Page 59 of Wounded Cowboy
And he couldn’t deny that their chemistry was off the charts.
Under any other circumstances, he’d have agreed that Kelsey was perfect, and he’d be a fool to let her go.
But he couldn’t ask her to sacrifice her big dream just because his daughters adored her and she made his life more comfortable. Not whenshe’dbeen the one to propose keeping their relationship strictly“friends with benefits.”
He’d try to enjoy the time they had left together, and then let her go to live her best life in Southern California.
∞∞∞
As always, the Snowberry family’s Sunday dinner took place in the big ranch house where Spring’s parents, Bob and Priscilla, still lived.
The ranch house’s décor was dated, but Kelsey had always found the atmosphere warm and welcoming. Generations of family photos adorned the walls, including antique tintypes, and the aromas of herb-crusted prime rib and homemade Parker House rolls filled the air.
Everyone was there tonight: Spring and the girls; Winnie, Nick and Kegan; Summer and Brock; Abigail; Autumn, and Autumn’s son, Jayden. Only Matt was missing, since he was on evening patrol duty.
They all sat crowded around the big farmhouse dining table, cheerfully bumping elbows as they passed around the heavy platter of sliced meat, an enormous bowl of salad, and the basket of steaming rolls.
When everyone was seated, Bob Snowberry intoned a brief grace. Then they all began to eat.
As always, Kelsey found herself engaged in multiple conversations with different family members. Summer and Brock shared funny stories about some guests at their diner, while Autumn entertained everyone with an email someone had sent to the ranch via the Contact Us link on the website.
“I’m pretty sure this person was serious, and not just trolling us,” she said, scrolling through her phone to find the email.“Oh, here it is.” She deepened her voice.“To whom it may concern: we had a pleasant stay at your ranch, except for one thing. For the love of God, you people need a Starbucks on the property. Or even just a coffee cart. Expecting your visitors to drink the swill from the in-room coffeemakers or drive to town for a proper cold brew is not only inconvenient, it’s practically medieval.”
Everyone laughed.“Which of our guests sent that?” Priscilla demanded.“And can we put them on the‘so sorry, we’re all booked out’list if they try to come here again?”
“Oh.” Autumn glanced down at her phone and pursed her lips.“It’s from Josh Smith.” She looked at Spring and clarified.“Remember Bethany?”
Spring scowled.“I’ll never forget her. I vote we ban herandher coffee-snob parents for the Daisy selfie incident.”
“What’s this? Something happened to Daisy?” Bob asked.
When Spring had finished telling his parents the story, Abigail cleared her throat.
“Kelsey, dear,” she said warmly.“Since this is your last family dinner with all of us, I wanted to tell you how much we all appreciated your time on the ranch here with us. You’ve brought so much joy and light into my great-grandchildren’s lives.”
“Thank you, Grandma Abigail,” Kelsey replied.“I had a wonderful time here, and I’m really going to miss everyone, especially April and Abby and Kegan.”
Abby screwed up her face.“Do youhaveto go, Ms. Kelsey?”
“Please stay!” pleaded April.
I knew this was going to be the hard part, Kelsey thought as guilt stabbed her in the gut.
“Isn’t thereanythingwe can do to convince you to stay with us?” Abigail turned her head to look at Spring.
Crap. Don’t look at him,Kelsey told herself.
But she couldn’t stop herself. She turned her head and saw he’d gone a sickly shade of green under his tan.
∞∞∞
Spring froze as Grandma Abigail asked her loaded question. Everyone knew he’d been involved with Kelsey all summer.
Why can’t my grandmother just mind her own damned business?he thought with a spurt of helpless anger as everyone in his family looked expectantly at him.
Then icy panic flowed over him, freezing him in place like a statue.
After Laura died, he swore he’d never fall in love again. Kelsey was supposed to be just a summer fling, someone safe because she had her own dreams to chase.
