Page 44 of The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

“Anaccident? For God’s sake, Muri…” Both of them knew full well that Malcolm, with the smallest bit of information, was like a sidewinder snake who sniffed prey in the desert.

Mostly because he had their father’s ear. And once that story reached Lord Quinn… well—

“You know how Mal is,” Muriel went on. “He’ll wheedle things out of you and before you know it…”

She knew exactly how Malcolm could be, and Muriel—being the baby of the family and the peacemaker—was particularly vulnerable to his methods of manipulation.

“I’m so sorry,” her sister said. “Please don’t hate me.”

“Shhh,” Emily shushed. “I don’t hate you. What did he say?” She could only imagine the gears clicking in her brother’s pointed little head at the thought of passing along this delicious bit of gossip.

“He laughed. He actually laughed and said—” She stopped and silence stretched on the line.

“He saidwhat?”

“He said he was hardly surprised after you ruined your reputation with that firm in New York that you would slink off with someone as… as unreputable as a… acowhand—”

She shot to her feet.Unreputable? Cowhand?The words almost made her laugh out loud. Liam Hardesty wasten timesthe man Malcolm would ever be, in every possible way. As for cowhand, pph-hffft! She’d like to see Malcolm’s reaction to what Liam had built here. And what Malcolm would have done in the face of that grizzly bear this morning. Now that was a hilarious thought! Or imagine him ever kissing a girl until her toes curled the way Liam had. Or made her feel like she was the best thing that had happened to him in years.

The thought nearly made her gasp.Wasshe falling in love with Liam? Could she possibly be falling in love with a man who was so objectively wrong for her? Or maybe the truth was, he was objectively absolutelyright.

Muriel’s next words forced her to tune back in to what she was saying. “And that our father would certainly have something to say about this. And he was right.”

She wanted to scream. “He called you? Father has literally nothing to say about my life. I’ve been gone all these years, and he still thinks he can control me?”

“He’s aware of your visa issues, of course.”

“And that I’m moving in with you?”

“I didn’t tell him that. But, Emily, this is the qualified good news. He’s privately arranged for a position for you with Garrett Falkner, who works at Footsie. It’s above your last position and working directly for him. It’s truly your dream job.”

Emily swallowed her shock. Footsie, the informal name for the FTSE 100 Index, the UK’s best known stock market index. She, of course, knew of Garrett Falkner, a legend in the UK stock exchange and a billionaire fund manager who’d become one of the primary leaders in Footsie four years ago. Of course she knew him. Everyone did. But the idea that he could be considering her for a position after all that’d happened—

“That’s impossible,” she told Muriel, and began pacing around the house like a madwoman.

“Apparently, it’s not. I checked with our newest stepmother. Tabitha was positively giddy at the prospect of your coming home to London for good to work for Garrett. She said, ‘It will make Owen so proud of her.’”

And there it was. Her father’s conditional approval, love, pride. The thing she’d sought her whole life without even understanding what a Sisyphean task that was.

Suddenly, the whole idea of London sat like a sour pill at the back of her throat. True, a job like that only came around once in a lifetime. But taking it would make her beholden to her father. Just one more string attached to their tenuous relationship.

She shook her head and sat down hard on the sofa in the living room. It was a dream job. Not in New York, but still. And certainly, nowhere near Liam or Montana. But she’d known all along she’d be forced to leave this beautiful country and move home. That didn’t make what she was starting to feel for him any less complicated.

Her head felt like the center of a hummingbird battle and all of it was a blur. “Muri—I… I can’t think about this now. I’m on vacation. The first vacation I’ve had in years. I’m having fun, and I’m enjoying my time with Liam. I won’t let Father or Mal ruin it for me. So, let’s pretend you did not tell me this and I know nothing about it. I’m turning off my phone after this. And if Father asks, tell him that I’m unreachable. All right?”

“All right. But about the job… what if it goes away?”

“Then it does. I’m here. I want to be here now.”

“Hmmm. That sounds suspiciously like a seventies’ self-help book title.”

“Yes, well I’m trying to help myself, aren’t I?”

Muriel sighed. “I do hope you know what you’re doing.”

Emily certainly did not. And she had no inkling when she would.

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking, you’ve got to have a ‘what-the-hell’ attitude.”

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