“Who wanted the ride?”
Three sets of equally startled expressions turned in his direction.Erica was still seething from his earlier put-down and chose to ignore him.
Miles stared, holding his cup of coffee suspended halfway between table and lips, trying to picture this clean-cut, larger-than-life cowboy as the same ragged derelict who’d come trailing in behind Casey yesterday morning.
Eudora gasped and set her cup down in its saucer with a sharp, unladylike clink.
“Why, it was me,” she said.“But I’m not quite ready.”
Ryder smiled.“I’ve got all day.Don’t hurry on my account.”
“For future reference, you need not come into the family area,” Miles drawled.“Simply wait out front.”
Ryder shifted his stance.It wasn’t much.Only an inch or so.But to Miles, it seemed to make the man that much taller.And it made Miles distinctly uncomfortable looking up at so much man.
“Look,” Ryder growled.“Let’s get one thing straight.Like it or not, and I can’t say that I care much for it myself, for the time being, Iampart of your family.Therefore, do not expect me to scuttle around outside the back door like some damned stray dog looking for a handout.Do I make myself clear?”
Miles face turned a bloody shade of red.All he could do was splutter and look toward Erica, who was usually the more verbal of the pair, for support.Unaware that Ryder had already put her in her place, he was unprepared for his sister’s silence.He tried again.
“But Casey said…”
“Casey can say whatever she chooses,” Ryder said.“However, you might want to remember that she’s my wife, not my boss.And, you might also want to remember that while I mind my own business, I expect others to do the same.”Then he touched the brim of his hat and winked at Eudora.“I’ll be outside when you’re ready.”
He walked out.
When he was halfway down the hall, the breakfast room seemed to erupt into a cacophony of sound.Three separate voices, all talking at once in various tones of disbelief.Unable to remember the last time he’d felt this alive, he grinned all the way out the door.
CHAPTER 5
“Stop there!”Eudora ordered, pointing toward a boutique on the upcoming street corner.
Ryder aimed the gleaming white Lincoln toward a horizontal parking space and slid into it with nothing to spare.Before Eudora could object to the fact that he’d parked several doors down and she was going to have to walk, he had opened the door and was reaching in to help her out.
Smoothing at her hair and clothes, she began to issue her standard orders.“I don’t know how long I’ll be, but…”
“No problem,” he said.“I’m coming with you,” he said, and offered her his arm.
Ignoring the shocked expression on her face, he escorted her up the street and into the store.Eudora was so stunned by his actions that she let herself be led into The Pink Boutique.
The saleslady all but fawned as she met her at the door.“Mrs.Deathridge, please accept our condolences on your recent loss.Delaney Ruban will be missed.”
“Yes, well, I thank you on behalf of the family,” Eudora muttered, casting a sidelong glance at Ryder who was still standing at her side.He was too big to ignore and seemed too determined to dissuade from accompanying her.She waved toward an overstuffed chair near the alcove where the dressing rooms were situated.“You may wait over there.”
Ryder took his seat without comment.Eudora watched as he carefully lifted the Stetson from his head.Placing it crownside down in his lap, he seemed to settle.
After that she relaxed, but only slightly.There was something about that man that unnerved her.Even though he was now across the room from her and sitting still, his presence was overpowering.Frowning, she turned away and began sorting through the garments on the racks, still conscious of his eyes boring into her back.He took up space.That’s what he did.He took up entirely too much space.
* * *
Half an hour came and went, along with the saleslady’s patience.Eudora had picked through and complained about everything the store carried in her size.It made no difference to her that Gladys was nearly in tears, or that the manager had made several pointed trips through the room, each time giving Gladys a sharp, condemning look for not being able to placate a customer, especially one from Ruban Crossing’s foremost family.
Eudora was so caught up with the seriousness of her shopping spree that she’d completely forgotten Ryder’s existence, so when he spoke, he had Eudora’s…and the saleslady’s… immediate and undivided attention.
“Take the blue one.”
Eudora spun, still holding the dress in question.“Were you speaking to me?”
Ryder tilted his head.“It matches your eyes.Always did like blue-eyed women.”
