They remained quiet as they crunched over the same pinecone-covered path she’d tread on her way there. But now, instead of the sunlight guiding her steps, the moon’s silver beam did the job, adding hints of magic to the night.
“How far away is your ranch?” she asked once they got to her cabin.
“If I take the back road, it’s about a mile and half is all.”
Andie typed in the entry code, pushed open the door, and stepped inside the quiet dwelling. “The back road meaning somethingotherthan the road we were coming down on our way here?”
Trenton groaned and slapped a hand over his face. “Aw, you mean when I chased you guys down to say you were going the wrong way?”
Andie flicked on all three lights on the switch panel beside her. She wasn’t going for moodlighting, after all. “Youdid?” she teased, squinting as if trying to recall the memory.
His arms went up at either side of him in surrender. “Listen, I was…struggling. The ownership deal with The Homestead, that was just one more thing that didn’t make any sense to me. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you guys, but…”
“You didn’t,” she assured. “I mean, you weren’t the friendliest guy on the block, but you’re coming around.” She grinned at him, and a wave of warmth gushed into her cheeks. “Should we have a seat on the couch?”
Trenton glanced into the room where a leather sofa stood beside the gas fireplace. Across the rug stood a matching chair and side table with faux plants and a rather out-of-place lamp, its lacy shade clashing with the mostly rustic theme. That detail, along with a list of others, had Andie dying to put her own first love into action; commercial real estate was a distant second to her love for interior design.
Trenton walked slowly into the room, turned at one corner of the couch, and then sank into place. “How do you like the place so far?” he asked. “Let me guess, you’re used to some massive penthouse with palm trees and an ocean view.”
She bit at her lip as she took a seat on the opposite end, pulling her legs up to sit sideways facing him. “Yes.” If she’d actually been in LA over Jersey, he’d have nailed it. “But I like this. It’s small, and I’m not quite used to seeing this many walls everywhere. My place, it was wide. Open. And had more windows than wall space, I think. But this is cozy.”
“Have you decided what you’d like to add onto the place? You mentioned that you each plan to pick something.”
“Yes. And no.” She laughed. “Yes, we’re each going to make it our ownin some way,” she said, not wanting to give more details than she should. “But no, I haven’t decided what I’d like to do just yet.” She wondered what Trenton’s ranch was like, but she’d save that conversation for later. There was something more pressing on her mind.
“You said your grandfather’s lawyer gave you some sort of clue to your past. Did it get you anywhere?”
Trenton’s expression shifted. A crease marking his brow, his lips pinning together for a blink. Just as Andie wondered if she was prying too much, he exhaled and let out a hard, humorless laugh.
“Tsk, I’m too big of a wimp to find out.”
Andie tipped her head, hoping he’d elaborate. Would he, or would he tell her it was none of her business?
“I’ve never even known where I come from. I honestly assumed it was from here. Well, not Haven Hills, but North Carolina, at least. But the other day, just after I came across you and your brothers, in fact, I confronted Milt’s lawyer. I was laying into him pretty good, too. Finally, he told me to go look up Brewster, Missouri on the year I was born.”
A new thrum of energy moved up Andie’s back at the thought. “Wow, that’s kind of…ominous.”
Trenton shot her an appreciative look. “Thank you,” he said.
“No, I’m sorry, I just—” she started, assuming hewas being sarcastic, but he put his hand up.
“That wasn’t sarcasm. I’m relieved to hear that someone else can appreciate my reaction. Here I’ve waited my whole life to get the slightest hint about where I came from, and when it comes…” He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “I treat it like the plague.”
Andie nodded as she considered that. “I don’t blame you for being leery. You said your grandfather was an otherwise loving man?”
He nodded.
“So that tells us that it’s information he was trying to protect you from.” That uneasy zing moved up her back once more.
“Exactly,” he said, gesturing to her with the wave of his hand.
She held his gaze then, sensing the turmoil he felt. Feeling a portion of it herself.
“So my past is a deep, dark mystery, even to me,” he said. “How’s that for being mysterious?”
She smiled. “You’re pretty high on the mystery meter, that’s for sure.” And then another thought came to her. An idea, actually. “Hey,” she said, scooting slightly closer and looking down at the cushion between them. She ran her finger over the soft seams as she spoke. “If you ever want someone to be with you while you look into that…I mean,ifyou decided to look up that city and the date, I’d be happy to join you.” A dose of nervous energy skittered through her as the words left her lips. She let her eyes drift back up to him slowly, wondering what he would think about the offer.
He was studying her, or at least he appeared to be. At last, he nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “That’s an offer I might just take you up on one day.”
