If he thought he couldblandly answerher away, he was going to be sorely disabused of that notion.
Nate sighed, clearly a little irritated with her.But she was irritated with him for not being forthcoming.Sothere.
“I’m worried about him being alone,” he grumbled.“But other than that… I’m glad he’s back.I’m glad he’s got plans.”
“Is it because of the drinking?”Sam had witnessed Cal being all too happy to get drunk a few times herself.
She’d watched Nate and Landon be concerned about it.Watched Cal be belligerent about their concern.It wasn’t her business, exactly, but she didn’t want this thing she was doing to cause a wedge between her and Nate.
All because he wouldn’t justtalk.
“Yeah, and…” But Nate trailed off and then started walking into the main part of the office.
Sam scurried after him.“You can’t justyeah andthen walk away.”
Nate shrugged.“We’re at work.We should focus on work.You’ve got just as much to do today as I do.God knows Mrs.Hyatt’s going to be badgering me soon enough.”
“Do youreallythink I’m going to let that go?”
He sighed and settled into his desk.He glanced up at the ceiling, like he could see Cal up there.
“Look, I don’t know.I just hope he’s doing this for the right reasons and not in reaction to something else.”
“Nate, I swear to God, if you don’t get less cryptic…”
“Something about Aly and Landon…” Nate shook his head.“I don’t know.I get the feeling he doesn’t really like to be around them in acouplecapacity, and with the wedding coming up… maybe he just needs to be away from it, and this is as good a place as any.Certainly better than Texas… maybe.”
Sam also looked up at the ceiling.Shehadnoticed Cal be a little weird around Aly and Landon.She’d just figured it was about the brothers slowly easing back into having a real relationship instead of a mean, contentious one.
But… “Maybe he’s got a thing for Aly.”
Nate looked at her like she’d grown a second head.“Cal?”
Sam shrugged.“Sure.Why not?”
“I don’t know.”He shook his head.“I just never got that impression.”
“I never did either, but why else would the wedding bother him?”
“Weddings and commitment can be a sore spot for people for all sorts of reasons,” Nate said, kind of blandly.
His look was not pointed, because he wasn’t lookingather, but it felt a bit pointed all the same.
So, okay, maybe thatwasfair.Because she didn’t get weirded out about wedding talk… until Nate gave herthatlook.
Like that was where they were headed, and they both knew it, but their own issues kept them right where they were.
Thank God.
And onthatnote, they both got to work for the day.Cal came down and signed the rental agreement, after being an ass and trying to argue a few points.Cal might have all that lawyer polish and impressive argument skills, but they had nothing on Sam’s stubbornness… if she did say so herself.
She did some more work on trying to trace Glenda’s husband’s family.No one could quite agree when her muteness started, but Sam was still intrigued by the fact Glenda had sold off so much of her ranchbeforehe’d died.
She’d talked to a few of Landon’s ranch hands who would have been around when Benjamin Bennet bought that land, but none of them had given her anything to go on in regard toreasons.
It had to be in there somewhere.Somewhere with her late husband.Not that nothing else traumatic could have happened, but…
If Glenda wasalreadyhermiting in that little cabin when her husband wasstillalive, maybe the answer lay inhislife.Not hers.
