Page 29 of Rough Ride with the Grumpy Cowboy
My eyes widen in panic. “Oh God, Jace knows?!”
She nods apologetically, even though this is all my fault. “Yes, but he knows better than to tease you about it. Girl, I didn’t know you still sleepwalk?”
I sigh and nod. “I didn’t either. I thought it stopped, but I started again after I came back here.”
Her eyes widen in realization. “You sleepwalked your first night too?”
“Yes.”
“And into Zane’s cabin?”
“Yes.”
“No wonder he was so prickly—he’s super protective of his space. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone off on him like I did. I even asked him to apologize to you.”
“You what?!”
Ella... no. I’m the one to blame. Zane has nothing to apologize for.
“But he didn’t do it, so we’re good,” she assures me as if that makes things better.
Things are not better. As a matter of fact, after this morning, I think they’ll just get worse. However, I’m still puzzled by what Zane wanted to ask me before Ella came in. He wasn’t his usual dismissive and rude self.
“Let’s go in. It’s still a bit chilly, and you’re not dressed warmly enough,” Ella notes.
She’s right—I’m in a satin pajama set, and even though the bottoms are pants, the top is a thin spaghetti-strap top, and once again, I have no shoes on.
She takes off her robe and drapes it over my shoulders as she leads me into the house. I give her a grateful smile and wrap it tighter around myself. There’s no one in the kitchen, which I’m thankful for, as I don’t have it in me to face the rest of the Morgans, especially Jace with what he knows.
“So what are you going to do about the sleepwalking thing?” Ella asks me over breakfast.
“Try and get my prescription filled.”
“That requires us going into town,” she points out.
“So be it. It’s better than having a repeat of this for the next three months.”
Going to town comes with the risk of running into my family, but I don’t have much of a choice. Wandering into Zane’s cabin in the middle of the night cannot keep happening.
“Or I could chain you to your bed,” Ella suggests with a cheeky grin.
“Sounds splendid. Let’s do it,” I affirm boldly.
We burst out laughing, clinking our coffee mugs together, toasting to our silly joke.
Hanging out with Ella reminds me of how much I’ve missed out on the past five years. As soon as I get a handle on this sleepwalking situation, then maybe I can begin to enjoy my vacation because God knows I need it.
After breakfast, we retire to our separate rooms to get ready for our trip to town.
Since Ella doesn’t drive and I don’t feel comfortable having one of the employees at the ranch chauffeur us around, I offer to. It’s rare for me to drive, so now that I have this chance, I plan to enjoy it.
“Since when do you all have a mall?” I exclaim as we drive into town and I’m met with lots of changes.
“Since Mayor Atwood took office and decided to give Wrangler Creek a new face,” Ella explains.
The reason my mother was so desperate to get us out of Wrangler Creek is because she hated how small it was. Now, it feels like I’m driving downtown LA, just without all the skyscrapers.
Wrangler Creek is not the same quaint little town I left behind, and it shows me just how much I’ve missed being away.
