Page 76 of Rancher's Return

“Eggs,” he said.

“Why?” she pressed.

“I like eggs, Lily.”

She sniffed. “Oh. So you had to go to Portland for that?”

“I got a deal on some supplies and I got to go and see Beth.”

Her eyes sharpened. “Beth?”

Oh. She didn’t know who Beth was. He hadn’t intended to be vague or leading in any way by mentioning her, but the reaction to her name was...interesting.

“Yeah. I know her from college. I stayed with her.”

Her shoulders shifted slightly as she took a bite of her soup. “How nice.”

“It was,” he said, slowly. “Very nice.”

He was being a dick. He didn’t care.

She ate her soup with more focus than it strictly required, and when their bowls were cleared and their fish-and-chips were put in front of them, she paid just as close attention to her fries.

“So you’re working at the ranch.”

“Yeah. My degree is in agribusiness, you might recall.”

“I do.”

“Unless I end up packing up and going elsewhere, I don’t see why I’d work anywhere else. I’m making a smaller farm on my property, though. For my personal use. Hence the chickens.”

She nodded. “That’s great. Did you...buy a place?”

“Did Marigold and Dad not mention it?”

She pursed her lips and looked down, then back up. “Uh. Maybe they did.”

He wanted to shake her. He wanted to yell at her and tell her it shouldn’t be this awkward eating with a damned family member, and it wouldn’t be if they were actual family members or didn’t have unresolved sexual tension between them.

But he didn’t say any of that because that would be breaking his personal set of rules.

They finished eating and when the check came, they reached for it at the same time. “Let me get it,” he said.

“We’ll split it,” she said, frowning.

“No, we won’t.”

He picked up the receipt and put his card on it, then waved for the waitress, who came by and took it from him.

“Oh for God’s sake,” she muttered.

He signed the receipt quickly when the waitress brought it to him and got out of the booth. He returned to not looking at Lily, as they walked back through the restaurant and outside.

“I didn’t know you bought the house,” she said. “Because Mom and Buck don’t talk to me about you because they know that we can’t handle each other.”

He turned to her, his heart rate picking up. “We can’t?”

“No.”

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