Page 34 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
“Emma, huh? Don’t think I know an Emma.”
“She’s new to the area,” Cody said.
Nash turned to the younger Swanson brother with an accusatory glare.You too?
Cody shrugged with an impish grin.
Nash’s father turned to him. “Do I know her family?”
“Uh…” Nash never had been much good at lying, but there was no way he wanted his father hassling Emma. He was trying to think of a little white lie that would protect her, but Kit beat him to it.
“Like Cody said, she’s new to town.” He crossed his arms and flashed Patrick an easy grin.
Nash knew he ought to shut this down. He couldn’t bring Emma, not when his family had their own agenda for her inheritance. And yet…
When he ought to be protesting and shutting down his friend’s idiotic little games, he found himself daydreaming instead. Of all the bad times to become a daydreaming fool, his mind chose that moment to conjure an image of Emma in his arms, smiling up at him as they danced to the local bluegrass band at the reception.
He was jolted back to the present when his father clapped a hand on his shoulder.
Nash was stunned speechless at the sight of his father’s beaming grin—a rare sight indeed. “Good for you, son.” He shook his head with a low chuckle. “You know I don’t get worked up about these things like your mother does, but it would make us all real happy to see you there with someone you care about.”
Nash swallowed hard. He ought to protest. He should shut this down right now—
“Your mama’s gonna be over the moon,” his father was saying, walking away with an air of satisfaction that made Nash’s belly twist with guilt.
“Dad, I—”
“We’ll want to meet her first,” Patrick said, not seeming to hear his protest. He turned back and pointed a finger in Nash’s direction. “You make sure to bring her along to the family barbecue on Saturday, you hear?”
His father didn’t wait for a response. And Nash was left to deal with three grinning idiots who were laughing themselves silly.
11
Emma narrowed her eyes at her new, makeshift therapist. “Don’t look at me like that.”
The big-bellied pig continued to stare at Emma as she chewed her food.
Emma sighed. “I tried my best, you know.”
The pig grunted, obviously unimpressed.
“Rose didn’t give me much to work with,” she said. “I mean, she seems sweet and everything, but talk about indecisive. She couldn’t give me a straight answer about anything.”
The dirty, smelly pig had the gall to snort her response.
“Fine, fine. I get that. Big decisions and all. But I just want one little signature.” Emma shrugged. “It was like she was afraid to make a decision without checking with her older sister first. And her older sister, Dahlia? Oh my word. She’s a piece of work. Don’t even get me started on her.”
The pig didn’t prod. Pigs, Emma had recently learned, were excellent listeners.
“Anyways, I tried my best, right? It’s not my fault I couldn’t convince her.”
This was true, but guilt still nagged. She had one job while she was here and she was failing.
If anything, her second conversation with a long-lost sister had gone even worse than the first. Rose had seemed sweet but Emma got the impression she could be swayed in whichever direction her older sister chose.
Was it really right that they were all making this decision so quickly?
Emma rested her chin on her folded arms as she leaned over the wooden fence. “Don’t any of them even want to see this place?”
