Page 12 of Home to the Cowboy's Arms

She grimaced inside. Too much information shared. She knew better. But there was something about this man that seemed to keep her off her usual centered self. And that was just another irritant to chalk up to the cowboy.

“Was there some reason you’re standing here talking to me?”

“Right. Yes, the rain is not letting up, so I took the liberty of calling over to the lodge and they’re delivering food in one of their vehicles. And I’ve got a fire going in the fireplace out here to get the chill out. So don’t worry about getting out in the weather again. Hope that’s okay with you?”

“Sounds like you’ve handled everything, so I’ll just finish up in here and be out in a minute.”

He just nodded and closed the door.

Tori was hoping for a dining room with other people and now they would have to find conversation between only the two of them. The evening suddenly loomed ahead. But Maggie was right. This was the final chance to do something that would mean a lot to so many. Squaring her shoulders, she decided she would be up to the challenge.

*

The food arrivedand Cade began arranging it on the small table he’d found by the back door and moved it closer so that it was a few feet from the fireplace. He added two chairs. He glanced at the candleholders on the mantelpiece, but quickly shook that thought away. This was not an intimate dinner between good friends. It was at best to be a stilted negotiation. The door creaked open behind him as he laid the last napkin on the table.

“I’m just about to set the food on the table,” he tossed over his shoulder while placing the last of the silverware. “I wasn’t sure of a preference for you, so I got both beef and chicken fajita platters. It was that or…” He made the mistake of turning at that moment to speak directly at the woman who had entered. That’s when his brain stalled on him.

Tori…or was it Victoria…had changed. Nothing too major but it was just enough. Fresh jeans topped with a nice figure-hugging deep blue sweater, the tiny pearl-white buttons of the front catching the firelight as she moved slowly into the room. But it had to be her hair that caught him off guard. Gone was the customary ponytail. A mass of hair fell over and below her shoulders, its rich sable-brown color caught the light in the softer golden streaks through it. There was a sudden itch in his fingers gripping the salad forks to feel its softness…test to see if it felt as it looked.

“Or?” Those blue eyes had grown even more blue as they watched him with a quizzical glint in them.

“Or…”Snap to it, brain.

“You said there was another choice you almost made?”

“Fish. It was fish.”

“Good. I’m allergic to fish. So best we steer clear of visiting the ER tonight. Wouldn’t want the constituents back home thinking you might have done it on purpose.”

“Done it?”

Now she was looking at him far closer.

“Fed me something that is bad for me. Did something happen since our last conversation? Are you okay?”

“Yes. No…the food came, that’s all. Trying to think if I ordered all we need.” He stepped to pull her chair back, his brain kicking into gear.

And he had an answer to his previous thought as his fingers on the chair encountered strands of the thick hair on her shoulder. He jerked them back as if they were hot to the touch. The movement wasn’t lost on her by the way she glanced up at him. He moved around the table and took his own chair.It’s just a simple business dinner. Get with it.

The silence threatened to become deafening as they each tasted their food.

“The food is…”

“Didn’t know if…”

They both stopped as soon as they spoke in unison.

“Ladies first,” he said, gaining his faculties.

“I was about to say that the food is quite flavorful. A good choice for a rainy night.”

“Thanks. And I was going to say I didn’t know what you preferred to drink until I remembered you preferred iced tea that evening at your home. So, I did order unsweet but also ordered a lot of sugar in case you liked it sweet.”

“That’s thoughtful of you, thank you. I do love some tea with my sugar,” she said with a grin at the joke she had made. “I’m a Texan who loves sweet tea.”

“No apologies for that. So do I. Afraid I never quite got into the wine thing.”

“Really? But there is a wine that has your ranch’s branding on it…or did I dream that?”

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