Page 41 of A Cameo for a Cowgirl

“So, if you’re friends with Ainsley, then maybe you could be friends with me too?”

His question slammed into her chest like a runaway train, propelling her back a step. “But…but that’s different.”

“How?”

“She’s a woman.”

“You don’t have male friends?”

“Not really.”

Although that was perhaps untrue. She was friendly enough with her brother’s friends and teammates, people like Mike Vaughan, and Tom Chavez. They were nice enough, and those two were at least Christians, even if Mike was married, and Tom was often hanging around Jess whenever events drew them into the same circles. She bet he’d be asking Jess to dance at Franklin’s wedding this weekend.

Which reminded her. “I need to go.”

“You can’t stay a little longer?”

She shook her head. “It’s my brother’s wedding this weekend and I still need to get lots of stuff done.” Like oil the pews in the chapel tonight so they’d have time to dry and not stain anyone’s clothes on Saturday.

“Is everything coming together okay?”

“It will.” Especially if God gave her an extra five hours each day. Or she didn’t sleep. “I, uh, bet you’re glad to get a long weekend. Are you going away?” She mentally high-fived herself. See? She could do nice.

“Yeah. I still don’t know where I’ll go. I’d wondered about Banff.”

“That gets pretty busy in summer, so you might need to book ahead. But you’ve got the whole weekend off, plus the Canada Day holiday on Monday. Why wouldn’t you go see friends or family?”

His face closed.

Oh. Her heart softened. That said a lot.

He cleared his throat. “Poppy mentioned you were busy doing stock take or something.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

He shrugged. “I was good at math, and could help if you like.”

Oh! That was unexpected. Maybe the man wasn’t like Mark, after all. “Thanks, but I got it sorted.” His face fell, which hurried her to add, “But I do appreciate the offer. Really.”

His lips tweaked into an almost-smile as he nodded. “Well, I know you’re busy, so I don’t want to hold you up.” His palms faced her.

“You wouldn’t be the good guy if you did that, would you?” She tipped her hat like the hero in one of those old westerns.

He appeared to catch her reference to a hold-up as he chuckled. “Or a friend?”

His tentative intonation and raised eyebrows held an invitation. One she wasn’t sure she would be wise to explore. Because how could a woman be a friend with a man without emotions getting in the way, sooner or later? What would Jesus do? Lord?

She swallowed. Nodded.

His smile broadened, edged with what looked like relief. “Well, thanks for keeping me from being too lonely.”

Her heart twisted. But she had to stay strong. She might have agreed to be friends with the man, but no way could she afford to get sucked into this man’s charm.

“Have a good night, Harrison.”

“It’ll be a better one now.” His half-smile arrowed straight to her chest again, leaving her flustered.

So she turned on her heel and mounted Ginger, and rode quickly away, without a backward glance.

---