Sadly, that wasn’t the only part of Trenton there was. Inwardly, there was a battle going on. A stay-or-go duel. And he still had no idea which of them would win.
A beat of panic thrummed someplace deep in his chest as he passed the spot where the sign was. After kicking the thing loose in the ground, wriggling it free from the dirt, and lying it flat on a bed of grass, Trenton had tossed a few branches he’d pruned from the orchard earlier in the week.
“What kind of trees are those?” Andie asked.
“Peach,” Trenton answered. “They’ll be blooming soon. Just have to hope we don’t get any late-season frost after that. It can damage the blossoms.”
“Huh. This is a beautiful property, Trenton,” she added.
Trenton glanced over in time to catch the wonder on her face as she tilted her head to see more of the sights. She couldn’t be all that impressed. If her appearance alone hadn’t convinced him she was from money—big money—their conversations had. She seemed to downplay the sort of wealth she and her brothers grew up with but in sharing stories involving their private jet, she hadn’t hidden it altogether, though he sensed at times that she wanted to.
“Here,” he said, extending his arm across the truck. He rested his hand palm-up on her leg, and grinned when she laced her delicate fingers through his. He sighed, his entire body calming from the chaos in his mind.
It wasn’t the For Sale sign that rattled his nerves, or the fact that he hadn’t told Andie he planned to move. It was his unwavering awareness of what they planned to do once they got there: search up the clues to his past once and for all.
A stubborn wave of nausea threatened to roll through him once more. Three weeks had passed since Andie and her brothers arrived. And as each day passed, Andie and Trenton spent increasingly more time together. Their week of picnicking had been a rare luxury that early in the spring, with the odd wave of warmth melting the snow and drying up the ground for a time. But it hadn’t lasted.
The restless rain, with all of its ground-drenching, sun-hiding glory, had arrived with a vengeance, just like he’d known it would. Trenton couldn’t help but wonder if the same went for this honeymoon type of phase with Andie. Sure, it had outlasted the unseasonal heat they’d enjoyed for a time, but that didn’t mean it would last forever. Feelings like this—the magnetic pull, the affection, the undeniable thrill—they’d die down.
The novelty of the strange cowboy would soon wear off for Andie. The novelty of running an inn would too. More likely than not, before the four seasons had passed, she’d pack up and move back to LA. There, she’d marry some pompous politician and live unhappily ever after.
A fresh dose of guilt sank in at his thoughts. It wasn’t right to be angry that she’d leave when he himself planned to move once he got a fair offer on the place. Sure, the agent had left him several messages over the last week that Trenton hadn’t yet returned. In addition to that, Trenton had told the man that he’d like to wait and show it when the weather cleared up.
The topic rose inner turmoil every time he considered it. One voice said he was simply putting it off because he didn’t want to leave Andie when the going was so good. The countering voice argued that he was doing the smart thing—assuring top-dollar offers for his ranch—and nothing more.
Perhaps the truth rested somewhere in between.
Trenton reached for the garage door opener as he pulled into his driveway. He rarely parked in the garage himself, but there was no need to have Andie out in the rain. Once in place, he shut off the truck, closed the garage, and sank back into the seat. The onslaught of rain was no longer a direct beating against the vehicle. It almost left behind a sense of peace, until he reminded himself of their plans.
“Thanks for doing this with me,” he said, eyes still set straight ahead. They were stuck on the line of tools hanging on the wall. But it wasn’t the rake with its claws or the broom and its bristles that caught his attention; it was the spaded head of the ground shovel, remnants of dirt clinging to the sharp, metal edge. His grandad’s voice came to mind.It does no good to dig up the past. Some things are better left in the dark.
What could be so bad that he’d vowed to hide it from Trenton for the duration of his life?
The soft trace of fingertips along his arm pulled Trenton from his musings. He let his eyes drift closed as he took in the pleasant sensation. Andie’s touch was like magic.
Her seatbelt gave out a click, and suddenly she was scooting closer, cupping his hand as she went.
Trenton slid out from under the wheel to meet her in the center of the seat.
There, Andie curled into him. “It’s going to be okay,” she assured, resting her cheek along his upper chest and tucking her arms around his waist in the cramped space.
He reached an arm around her in return, secured a long lock of her hair, and twisted it around his finger. “Thank you,” he said in a whisper.
Andie pulled away from him then, just enough to look him in the eye, and brought her hands to either side of his neck. She fixed her hazel eyes, so rich with life and beauty, on his. “Whatever it is, it can’t change the man you are now. You know that, right?”
Trenton gulped hard.
“I mean it,” she said. “You’re one of the best men I know. I’ve dated guys that wouldn’t dream of doing a kind thing if the press wasn’t there to report it. But for you…it’s just a way of life. It’s who you are. So however gruff your granddad was, or secretive about your past, he must have a lot of good in him too. He raisedyou.”
Her expression shifted then, the persistent set in her chin and brows softening to something more…vulnerable. He caught a glint of moisture in her eyes as she searched his face, her silky fingers weaving a wonder along the nape of his neck. “He raised one of the best men I know. A man that I’m…I’m really…”
Trenton’s heart hammered out of rhythm as she died off. Would she say she was falling in love with him?
His breath hitched. His throat went tight. Maybe that’s what this was. Feeling close enough to a woman to let her in on such a momentous event in his life. He froze in place, unwilling to move so much as a muscle as Andie bit at her lip.
At last she shook her head, seeming to abandon the thought altogether, and leaned further into him instead. With soft, almost tentative movements, she trailed her lips over the angular corner of his jaw, pressing kisses along the way. He tuned in to every tiny movement, fire burning low in his belly as she trailed a path to the corner of his lips. At last, her mouth met his in a long, heated kiss.
Yes.
