Page 94 of The Backup Bride Proposal

“No. You’re angry. At your parents. Not at me, remember?”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah. Sorry. I woke up in a pissed-off mood thinking about my parents and I didn’t mean to take it out on you.” He stepped closer and smoothed his hands up and down her arms. “I really am sorry. I need to take out my irritation on chores. And maybe I need some space.”

She thought he needed to talk it out, but that wasn’t how he felt right now, so she’d abide by his feelings. “Of course. Come find me later?”

“Yeah, I will.” He gave her a quick kiss and walked off, leaving her standing there all alone.

Okay, so he was in a mood, and now she was, too.

She wandered back toward the main barns and found Shadow and Lucky sleeping in the shade of one. The dogs woke up when they sensed her approach, their tails wagging as they ran up to her.

“Hi, pups.” She crouched down to pet the dogs, laughing when they both licked her face. “Aww, thank you.”

“Careful. You keep letting them do that and they’ll follow you home when you leave.”

Mae looked up and smiled at Tess. “I don’t think I’d mind.”

“Where’s Kane?”

Mae stood. “He’s off doing something to work off his anger. He’s in a mood and wants to be alone.”

“Ah. That’s typical. He always was a brooder. As a kid, when he got pissed off he’d climb into the tree house and lift the ladder so none of us could get up there.”

“So you tormented him?”

Tess shrugged as she lifted up a bucket and made her way to the barn, so Mae followed. “Us? No. But him? He was a little shit. Hiding twigs and mud in our beds, emptying our shampoo and replacing it with dish soap, wiping his goobery fingers on us. Little-boy stuff. He thought he was funny. My sisters and I? Not so much.”

Mae wrinkled her nose. “Why are boys so gross?”

“Probably because he knew it would bother us. I have to admit that we gave it back to him tenfold. It’s tough when you’re outnumbered by women. We did the same thing to his dad when we were all kids. James backed down, but Kane? He threw it right back at us. I tried to be on his side but he was a brat and made it hard.”

Mae grinned. “I don’t have siblings so I have no idea what that dynamic is like. But the people I work with—my friends—are three sisters. I’ve borne witness to several of their battles, so I can well imagine the difficulties. Sometimes it is the people you love—especially family—who get under your skin the most.”

Tess was gathering supplies and paused, looking at Mae. “You speak from experience, not just observation.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Family can be rough sometimes. I commiserate.”

Mae appreciated that Tess didn’t ask probing questions. First, she didn’t want to bring up her complicated relationship with her mother. Second, Kane was going through enough, as, she was certain, was the whole family. The last thing Mae wanted to do was pile on with her own family history.

So she’d let Kane have his space, and they’d talk later.

If he wanted to. If not…

She didn’t know what she’d do. She cared about him. Maybe too much. And that scared her. She’d gone into this with him wanting to keep things light and easy between them.

Nothing felt light or easy right now. It felt deep and complicated. Sometimes warm and exciting. At other times frustrating as hell.

She didn’t know how to feel about that.

Scared. That was how she felt. Scared. Because every day her feelings for Kane grew exponentially.

The thought of falling in love again made her stomach hurt. The possibility of being hurt again made her heart twist inside her chest.

How could she have let this happen?

Chapter

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