Page 36 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

“My mother’s house,” Ginny said, looking at him. “She lives on the second floor right now, and she can’t go up or down the steps without help.”

“That doesn’t seem safe,” Tam said. “What if she needs to get out?”

“She has an assistant,” Ginny said. “Though there are times she’s alone in the house.” She didn’t like going up and down the steps with her mother’s weight leaning into her, but she hadn’t actually thought it unsafe for Mother to be in the mansion alone.

She did now. “I want to move her to the main level, but she wants a suite with a bedroom, kitchen area—it doesn’t have to be a full kitchen—a bathroom, and a living room so she can watch her shows.”

“There’s nothing like that in that huge mansion?” Cayden asked.

“There is,” Ginny hedged, glancing at Tam and then Blaine as he arrived at the table and set up a contraption with a flame underneath it, then put a steaming pot right over that. The wonderful smell of cheese and salt met her nose, and Ginny’s mouth watered.

“Be right back,” Cayden said, and he bustled back around the peninsula and into the kitchen.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Fondue,” Cayden said. “Blaine loves to impress with fondue.” He spoke the last part in a near-whisper, and when Ginny met his eyes, he carried laughter in his expression. “Right, Tam?”

“The man loves to impress with everything he makes,” she said, her mouth barely moving. “Not that I’m complaining. He’s a genius in the kitchen.” She plucked up another cracker and dunked it in the cheese sauce this time. She blew on it while it steamed, saying in a much louder voice, “Baby, this smells amazing.”

“The pork broth is coming,” he called. “Don’t fill up on bread.”

All Ginny wanted was bread, and she dipped a cracker in the cheese fondue too. “The only living area on the main floor belonged to my father,” Ginny said. “Mother won’t go in there.”

“Why’s that?” Tam asked. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.” She cut a glance at Cayden, who still hadn’t put anything in his mouth. Ginny felt like a pig, but the call of the sharp, salty cheese was too much for her.

She ate her cracker, her taste buds yelling at her to get some more as quickly as possible. “Daddy cheated on Mother a lot,” Ginny said, just laying everything out. It wasn’t like it was a Winters family secret anyway, even if Mother and Harvey pretended like it was.

Apprehension swam through her when she looked at Cayden. He’d been downright solid on his denial that her father and his mother had engaged in anything illicit. He’d said he’d speak to his mother about it, but if he had, he hadn’t told Ginny about it.

“Oh, wow,” Tam said. “I wouldn’t go in that room either.”

“Everything else on the main level is meant for entertaining,” Ginny said. “The kitchen is huge, but industrial. It hasn’t been used in years, and Mother wouldn’t know how to do much more than boil water to make tea anyway.”

She sought out Cayden’s hand to ground herself. “There’s a library, though Mother prefers to knit and crochet to reading. A huge ballroom where my parents used to host massive parties before we built the event center at the distillery storefront. A conservatory, if you can believe that.” She shook her head, her smile anything but happy.

She’d gotten one of the worst tongue-lashings of her life in that conservatory, and she hadn’t been inside it since.

“My father was not a nice man,” she said, deciding to sum it up and move on. Blaine set up another burner, this one with a much higher and brighter flame, and put another pot down. His eyes met hers, questions there.

She imagined a lot of people had the same types of questions as him, Tam, and Cayden.

“He used to entertain in the drawing room, which he actually called a smoking room back in the day. Only men were allowed in there.” She swallowed. “There’s a music room as well, with two pianos—one of them grand—as we all had to learn to play as children.”

“You play the piano?” Cayden asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“I can,” Ginny said. “We needed to be able to entertain.” She flashed him a smile that felt so warped. “It’s been a while since I’ve sat at a piano, I’ll admit.” She looked around at the three of them. “I think I’ve identified that as the room Mother could convert—it’s large, and we can easily section it into two spaces. The room she’s in now really just has a small kitchenette along the back wall, and a bedroom big enough for a king-sized bed. The music room could hold that.”

“It would still require construction, though, right?” Blaine asked, going back into the kitchen. “Our guy is good, Tam. Everything is always delayed in construction.”

“I want that porch done before the wedding,” Tam said. “That’s not a crime.”

“Things always come up,” Cayden agreed. “We can give you some names.”

Blaine returned with two platters, saying, “Help me, Cay.”

Cayden jumped to his feet and took one of the platters, which held a variety of raw meats and vegetables. Ginny had never seen anything like this as far as fondue went, as her experiences were limited to desserts.

He and Blaine set down the trays, and Ginny soaked in the beauty of this meal. She’d expected steak and baked potatoes, as the Chappells hadn’t ever had anything much more elaborate than that, even when Blaine cooked.

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