“I’m glad you trust?—”
I’m cut off as he continues, “Because if you do anything to Bliss, she’ll tear you to pieces herself. And if there’s anything left of you, her sisters will come back to Oregon and finish you off. And then I’ll show up with a shovel and hide the evidence.” He smiles brightly, then, as though the thought brings him joy.
And I realize it’s the bestdon’t hurt my daughterspeech I’ve ever heard.
I clear my throat uncomfortably. “I never want to hurt Bliss. And like I said, I don’t think she wants to give me a chance anyway.”
Hubert shrugs. “She doesn’t like to be rushed. If you said something to her, it probably just took her by surprise. She might agree if you’re patient.”
Or she might not. Considering I rushed right past dating and went straight into marriage.
The conversation turns from Bliss to shipping cattle. But as Hubert and Max prattle on about the high cattle prices, my mind wanders back to a particularly sassy woman who wants my irrigated pasture.
The door chimes again, and the object of my thoughts enters the café. Her hair is in a high ponytail with a headband holding back her wispy pieces. She’s got a determined look in her eye as she scans the room. Her eyes land on our cozy little table.
Max grins. “You got my text.” He reaches for a chair at the table behind us and drags it over between the two of us. “Sit down.”
Bliss eyes him suspiciously as she sinks onto the chair. “I just came to get the bloat blocks. You said I needed to hurry. I thought something bad had happened.”
“Oh, did I say that?” Max’s attempt at an innocent look is a complete failure. “I thought you’d like to eat breakfast with us.”
Bliss turns her gaze on Charlie. “I’m so sorry you have to live with him now. You should have run when you had the chance. Does he wake you up early every day?”
“He’s the grumpiest morning person. The only thing that makes him happy in the morning is if he gets to wake up someone else,” Charlie explains.
“Well, he succeeded,” Bliss says dryly.
“Good morning, Bliss,” I say.
She hasn’t once looked at me, even though we’re crammed so tightly around this small table that her thigh is brushing against mine.
“G’mornin’,” she says, reaching across the table to take her dad’s coffee cup from him. She still doesn’t look my way.
Hubert has a twinkle in his eye as his gaze flits back and forth between the two of us.
Sharon stops next to our table, sets two coffeepots in the center, and passes a mug to Bliss. She reaches into her apron, pulls out a handful of coffee creamer packets, and sets them in the center of the table.
“Any breakfast, Bliss?”
Hubert looks at Bliss. “I already ordered the special. Don’t tell your mother. I’m supposed to be watching my cholesterol.”
Bliss reaches a hand over and pinky promises, and I have to fight to keep my jaw from dropping. Hubert just pinky promised his daughter. I never thought I’d see him do something so…cutesy.
“I’ll stick with coffee,” Bliss answers Sharon. “I’m not awake enough to eat yet.” She glares at Max, who grins back at her.
“Bloat blocks?”
It’s a poor way to start a conversation, but she’s not making this easy on me. We’ve already talked about getting married. We should be able to hold a little conversation over a crowded breakfast table.
I flip her mug right side up, fill it with coffee, then slide the creamer packets closer.
Our fingers brush as she snatches up the creamer.
She told me she’d marry me over a text, but now she can’t look me in the eye. Maybe she’s regretting that message.
The entire table is painfully silent, and I know the other three are watching us.
Bliss stirs the creamer in the cup and then reaches over to my plate and steals a piece of bacon off of it.
