“Yep.” Trish took a few more photos of the river with the fall colors in the frame. She’d have a few hours to write before the photoshoot. With all the pictures and notes she’d taken, she couldn’t wait to get to her laptop. “Never even had a dog. Speaking of, where’s Shadow?”
“Allen needed her help with some steers this morning.”
“She’s a working dog?”
“When she wants to be.” Wade hopped to his feet. Trish too rose and got to work till everything was cleaned up. “Spoiled is what she really is.” They shared another smile, and Trish swore her heart tried to leap up into her throat. What was wrong with her? There could be nothing here. Wade was only assigned to entertain her, most likely against his will. By next week, she’d never see him again.
“Do we need to head back?” Trish asked, folding the heart-covered lunch bag into smaller and smaller squares.
“Farrier’s due soon. I need to help Chet and Allen for a few hours too, or I’ll never hear the end of it.” Wade waited until she had mounted Daphne before he asked, “You text that Howard fellow back?”
Trish leveled him with a playful glare. “Henry.” Gloves no longer needed, she shoved them into her pocket. “And no. He can wait.” The least she could do after he made her wait over two weeks.
“Good. Let’s get back, then.”
Trish couldn’t decide if hearing from Henry made her excited or irritated. She’d dreamt about him reaching out for the past two weeks, full of apologies and remorse at ever doubting her dream. Why didn’t it feel as good as she’d imagined it would?
Chapter 7
Wade
Wade felthe’d been saved when the farrier’s truck pulled into the ranch just as he and Trish made it back. He needed some space from the alluring writer who was starting to mess with his head. He shouldn’t care one way or the other, but he didn’t like this Henry guy one bit.
“How was your date?” Allen nudged him hard in the shoulder once Trish disappeared back toward the house.
“Not a date.” Wade led Daphne back to her stall, relieved Trish put up little resistance once he encouraged her to scoot off and get some writing in, saying it was fine that she let him take care of her horse. Daphne had been a bit dejected to leave her new friend. Odd how quickly they bonded. She was usually indifferent to most folks.
“Oh, come on. Your sack lunch hadheartson it for crying out loud.” Allen laughed loud and boisterously. Had Allen seen the handoff just before Trish turned to make her way into the house? Then it dawned on him.
“You drew those.” Wade shook his head and shoved his way around his cousin to hang up the saddle. “Should’ve known.” He felt the slightest edge of relief that Grams wasn’t trying to set him up. He didn’t need her, or anyone for that matter, meddling in his love life. He was happy the way things were.
“You can’t tell me you hated spending time with that cute romance author.” Following Wade back to the stall, Allen leaned against the wooden door. “You’d be crazy not to be interested in her.”
“Then I’m crazy.” Wade ran gentle but firm strokes with the horse brush over an approving Daphne. He didn’t get Allen’s pushiness. Trish would be gone in a week. And it was no secret between him and his cousins that he wasn’t interested in dating anyone seriously. “Why does it matter to you so much? She’ll be gone for good in a few days.”
“Then you better hurry up before you miss your chance.”
“Not interested.”
“You could always ask her to stay.”
Wade almost dropped the brush, catching it in a tumble. “Knock it off, Allen. She’s pining after some guy back home.” Daphne nudged him with her soft muzzle to continue the gentle strokes that had stopped.
“Heard all about that from one of the other writers.Theysay she dumped him. Those ladies are on a mission to make sure she leaves him dumped.”
“Where’s that brother of yours?” Wade asked, scanning the stable for Chet. He was irritated enough that he didn’t have time to work on his cabin tonight. He didn’t need all this from Allen, too.
“Went to meet George, since you were too busy putting away your girlfriend’s horse.”
Wade considered throwing the horse brush but didn’t feel like retrieving it. He found an apple core on the ground and threw it at Allen instead. “Stop talking like that, okay? You’ll give her ideas, Allen.” In truth, Wade was more worried about another misunderstanding. She’d been kind enough to forgive him for the one about Kate, but she might not forgive another. Especially one that had the chance of embarrassing her.
“Fine, I’ll quit.” Allen threw his hands up in surrender. “But if you’re not interested in her, you won’t mind if I give it a shot. Might serenade her with a good ol’ country song.”
A strange, painful tinge coursed through Wade. He shook it off. “You’re not her type.”
Allen laughed again. “You’ve spent a few hours with her, and suddenly you know her type?” He threw the core back, hitting Wade in the shoulder hard enough to leave a mark.
“Ow!”
