Page 23 of Caden's Situationship

“It didn’t look like a cow,” I told him. “It looked like a big, huge—” The loud moo coming from the window caused me to shut my mouth because, well, what did you know, it really was a cow.

“That’s LeeLee,” Wade revealed. “While most people just have a cat or a dog for a pet, our good friend Caden here has a cow.”

My eyes went to Caden. “All this time, you failed to mention you had a pet cow?”

“Not exactly a pet he’d probably want to claim,” Katrina said, returning with an icepack.

I hadn’t even known she left, but pulled her in for a hug when she reached me, concluding, “It’s good to see you again. I was hoping to see you soon after Caden told me you were in town.”

“It’s great seeing you, too, girl.” When we broke our embrace, I caught her eyeing my hat curiously. “You think that thing’s big enough?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not big enough if you asked me. When it comes to hats, the bigger the better.”

She laughed and I laughed right along with her. “New accessories, same old Cordelia.”

“Pretty much.” The sound of the cow mooing again made me ask, “How does one end up with a pet cow?”

Houston laughed. “Mrs. Lee was his ninety-year-old neighbor and that woman was a force to be reckoned with, but she was the sweetest, too. She had the biggest crush on Caden, and when her cow gave birth, she decided to give Caden the calf.”

Caden smiled. “Best gift I ever got. She was as sweet as her original owner, so the name LeeLee seemed fitting.”

“God rest her soul,” Katrina said. “That woman had no idea she was giving Caden a best friend for life. That cow pops up all around his ranch, and if you mess with Caden, be prepared to deal with LeeLee.”

Note to self: Avoid LeeLee at all costs.I didn’t do cows, especially cows with an unhealthy crush.

“In other words, LeeLee knows you’re the competition,” Linc said.

“Don’t listen to him,” Caden interjected. “He’s just mad because Mrs. Lee was keen on him, too, and gifted Linc a calf as well. Except, his cow isn’t as sweet as LeeLee.”

“Does your cow have a crush on you?” I asked.

“Who, Mitch? Hell, nah.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. “Your cow is a male?”

Linc shook his head. “Nope, Mitch is a female, but she’s the meanest thing around.”

“That’s an understatement,” Katrina said. “Mitch is a real bi—”

“You betta watch it,” Linc warned. “Only I can talk about my Mitchy.” Turning to me, he explained, “She once bit me in the ass when I was fixing my fence, and all my other livestock steer clear of her. She even won an award one time for meanest cow of the year at the county fair. Matter of fact, the only cow in town she likes is LeeLee. But everybody likes LeeLee.”

I was laughing so hard, I could barely catch my breath. I was trying not to let my city roots show, but Cranberry Heights was a different kind of country than I was used to. I could have listened to Linc’s stories all night, but Caden interrupted to ask, “Why did you follow us out here?”

All laughing ceased as everyone eyed me inquisitively. “Honestly, I knew it was a bad idea to walk here.”

“You walked here?” he asked. “Don’t you know it isn’t safe to walk around an unfamiliar property this late at night?”

“I know,” I told him. “You don’t have to have acowabout it.” Everyone laughed, but Caden didn’t seem to find my joke funny. “I just wanted to know what was going on since you left in a hurry.”

“You were with Caden when Linc arrived?” Katrina asked when she leaned over to me. I nodded my head, causing her to wiggle her eyebrows and whisper, “Oh yes, we’ll definitely need girl talk later.”

Although I hadn’t seen Katrina in years, I’d always loved how easy she was to talk to. Apparently, she was still the same way now as she was back then.

“We have to head to Nashville to take care of some business,” Caden stated. “And I know it’s inhospitable for me to leave you at the ranch—”

“So we want you to come with us on a road trip to Nashville,” Houston interrupted. “If that’s okay with you.”

One glance at Caden’s wide eyes and I knew inviting me along wasn’t the plan at all. However, I didn’t want to be at the ranch with his staff while everyone I knew in Cranberry Heights went to Nashville. So instead of giving him time to retract Houston’s offer, I pushed back my hat and made sure Caden was the one looking me in the eyes when I told them, “Yes, I’d love to go with you.”

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