Page 32 of A Gift for the Hopeful Cowboy

“What are you doing in town? I thought you said you were busy working today.”

Rob flinched. That was exactly what he’d told her when she’d suggested they take in a Saturday brunch. The diner in town apparently had the best raspberry and cream crepes.

Why did this day keep getting worse? Had she seen him leave the jewelry shop?

Slowly, he turned around and gave her a sheepish smile. “Hey, Pippa.”

Her brows were creased, and she glanced in the direction from which he’d come only to swivel her gaze back to him with confusion. “Were you picking something up from the hardware store?”

His eyes widened and his stomach dropped. “Yes. I was going to get some supplies for the fences.”

Pippa’s eyes dipped to his hands. “But you don’t have anything.”

Rob shrugged. “Turns out they didn’t have what I was looking for.”

Her narrowed gaze made it clear she didn’t believe a single thing he said. He needed to distract her with something else. What could he say that would discourage her from doing detective work?

The only thing that came to mind was what he’d been obsessing over all morning.

He moved toward her and took both her hands in his. “You know something? I was thinking that later we should have a little chat.”

“A chat?” She stared down at his hands, her voice softening. “About what?”

“There’s a lot I want to talk to you about, but the main thing is about my future.”

Her focus shifted to his face. Her eyes drilled into him, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. But then her lips thinned, and a cloud hung over her demeanor.

Rob hurried on to add, “It’s nothing bad—it’s got to do with wanting more out of life, you know? You deserve to have something secure, something worthy of you. Maybe it’s time we accept that change can be a good thing.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he dropped her hand to pull it out. Brent wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important. Pippa’s own brother might be the thing to save Rob from having to lie to her.

He held up a finger, preventing her from speaking and he walked away as he answered the phone. “This is Rob.”

“It’s Brent. Are you by chance anywhere close to town right now?”

Rob glanced over his shoulder to where Pippa still stood waiting for him. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Good. I need you to grab something for me. I know you’re not on the schedule, but I’ll pay you overtime. I have my other guys dealing with an issue in the pasture and we’ve run out of a few things. Can you grab it from the feed store? I’ll send you a list.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great. I’ll send it over right away. Get it here as soon as you can.”

Rob faced Pippa, chagrined. “Duty calls.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek and jogged backward. “I’ll come by later, okay?”

She nodded, and he hurried to his truck. That was an uncomfortably close call. At least he hadn’t stumbled over his words and made a fool of himself.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Something was wrong.

Pippa could feel it in her gut.

As she watched Rob hurry off, all she could think about was that he was trying to put distance between them, both literally and figuratively. What did he mean when he said he wanted more? Wasn’t she enough?

Her heart hammered erratically, making her hands tremble and her legs feel weak. Rob wanted to break up. That was the only thing that made sense.

She shook out her shaking hands and paced in front of her restaurant. She hadn’t expected to see him in town. He was supposed to be working.

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