Page 21 of A Miracle for the Confident Cowboy

“I take that as a no?” Her thoughts shifted to her sisters and how they insisted it worked.

He shook his head.

She wandered closer to the well itself, choosing to stop at its side and stare into its depths. “Why not?”

Duke’s stare grew serious. The way it drilled into her threw her off balance and she gripped the edge of the well to steady herself.His voice lowered to a throaty whisper. “I guess I’ve never wanted anything bad enough.”

Shivers rippled down her spine.

“I want my first wish to be special,” he continued.

So it wasn’t a lack of belief. Duke hadn’t made a wish because he wanted it to be memorable. It was crazy how Duke was suddenly saying and doing all the right things. Perhaps Pippa had been right about not making rash judgements based on a first meeting. She glanced at Duke, letting her thoughts drift to the possibility that Duke might make a wish about her, then she immediately squashed it. This was not the time to get all goo-goo-eyed about him.

“What about you?” he murmured. “Any wishes?”

Sophie shook her head. She couldn’t exactly tell him she didn’t believe in the silliness. “I guess I haven’t had a good reason to, either.” But right about now, she might have found the perfect one.

In spite of the whole town making a big deal of the wishing well, she’d never warmed all the way up to the idea. But it was cute. It was fun. Kids loved it and the coins were gathered periodically and used for good causes. What shouldn’t she love about that?

Their hands rested on the edge of the well, side by side. His hand inched closer, his pinky brushing against hers. Sophie caught her breath and turned her head to look at him with curiosity. There was no denying what he was doing. It wasn’t an accident. His head dipped a little lower, inching closer and closer.

“Sophie! I didn’t know you were going to be in town.”

She jumped away from Duke, noting how he did the same. They both turned to find Pippa with her arm linked through Rob’s. The two of them glanced at Sophie then Duke and Sophie couldn’t deny the knowing look that washed over Pippa’s face.

Pippa tilted her head, amusement and excitement in her gaze. She didn’t even give Sophie a chance to defend herself. “Are you coming to Sunday dinner tomorrow? You owe us that raincheck.”

Sophie nodded. “I was planning on it.”

Pippa’s eyes shifted to Duke. “You’re invited too, if you’d like to come.”

Duke stiffened at Sophie’s side, but it was his words that threw Sophie through the ringer. “Sounds fun.”

CHAPTER TEN

Crazy.Dumb. A bad decision.

That was what this plan was.

Duke could have declined Pippa’s offer. He could have told her he was busy or that he didn’t feel well and would prefer not sharing what he might be catching. He could have come up with a number of excuses that would get him out of dinner with Rob and Pippa.

But if he’d done that, he wouldn’t be sitting beside Sophie at this very moment.

The house was really nice. It had four bedrooms with plenty of acreage. He could see Rob wanting to put some additions on the building if they chose to live here long-term. The more his thoughts dwelled on what it would be like to settle down, the more he could see Sophie being that person in his life.

More than once, he caught himself looking at her—or rather staring at her—while she chatted with her brother and sister-in-law. She recounted her experiences with the animal shelterand her begrudging relationship with Duke the dog as she called him.

He might have been able to handle the dinner if it was just with Pippa, Rob, and Sophie, but as it stood, Luke and Brent were here with their families, too. This was afamily-family dinner. Everyone seemed thrilled to be in attendance, chatting and laughing with each other.

Duke, on the other hand, couldn’t stop squirming in his seat. He shouldn’t be here. He was an employee, not part of the family. Up until Sophie had started recounting her experiences at the shelter, he’d successfully stayed out of the limelight. But then Sophie had to drag him into it.

“It’s been great for me at the shelter. I get to spend time with the pups,” Sophie shot Duke a smirk, “even Duke seems to be able to tolerate them.”

Pippa’s eyes shifted to Duke. “You volunteer too?”

Rob was next. “Why wouldn’t he be able to tolerate them?”

Duke nearly choked on his water. “Yeah,” he cleared his throat, “I volunteer.”

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