kate?” Wade complained. “It’s good the way it is. Dark and strong.”
“You sure love boring,” Trish said with a roll of her eyes that Wade wouldn’t admit was in any way cute. What grown woman rolled her eyes? Well, except for his sister. Kate did that every ten minutes, especially now that she was pregnant and what she calledhormonal.
“On second thought, let me get your coffee.” Kate shoved Wade out of the way and stole the Thermos from his hands. “Wyoming in the fall is amazing, but the mornings can be quite chilly. Coffee’ll help keep your blood flowing.”
“Where you from anyway?” Wade asked, trying to sound casual. But he saw that Kate had perked up at his question. He’d wait to ask any more until they were away from meddling family members.
“Nebraska, most recently.” Trish took the cup from Kate, warming her hands on the metal. “Omaha.”
City girl. He knew it. That explained all the sparkle. “Know how to ride a horse?” Wade asked, certain he’d not kept the annoyance out of his voice, otherwise Kate wouldn’t have glared at him from across the kitchen island.
“Yes.” Trish left it at that.
Kate shoved the paper sack at Wade. “Better get going. Grams said the farrier is stopping by after lunch, so you’ll need to be back by noon.”
Stalling would only subject him to his pushy, irritable sister. It was better to get this over with. If Trish knew how to ride a horse, they could make quick time of the tour. “Let’s get to it, then.” Wade only hoped she hadn’t noticed the pink crayon hearts on the lunch sack.
Chapter 6
Trish
She’d forgottenthe gloves Kate lent her on the kitchen counter, and tried to warm her fingers without Wade noticing her discomfort. They’d only been riding for twenty minutes, but it might as well have been two hours in a blizzard for how cold her fingers felt. Would she even be able to type after this, or would they have to amputate?
“I thought you said you knew how to ride,” Wade said as he slowed until they were trotting side by side. “You’re sure taking your time, letting Daphne walk you into tree branches.”
