Page 3 of Mountain Dreams

Madison frowned.

“That’s no excuse to cheat, though. I mean, that could be why he’s going to the bar with his friends more often.”

She shook her head. “I should have known you’d take his side. I don’t know why I came here.” She started to rise, but he shot out his hand and clutched her wrist.

“Wait. Don’t go.”

She looked at his hand around her wrist and seemed to weigh her options.

“Please,” he said, loosening his grip.

Sighing, she sat back down, and he pulled his hand away.

“I’m sorry. I’m just surprised by this. The last time I saw Wyatt was at your engagement party, and you two seemed so happy.”

“We are…I mean, we were.”

“So, what’s changed since then?”

“I wish I knew. Maybe he decided he made a mistake and doesn’t want to marry me anymore.”

Cody couldn’t imagine that. Madison was not only beautiful, but she was also intelligent and genuine, a rare combination these days and one he hadn’t found in any other woman except Avery, whose heart belonged to his brother. In his opinion, Madison was the ultimate catch.

“I find that hard to believe,” he said.

She gazed at him so intently that it made him squirm. He wondered what she was thinking behind those golden-brown orbs.

“That’s sweet of you, but nobody’s perfect, least of all me.”

If she only knew how perfect he thought she was…

“What can I do to help?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it helps just to be able to talk to someone.”

“Did you think about talking to your sisters or girlfriends?” She had two older sisters, and he believed they were both married. Wouldn’t it be better to ask them for advice rather than him, the consummate bachelor? In fact, before she’d shown up, he’d considered going to the bar himself. Currently he wasn’t dating anyone, and he’d been looking forward to some female company, never expecting it to be in the form of his high school crush.

“My sisters are both happily married, and they think I’m happily engaged. I don’t want to burst their bubble. As for my friends, they’d probably use this as an excuse to tell horror stories about cheating boyfriends, and I don’t want to hear it.”

Cody nodded, although it was still unclear why she’d chosen him. Then she enlightened him.

“We’ve known each other a long time and I’ve always felt comfortable talking to you. Ever since we first met in American history class. Remember that?”

She smiled for the first time since she’d come there, and he stared at her mouth, just like he had in class.

“Of course I do. We had a riot in that class.”

“Poor Mr. Bryce. He was trying to impart the history of our founding fathers, and we were cracking up behind our textbooks.”

Cody chuckled; the memory was still vivid. He’d loved to make her laugh and had done so every chance he could. “Remember when Mr. Bryce asked us if we had something to share with the rest of the class?”

“Yes, and you said, ‘I don’t think it would be appropriate for this audience.’”

“What? I didn’t say that!”

“Yes, you did!”

They were both laughing now, and he felt much better than when he’d first seen her tear-stained face in the resort office.