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“You know,” he said quietly, his deep voice the only sound she heard, “you really are incredibly beautiful.”
Her breath sharpened. “Don’t.”
His brows rose. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t flirt with me.”
Grady’s eyes were suddenly even a more brilliant blue. “Is that what I’m doing?”
“I don’t know what you’re doing.”
He laughed softly. “Frankly, neither do I, Marissa. But there’s something about you that’s impossible to ignore.”
“You mean the fact we’ve always disliked one another?”
“I’ve never disliked you.”
Her insides folded like origami paper. “But you hardly ever talk to me.”
“We’re talking now,” he reminded her.
“I mean before,” she said quickly. “When Liz was alive. I thought you only ever put up with me because I was Liz’s friend.”
He shrugged loosely, as if she’d made a point he didn’t quite want to admit. “I...like you.”
He didn’t sound as if he did. It sounded as though it was one of the hardest things he’d ever said. She bit back the urge to tell him the feeling was mutual. But she didn’t want any more regrettable words hanging in the air between them.
“I should go,” she said, scraping the chair back as she stood.
Grady got to his feet immediately and didn’t try to stop her. Marissa grabbed her bag, thanked him for the coffee and walked down the hallway. He was beside her in a flash, opening the front door wide as they both stepped out onto the porch.
“Thank you for coming, I know it meant a lot to the girls.”
She nodded. “Me, too. Good night.”
“Good night,” he said and then called her name when she was almost at the bottom of the steps.
“Yes?”
He took his time. “I like you enough that I wanted to ask you to prom in senior year.”
Prom? What was he talking about? She shook her head. “You asked Liz.”
He nodded. “I wanted to ask you first. She talked me out of it. She said you weren’t interested.”
Oh, Liz.
Marissa pushed back her shoulders, fighting the denial sitting on the edge of her tongue. “I guess she knew me better than I thought. Good night, Grady.”
By the time she got to her car, her hands were shaking. They were still shaking five minutes later when she arrived home, and still as she peeled off her clothes and changed into comfy sweats. She was shaking and thinking one thing.
Liz had lied.
In the middle of senior year she’d confided to her best friend that she was crushing on Grady just a little and hoped he’d ask her to prom. He didn’t. Instead he’d asked Liz and after that they were very much a couple. Liz had assured her she wouldn’t date Grady if Marissa found it hard to deal with—but she couldn’t deny her friend the happiness she deserved. Liz blossomed as she fell in love with Grady, so Marissa tucked away her silly schoolgirl crush, never mentioned it again and got on with being Liz’s best friend. And she did get over it. She went to college, got her MBA and worked her way into a great job. Then she met Simon and had been happy...until it all fell apart. Through those years, she’d stayed loyal to her friend—through Liz’s fairy-tale wedding to Grady, to the first time she’d announced she was having his baby and then when Breanna was born. And she’d never harbored one ounce of envy or resentment. She’d loved Liz and had been heartbroken when she’d died. And she wouldn’t let the knowledge of something that happened so many years ago taint her memories.
Still, she slipped into bed with a heavy heart and woke up around six. She ate breakfast and changed into some yard clothes, fully intent on spending the morning outside weeding and pruning. Rex arrived just before nine and she spent a few minutes showing him the broken palings and then left him to his own devices. He was a quiet man and barely made eye contact with her.
Around nine-thirty, Marissa was around the side of the house pulling out the remnants of an old vegetable patch when she heard a vehicle pull up to the house. She got to her feet, dropped the gardening gloves and wiped her hands down her jeans before going to investigate.
Grady’s truck and horse trailer was parked in the driveway and he was hanging around the back end of the vehicle. She spotted Rex coming around from the backyard and the two men spoke for a moment before the trailer door was opened and the ramp came down. Less than a minute later Grady was leading a dark-colored horse off the ramp and across her driveway.
She walked toward him and planted her hands on her hips. “What’s this?”
He held out the lead. “For you.”
“What?”
“She needs a home,” he said and looked around at the pasture and stables adjoining the house yard. “And you have room.”
Marissa continued to stare at him. “You’re giving me a horse?” she asked and noticed Rex was by the rear of the truck, watching their exchange with a kind of wary interest.
Grady shrugged. “She’s old, around twenty-six. But she’s in good health and will do for a riding horse until you are confident in the saddle.”
Marissa stroked the mare’s cheek. “Where did she come from?”
“I picked her up from the sale yards a few years ago. The girls learned how to handle a horse with this old mare. She was too big for them as a riding pony, but she’ll be okay for you.”
The mare rubbed her face affectionately against Marissa’s arm. “She’s just lovely. But I’ll pay you for her.”
“No need,” he said and began to walk the horse toward the neighboring paddock. “She’s more than earned her semiretirement.”
Marissa followed and waited by the fence while he turned the old mare out into the pasture. He did everything with such a natural ease she couldn’t help but admire him. The mare whinnied when she was released and trotted around for a few minutes, tail and head extended.
“She’s just beautiful. Thank you...it’s very generous of you.”
Grady rested his elbows on the fence and turned his head toward her. “I thought you’d like the company.”
“I do,” she said and smiled. “But won’t the girls miss her?”
“They have their own ponies. Old Ebony hasn’t been getting a lot of attention of late.”
“I’ll see that she does,” Marissa said. “I’ll need to get some gear—like a saddle and bridle.”
“No need,” Grady replied. “Rex is unloading some gear into the stables for you.”
“Thank you,” she said and managed a small smile. “But I really... I have to...”
“It’s a gift, Marissa,” he said and straightened. “But if that’s too hard for you to accept, consider it an exchange for your kindness toward my daughters.”
“I don’t need payment to love the girls, Grady. Really, what kind of person do you take me for?”
He made an exasperated sound and she felt his rising anger. Unease snaked down her spine. But this wasn’t Simon. She had nothing to fear from Grady. She knew that. It was herself she feared. And the feelings running riot throughout her body.
“Can I ever get anything right with you? I wasn’t criticizing. I wasn’t inferring anything. Maybe I just wanted to give you a horse because you said you wanted to learn to ride. Maybe I just wanted to do something nice for you, Marissa.”
“Why?”
Grady’s expression suddenly looked like thunder and she winced. “Who the hell knows!”
Then he took off back to his truck and reversed out of the driveway as if he had the devil on his tail.
Chapter Four
“You got somethin’ on your mind you want to talk about?”
Grady hauled another hay bale from the truck and twisted around. Rex Travers was standing behind him, arms crossed, his weathered face wrinkled in a scowl. He liked Rex—the other man was a good foreman and had become an important part of the running of the ranch. Grady also considered him a friend. The girls adored him and he was genuinely kind and patient with them. But he wasn’t about to get drawn into a conversation about his bad mood.
“Not a thing,” Grady replied and tossed the bale onto the stack in the feed shed.
“You took off from Miss Violet’s place in a real hurry this morning.”
I took off from Marissa...
Grady grabbed another bale. “And?”
“And you yelled at Miss Ellis.”
Miss Violet. Miss Ellis. When it came to women, Rex was a stickler for formality. He still referred to Grady’s mom as Mrs. Parker even though she’d been insisting the other man call her Colleen for many years.
“I didn’t yell,” Grady shot back, irritated.
Rex’s thick brows came up. “Yeah, you did. She didn’t like it.”
Grady stopped what he was doing and straightened. “She said that?”
Rex shrugged. “She didn’t say anything. I just got a look at her face, that’s all. I don’t think she likes yelling.”
“I didn’t yell,” Grady said again and wiped his hands down his jeans. “Can we get back to work now? I want you to take Pete and head down to Flat Rock this afternoon. There’s a length of fence that needs repairing down by the riverbed, where we butt the McCord place.”
“Sure,” Rex said. “Anything else?”
“Stop dishing out advice.”
Rex’s craggy face creased in a wide smile. “Can’t promise anything.”
“Try harder,” Grady said and grabbed another hay bale.
The older man chuckled as he walked off, and when he was out of sight Grady stopped what he was doing, straightened and rolled his shoulders. Damn...he hated it when Rex was right. It felt as bad as being told off by his mother. And he really hated that, thinking it made him feel about fifteen years old.
He finished stacking the hay and headed back to the house. His mother was in the kitchen making lunch for Tina. Since his housekeeper had left, his mom had been helping out with the girls. Once he’d washed up in the mudroom, he headed for the kitchen.
“Thanks for coming over today,” he said, swiping a slice of cheese off the plate and popping it in his mouth. “I appreciate it.”
“Anytime,” his mother replied. “You know the girls mean the world to me. But you remember that I’m heading out of town on Thursday and won’t be back for five days.”
His mother went to visit her brother in Denver, Colorado, once a year.
“I remember,” he said and moved around the counter. “Brant said he’d help out if I needed him. Plus, Tanner and Cassie always love having the girls. And Brooke will always help out if I need a sitter.”
Brooke Laughton was his cousin and owned a small horse ranch not far out of town.
“Any luck looking for a new housekeeper?”
He shrugged. “I have two interviews next week, so we’ll see what happens.”
His mother nodded and continued slicing cheese. “You know...what you really need isn’t a housekeeper,” she said and smiled. “It’s a wife.”
“Mom, let up, will you?”
“It’s the truth,” she said, as relentless as always. “I know you don’t want to hear it and you can scowl at me all you like, but I—”
“I’m not scowling,” he said, cutting her off.
His mother grinned. “Oh, yes, you are. But you know, the best thing for the girls would be for you to be happy.”
“I am happy. And I don’t want to have this conversation today.”
“Or any day,” Colleen said. “Liz wouldn’t want you to—”
“Mom,” Grady said, all out of patience. “I know you’re trying to help, but I’m fine,” he insisted. “I’m not going to get married again just so I can have a babysitter on hand.”
“I’m not suggesting that you should do that,” his mother replied. “This isn’t about the girls. I’m talking about you, what it would mean to you to share your life with someone. All I’m saying is that maybe it’s time you opened yourself up to the possibility.”
“Like you did after Dad died?”
Colleen frowned. “I didn’t have three children under the age of seven,” she reminded him. “And we aren’t talking about me at the moment. I know you don’t want to hear it and I know you think I’m interfering, but I only say this out of concern for you. Being with someone else doesn’t mean you love Liz any less. It doesn’t mean she’ll be replaced or forgotten.”
Grady swallowed the thickness in his throat. As usual, his mom was getting into his head. “I know... I just don’t think I’m ready.”
“To love again?”
“To feel again.”
Colleen smiled and patted his arm. “But that’s what makes us human, son.”
“Maybe. And I hear what you’re saying. But I have to do this in my own way.”
She tutted. “The slow way. You’re so much like your father. He also overthought everything. Did you know it took him eight months to ask me out on a date?”
Grady glanced at his mother and groaned. “Is there a point to this conversation?”
“Of course,” she replied and grinned. “You’re a cowboy and it’s time you got back in the saddle.”
“The saddle?”
His mother smiled. “Yes, you know, dating and girls.”
He laughed loudly. “Oh, we’re gonna have that talk,” he said and shrugged. “Too late, Mom, I already know about the birds and the bees.”
Colleen jabbed him with her elbow. “You can mock me all you like. Just don’t dismiss the idea of dating again entirely, okay?”
“I won’t,” he assured her. “If you’ll stop hinting about who I should date.”
She made a face and then nodded. “Sure. These are ready,” she said and pushed a plate of sandwiches across the counter. “I’ll go and get the baby so she can have her lunch.” His mother headed for the door, just as Grady was pulling plates from the cupboard. “By the way, have you seen Marissa lately?”
Grady stilled at the task and groaned inwardly. There was no point lying to Colleen Parker; she’d sniff out an untruth at fifty paces. “I dropped Ebony off there this morning,” he explained as casually as he could. “You know, the old black mare.”
Colleen’s inquisitive brows shot up. “You gave her a horse? That was nice of you.”
He shrugged. “She wants to learn to ride and the mare was just—”
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