Page 42 of A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy

“You think?”

“And I may not have. Either way, I could have been nicer.”

“Whoa, cowboy. Who are you, and what have you done with Weston Kline?”

He couldn’t help the hint of a smile that twitched his lips. “Might have left him up the trail somewhere. He found it slow going with all that baggage.”

She searched his eyes. “For real?”

“Work in progress. I’m sorry for messing up with Matthew.”

“He’s talented at pushing buttons.”

“Everyone has their gifts.”

Two electric golf carts stopped beside them. Emma and Tina jumped off and reached for the kitchen packs.

“Here. Let me.” Weston helped them secure the load. By the time they rolled back toward the lodge, Paisley was gone.

He felt a tinge of disappointment then scoffed at himself. What, he’d been going to bare his soul even more? Doubtful. And yet… maybe. Sometime.

Paisley dumped her bags inside the door of the staff duplex she shared with Cadence. “Remind me not to volunteer for that every week.”

Cadence looked up from her computer desk in the corner of their tiny living room. “Hey, you’re back! Was it fun?”

“Fun is over-rated.” Paisley stretched. “I think I need a shower before anything else.” She headed toward her room.

“Don’t forget your stuff.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” It only took an extra minute to haul them the rest of the way. Then she rummaged in her cupboard for clean clothes. Man, she needed to do her laundry. A smarter, more organized person would have done it before they left for four days. Well, she’d do it after her shower, unless all the machines were in use. At least the homeschool crew didn’t have access to the staff facilities, so she wouldn’t have to fight them for machines.

She stood under the hot water until it ran out, which didn’t take that long, as the heaters in these units were tiny. But it was long enough to regain a little humanity. She wrapped a towel around her hair and another around her body and dashed back to her room to get dressed in the only clean clothes left — a pair of shorts and a tank top that revealed a little more flesh than was comfortable in this spring weather. Whatever. Her flannel shirts and hoodies all stank.

Paisley braided her wet hair and stuffed all her clothes into laundry baskets. Her phone was out of juice, thanks to no power up the mountain. Why had she even taken it along? Force of habit. She’d caught sight of Weston reading on his a few times, but not her. There wasn’t anything she’d needed it for up there, and now it was dead.

Didn’t that just figure?

It wasn’t like anyone would have tried to get ahold of her, so the phone could wait. She’d load up the washers then stop by the lodge to check in with Tate at the office. See what was on her docket for the next couple of days. She had this weekend off, if she remembered correctly. Going to church would be nice.

Paisley had loaded three washing machines when she heard the click of cowboy boots behind her. She whirled to see Weston entering with a couple of baskets of his own. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He cracked a sort of smile. “I’m not surprised to see you here.”

Was she that predictable? Or had he followed her? Oh, good grief, Paisley. He’s been on the same backcountry trip as you have. Of course, he has dirty clothes.

“I left you a couple of machines.” She gestured.

“Thanks.” He began stuffing his clothes into them.

Paisley added detergent, selected the cycles, and turned the knobs. Time to get out while the getting was good, but she was too late. Weston was beside the door, watching her, his washers already running.

This might be the first time she didn’t feel like getting in his face and trying to make him smile. She didn’t want to analyze her back-pedaling too deeply. It likely had to do with pushing the one guy who’d never break, and now it seemed like something had gotten through to him. What was she supposed to do with that? She had no clue.

“I, uh, need to report to Tate.”

Weston nodded. “Me, too. I’ll head over with you.”

Paisley nearly cuffed herself on the side of the head. “Okay.” What else was she supposed to say? But she’d rarely walked beside this cowboy for more than two steps before. This felt strangely couple-ish, except that couples held hands. At least, Cadence and Graham did. And Stephanie and Tate, unless they had their hands full with Jamie and Simon.

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