Page 11 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

“I bet he would.”

“I’m not that memorable.”

Graham’s eyebrows angled above his dark-rimmed glasses when he looked at her.

Didn’t he believe her? Hmm.

“He doesn’t forget anyone or anything. I’ve seen no sign of that slipping even now that he’s eighty.” He pursed his lips. “Though I did wonder back in April.”

She nestled deeper into the leather seat. “What happened then?”

“He summoned my cousins and me to Montana to see this ranch he’d bought. I thought he’d lost his marbles. Sullivan does hotels, not dude ranches. We all thought we’d be spending a few days together — maybe a week or two — and then return to Chicago, doing what we do best.”

For him, that would be crunching numbers, right? Sounded boring, but someone needed to do it to keep the universe rotating. So long as it wasn’t her.

“But then we found out why he’d bought the ranch. Seems like he’d had an affair with his office secretary way back before he met our grandmother. The woman quit working for him, and after a while, he forgot all about her. Until January when his daughter showed up in his office with DNA proof of their relationship.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yep. And his daughter — whom I have a hard time calling my aunt — has two sons.” He heaved a sigh. “It’s not that I want Weston and Jude for cousins, but maybe they’re an upgrade over Paul.”

Cadence snorted. Oops, not so ladylike. “It doesn’t take much to be an improvement.”

“Right now, I’d have to agree with you.” Graham shook his head. “Anyway, Grandfather bought the ranch, which someone had started to turn into a resort — a guest ranch — but then run out of money. He decided it would be a great way to get everyone to know each other as we work together to pull that property into the black.”

“Huh. That’s interesting. It’s hard to believe that about your grandfather, though. He’s always seemed very… controlled.”

“I guess he was young once. Not that it excuses him.”

“So, will it be possible to make Sweet River profitable?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s throwing enough money at it, but he doesn’t care about that. With a solid foundation, it will pay the company back. Eventually.”

“What do you like best about living there?”

His lip curled as he glanced at her. “Not much.”

Cadence laughed. “Oh, come on. It can’t be that bad.”

“I’m not so fond of horses and bugs. I prefer more luxury in my accommodations, but my new aunt is the lodge chef, and she’s a good cook, so I guess that’s a plus.” He shrugged. “I have lots of time to read?”

That caught her attention. “You’re a reader? What’s your favorite genre?”

“Thrillers.”

“Ugh, not me.”

“So those boxes of books — there’s nothing in there for me to borrow? I should have made you leave them in your parents’ garage.”

“You’re very funny.”

He smirked but didn’t turn her direction.

“You’re probably too busy doing all the stuff at the ranch to read, anyway.”

Graham shuddered. “Well, I’m getting along better with my cousins than I used to — Tate, at least — so I guess that’s good.”

“Tate always seemed pretty easy-going to me? Again, not that I know him well.”

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