“Friends.” Was she agreeing or disappointed?
“You’re not staying, and I’m not—”
“There you two are!” Grams burst in through the side door. “We’ve been searching the property for the likes of you.”
“Grams—”
“You two are going to miss the roping demonstration. I already convinced Allen to take over, but everyone is waiting on you ’fore we start.” She winked at Wade before she strode toward the door, leaving him with his jaw half-open.
“You can come back after,” he told Trish. “Now you know which brush Daphne likes best.”
Trish rubbed Daphne against her neck and planted a kiss on her muzzle. “I’ll come back later. Promise.” She slipped out of the stall, completely unapologetic for such a show of affection for a horse that wasn’t even her own. As if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Come on, you two. Scoot!” Seemed Grams wasn’t going to leave the stable unless they followed.
Wade found it harder to picture this wonder of a woman living in a crowded, noisy city. The problem was, it was becoming much too easy to picture her living on a Wyoming ranch.
Chapter 13
Trish
Trish letout a yawn the next morning as she took a seat at the dining table for the writers’ daily brainstorming session. She’d missed as many as she made with the special itinerary Lina created for her, but today she was looking forward to losing herself in a conversation about fictional characters.
Several sets of eyes assessed her curiously, and Trish avoided their stares by reaching to the center of the table for a cherry scone.
“Someone stay out too late with a certain cowboy?” Glenda nudged her with her elbow, eyebrows raised in suggestion.
“What?” Trish fought another yawn but managed to shake her head.
“You didn’t sit outside by the fire pit or take another romantic walk in the moonlight?” Lizzie chimed in, evident disappointment in her tone.
“After that lasso demonstration thing, I spent the rest of the time writing. I wrote three chapters!” She looked around the table, expecting cheers of excitement. Instead, they all seemed a little underwhelmed. Like maybe she mentioned a tuna sandwich she had for lunch. “Over six thousand words. It’s my best day so far.”
“Inspired by anyone we know?” Marti rolled up the sleeves of her running jacket and reached for a glass of ice water in front of her. She was the only one drinking water. The rest were sipping on mimosas.
“And please tell us it’s not that boring guy fromOmaha,” the fourth writer added. Trish felt bad that she couldn’t remember her name without consulting her itinerary. “The auditor. He’s such a—”
“Dud,” Marti said.
“Yes, a dud.”
“But that cowboy fella, on the other hand,” Glenda said. “Seems like you two are spending a lot of time together.”
Trish’s cheeks had to be the color the apples. She focused on the wire basket at the center of the table. How had this turned into a spotlight on her love life? One that was a fantasy at best. Sure, that kiss had spun her world sideways and still gave her butterflies at its memory,butsheesh! It wasn’t as if it’d happen again. Wade had made it pretty clear in the stable: they needed to stay friends.
The days were ticking away, and soon Trish would go back to her reality. “It’s what I signed up for,” Trish said, though she knew her argument was a weak one. Technicallyshehadn’t even signed herself up. That had been Mindy’s handiwork.
“But he’s single,” Lizzie said. “You’re single.”
“Only recently,” Trish reminded. “And I don’t live here, remember? Can we please talk about our stories? I really need help with a road block. I stranded my characters in a rainstorm while they were on a horseback riding adventure, ten miles from the ranch. What do I do with that?”
“Oh!” Glenda rubbed her hands together, her eyes lighting up. “I think we can come up with a few ideas.”
Trish let out a small sigh of relief that the writers seemed content to leave her non-existent relationship with Wade alone in exchange for some plot talk.
* * *
“No!”Trish tried the power button again, then pulled the cord out of her laptop and stuck it back in. She checked the outlet to make sure the plug was secure. Then she proceeded to unplug her lamp to try her power cord there.
