Page 51 of Trusting a Cowgirl

“We don’t have a curfew. Not anymore.”

Brielle snickered. “Do you seriously believe that? Dad said we could start dating. He also mentioned that he would ease up a bit on the other stuff. But when did he ever flat-out tell us that we were—” She laughed again and sliced her hand through the air. “It’s that veteran guy, isn’t it?”

Grace stiffened.

“I know you never really said anything specifically about him. But I know it’s gotta be him. Isn’t he like in his forties?”

“He’s in his early thirties,” Grace muttered coolly. “And it’s none of your business.” She didn’t take the seat that Brielle offered. She fully planned on heading up to her room before anyone else managed to walk in on their conversation.

Brielle sighed and got to her feet. She clicked her tongue as if she were chastising Grace on every single decision she’d made in her life that had brought her to this point. “No. That’s where you’re wrong. Do you know why dad changed his tune? It’s because of me. Maybe a little bit of Constance. But mostly me. I’m the one who refused to follow the neat little path he had laid out for us. And I can almost guarantee I could put us back on it.”

Grace narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t do that to Faye and Eloise.”

“No, I wouldn’t. But what you’re doing—risking everything—you’d be the one to turn this all upside down. If Dad had been the one sitting here tonight, what do you think he would have done? Do you think he would have let you just slip past him and go to your room?”

“I don’t know. You tell me. You’re the one who has more experience with this sort of thing.” Grace regretted the words the second they left her lips. She pinched her lips together and waited for the inevitable fallout from Brielle. Whenever her dating history was brought up, she had a tendency to go on the defensive.

Surprisingly, she did nothing. Brielle blinked once, then let out a sigh. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I swear. I’m trying to help you not make the same mistakes I made. You don’t want to prevent Eloise and Faye from finding the guys they want to marry. Dad is finally giving us some breathing room. Just…” She sighed again. “Just be careful, okay? That guy isn’t from around here. We don’t know anything about him.”

“I know plenty about him,” Grace shot back. “I know that despite being in the military and seeing some pretty nasty stuff, he’s been nothing but sweet with me. He trusts me, and I trust him.”

“I’m not saying you can’t date the guy. I’m just telling you to think before you allow yourself to fall head over heels for him. Do you even know what his plans are for when his therapy sessions are over? Speaking of which, isn’t it like some kind of conflict of interest for you to be dating him anyway?” Brielle moved around the coffee table and her voice softened. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I’m fine, Bri. I’m not a child, and I can make my own decisions.”

“Of course you can.”

“Then will you stop making statements that sound like you don’t agree? It’s late and I’m tired. I just want to get to bed. Tomorrow I have to visit with Shane about what is going to happen next. I’m probably going to lose my job as it is.”

Brielle’s features scrunched into a look of concern. “Is he really that mad?”

“No. He’s not mad. But you’re right. There’s a conflict. But Shane doesn’t have anyone else he would put me with. My client—Riley—he was the only person I was working with.”

“And suddenly everything makes sense.” Brielle chuckled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her older sister shrugged. “Nothing. Not really. It just figures that he’s the only guy you’re spending all your time with lately. He’s thefirstguy you’ve spent a lot of time with. Don’t you think you should go on some dates with other people before you jump in without a life preserver?”

“Who says I don’t have one?” Once again, Grace felt her defenses going up. “I thought you said you weren’t going to interfere.”

Brielle laughed. “I said no such thing. If you’ll recall, I said you get to make your own choices. Did I start seriously dating the first guy I liked? Nope. And it turns out it was the best decision I ever made.”

Grace gave her a disbelieving look.

“What? It is.”

She shook her head. “None of us were fooled for a second when it came to James. We all knew you liked him. We just didn’t know if you still did when he started dating Constance.”

Brielle’s mouth fell open. For a second Grace thought this might be the one thing that put her over the edge. She’d get offended and their little conversation would turn sour. But then Brielle let out a quiet laugh. “There are literally no secrets around this place, are there?”

“Guess not.”

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

Grace frowned. “What?”

“That your secret won’t be a secret for long. Someone’s gonna find out and—”

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