Page 27 of The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

She made an indecipherable sound. “Let’s just say… it went predictably.”

That didn’t sound good. “I’m sorry?”

“Yes. Well. No surprise. But I did appreciate the goat photo. And the pun.”

“A little corny, huh?” It totally was.

“It quite made me smile, despite the circumstances.”

“Well then it was worth the corn,” he said, imagining her walking in the park or some such place as they had together that day. “The press still bothering you?”

“Only when they can find me. It’s not just me. We’re all targets.”

“You’ve all been cleared though.”

“But the story… it’s too big to let go. Everyone wants to know how. How it happened and don’t we feel responsible somehow for all of it? And some find it hard to imagine he was alone in it. Which is why no one will hire me here.”

“Come out,” he said. Just two words that made her go silent for a long beat.

“Excuse me?”

“Come here for a week or two. Get out of that place, away from them. Come here and forget all that for a while. Breathe some clean Montana air and slow everything down. Figure out what you want.”

He could almost hear what she was thinking.

But she said, “Honestly, I’d love to, but… is it a good idea?”

“You mean… for us? For you and me?”

“Exactly. I… don’t want to mess up our—what is it we have? Our friendship.”

He knew exactly what she meant. “Nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen,” he told her. “Do I want to see you again? Yeah. Get to know you better? Absolutely. Do I wish geography wasn’t standing in the way of all that? Hell, yeah. But do I expect anything more if you come out to figure out your next steps? No. You’re safe with me, Em. I promise you that.”

He knew that her trust meter had apparently been badly broken lately, but he wanted her to believe him. His offer wasn’t a proposition. He had no expectations. Hopes, maybe, but no expectations. And to her, he understood clearly that the ground rules were important. She needed to know them before she agreed to go.

And really. Even if she did come out, what could happen? Nothing beyond what they were. Friends. His life and hers could never merge.

“There’s something else I haven’t told you,” she said.

He didn’t like the sound of that. “What’s that?”

“My visa is expiring. I’ve applied for an extension, but things are moving like molasses in that office and I’m not hopeful. I’ve already begun packing. I’m afraid I’ve got to go by the end of the month.”

“Go where?”

“Home. Back to London.”

“London?”Damn.In all his ruminations about her, he hadn’t considered that she wasn’t actually free to be here and that her whole life here in the US depended on her being gainfully employed. “I-I didn’t realize…”

“But I do want to come to Montana. To see you. So, maybe for a few days?”

Disappointed, he shoved down the feelings of unfairness in the whole mess. “A week? We’ll put you up in one of our cabins. And if you’re here next weekend, you’ll be here for a wedding. A first with our new chef. Say you’ll come.”

“Oh, I don’t want to be in the way. Maybe this isn’t a good time, then—”

“It’s the perfect time. Please. Just tell me when and I’ll pick you up at the airport in Billings.”

“Okay,” she said, and he could hear the smile back in her voice. “Okay.”

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