Page 22 of Back in the Saddle

“Weare making lasagne,” Lorraine corrected.

I laughed as I sat down at the bench. “Not sure how you roped them in. They usually have the uncanny ability to come out of the woodwork only when the food is ready to be served.”

“That’s not true,” Isabelle said.

Taylor’s eyes widened. “What? It’s more like five minutes before it’s served because you can’t ignore the smell anymore?”

“Yeah. That,” Callum said, grinning.

Lorraine considered them. “It’s about time you two helped out more. I vote you each cook one meal a week.”

“Yes.” I almost cheered.

Taylor handed Lorraine a glass of wine before she sat down beside me. “You’ve just earned that.”

This morning, I was living in a separate house and this evening I was back with my family. In a matter of hours, I’d gone from making a breakfast for one in my empty house to watching a meal being prepared for the five of us. It was weird how quickly things could change. But me being here didn’t mean anything. Taylor helping me didn’t mean anything. It certainly didn’t mean we were getting back together and living happily ever after.

“It was nice of Mum to offer you a lifeline,” Isabelle said.

Taylor and I glanced at each other. My heart beat quickened.

“Bit like how you saved her that first day you met, huh?” Lorraine said.

Taylor smiled, and it lit up her face like that first day. Giddiness spread through my body almost as strong as it had after our first kiss.

“Tell us again, Dad,” Callum said.

“You just want to hear the embarrassing part.”

Callum shook his head. “Not just that.”

“He wants to hear how you stuck it to Grandpa too,” Isabelle said.

Taylor and I glanced at each other again, but this time, I held her gaze as I retold the story. Her chest rose and fell, matching the rhythm of my breath. The air between us was thick, like a fog on a winter morning. “You remember how I first saw her, aye?”

Everyone nodded.

“She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, even when she was sad. Or maybe it was the sadness that made her more beautiful.”

Taylor swung her stool around, so our knees were touching. That small connection anchored me to her. No longer a girl,she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her brown eyes were so warm and inviting they entrapped me. I stared into them. My heart raced, sending tingles across my skin and numbing my brain. The room faded as I took in her features like I had that first day.

Slowly, it dawned on me that I was supposed to be saying something. “I thought that I would go for it right out of the gate.”

Taylor shook her head. “I don’t think you thought about it at all.”

I shrugged, not hiding my smile. “Maybe.”

“Probably. If I wasn’t desperate, I would never have been charmed.”

“Lucky for me you were.”

I stood backas people got out of their kayaks onto the small jetty, with the guide helping. The beautiful girl was next. Her woollen hat was pulled snug over her ears and her brown hair tumbled out from beneath.

I strode forward and held out my hand to her. “I’ll help the beautifulcailín.”

The guide stepped aside and went to help the next person. The girl took my hand, and my pulse quickened. Her strong grip impressed me. She wasn’t fragile. Lucky, I was tethered to her or the lightness in my body might have infiltrated my brain.

“Thank you,” she said as her feet hit the wood. Her accent was strange, but one I recognised from my time behind the bar.

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