But Richard shook his head. “Ava, I meant what I said earlier, okay? I’m happy to take you. I want to see that you’re taken care of.” He brought the cart to an early stop and turned to her, wishing he could properly relay the dilemma. “This is me…tryingto do the right thing. To not step on anyone’s toes.”
Ava twisted toward him in the seat. They were no longer moving, but a wind burst swept in, causing her hair to dance around her lovely face once more. “You know I’m not dating Maverick, right?”
Oh, did he love hearing her say that. His body responded as if she’d said something seductive. Sparks of heat flaring and everything.
Come on, Richard. Do the right thing.
“Maverick…” He wanted to tell her that he’d warned him to stay away from her. “I know he likes you, so that means I have to be careful. There’s kind of a brother code, you know?”Brother code?How stupid did he sound right now? He wished he could take back the words, but they were already out there, like a cluster of pesky gnats.
He put the cart back into gear and let it crawl at a slow pace toward the pavilion.
Ava turned her head over the opposite shoulder toward the passenger side, her arms folded across her chest.
She was…angry?
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He blanched. Yes, she was definitely irritated. Too bad they were already at the pavilion.And,he realized as Andie waved at them, they’d been spotted too.
“Let’s not mention it to Maverick. I’ll just take you.”
“No, don’t do me any favors,Richard, I’ll ask Maverick.” He sat in place, stunned as she climbed out of the golf cart and sped toward the pavilion.
“I love your sundress,” he heard Andie call as she neared her. The two embraced like they’d been besties all their life. It was so much easier for women, wasn’t it? They just bonded, automatically, it seemed. While men had egos and such to compete with. Although, he and Trenton had gotten past that soon enough.
He reflected on the way Ava had said his name. Ever since Richard and his siblings had taken on the new names in the relocation program, they’d emphasized them in anger, as if they were some sort of curse word.
“You coming, man?” Emmitt hollered as he made his way toward Richard. He gave Ava an appreciative nod on his way over. “How are the taxes coming this morning?” he asked her.
“Fine, thanks.”
Richard stepped out of the cart and sank the keys back into his pocket as Emmitt neared. “What’s up, man?”
Emmitt gave the tip of his nose a pinch and tilted his head down. “You’re not going to believe your eyes,” he said under his breath. Amusement coated the words and caught his interest.
“What is it?” Richard asked, leaning in as well.
“Maverick has turned into the Lone freaking Ranger.”
“What?” Richard pulled back and surveyed the nearby corral. “Where is he?”
“Ready to make his grand entrance,” Emmitt replied. “Dude, you’re going to bust up laughing. He met Dirk and Lee out here and took a crash course on horse riding.”
“Dirk and Lee?” Richard groaned. Trenton’s ranch hands were good enough guys, but trouble seemed to follow them as much as it did Maverick.
“Yep,” Emmitt said with a laugh. “They warned Maverick not to ride the black horse—guess she’s temperamental, but he’s insisting because itlooks the coolest.”He put finger quotes around those final words and shook his head.
Richard’s mind flashed back to the conversation they’d overheard between Ava and Andie. His own scruff was nothing compared to this.
“You skip the razor today, man?” Emmitt asked, squinting as he scrutinized him. “Must be trying to look more like me.”
Richard rolled his eyes. “I may have an idea of why Maverick’s doing all this,” he started to say, but a sharp whistle caught his attention.
Dirk and Lee stood outside the stable entrance, waving a hand over their head. Memphis ducked out of the barn in a run and bolted over the railing like his life depended on it.
Richard shot a look between Memphis and the open barn door, a worried knot brewing in his gut.
