Page 12 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

“Yeah, I guess. We never really connected, even though we’re the same age, but now we’re in the same office — along with our grandfather — and we’re doing okay.”

“I was sorry to hear of Wally’s death last fall. That must have been rough on everyone.”

Graham’s fingers flexed on the wheel. “It didn’t affect me much at the time, since we weren’t close, but I did feel bad for their family. Wally and his wife left a little boy. Tate is Jamie’s guardian. Well, Tate and now his wife, Stephanie.”

She tried to place the remaining Sullivan brothers. “Are Bryce and Maxwell in Montana, too?”

“Yes. They’re working with Jude on maintenance and grounds and renovations and all that stuff. Weston — the other new relative — is an actual cowboy. He’s in charge of the stables.”

“Are they nice?”

The look Graham shot her said otherwise. He sighed deeply before adding words. “Jude’s quiet. He’s okay, I guess. Weston has a chip on his shoulder and is always snarking around like he has something to prove.”

“Sounds fun.” Not.

“But there are a few dozen people working there now. Quite a few women. You shouldn’t have any trouble making friends.”

Did she want new friends? After that barrage of texts earlier today from the ones she was leaving behind, she wasn’t entirely sure she was in the market to replace them. Life might be a whole lot quieter without as much input.

Lonelier, too, probably. Could she survive ranch life after the bustling city? For the summer, she’d manage, unless Graham’s grandfather fired her even before he hired her.

Maybe lonelier and quieter wasn’t an all-bad thing.

“Want me to drive?”

“Sure. I’ll pull off at the next exit. Then I guess I’d better call Tate and make sure I haven’t brought you on a wild goose chase.”

Chapter Four

Tate looked up from his laptop, leaned back, and crossed his arms when Graham staggered into the office the next morning. “Tell me more. When did you get in?”

“An hour ago.”

Tate’s eyebrows angled up. “You drove through the night?”

“Mostly. We left Chicago at something like two a.m. and swapped driving every few hours.” Didn’t that make it two nights on the road? The details were blurring.

Tate waited.

“If I’d been thinking that through… I mean, I know it’s roughly a 24-hour drive, so obviously we’d arrive in the middle of the night. But I didn’t think about that at the time. Solo, I’d have started at a sane time of day, found a hotel at midpoint, and arrived here in the evening.” He’d have been rested, which was definitely not the case now.

“You could have stopped anyway. Or did you?”

Graham sighed. “We pulled off at a rest area and tried to sleep for a few hours, but tons of semi-trucks blasted past, plus it was impossible to get comfortable. Cadence brought so much stuff we couldn’t even tilt the seats back.”

Tate snorted, glee dancing in his eyes.

What was so funny? Graham couldn’t see the joke, not that he was at his brightest after the long journey. Even the quick shower he’d grabbed at his place before leaving Cadence there to nap hadn’t helped. Nor had the coffee he’d snagged from the lodge kitchen on his way into the office.

Tate snickered. “You went to Chicago for your cousin’s wedding. You rescued—” he air-quoted the word “—a jilted bride, offered her a job, and drove straight back several days early. What happened to the Graham Sullivan I’ve known all my life?”

Graham took a sip of life-giving brew. Hopefully also head-clearing. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got nothing but time.”

He laughed. “So not true. Doesn’t Grandfather have a list a mile long for you to do before you head to Chicago yourself?” Tate was taking Stephanie and Jamie on this trip to wrap up negotiations with Chester Hotels. They’d also be attending the Gala of the Stars on Independence Day. Graham had made an appearance a few times, and it was not one of the events he would miss. Too many people. Too pretentious.

“Of course.” Tate smirked. “But he won’t be in the office for another half hour. He’s in a meeting with Nadine and the kitchen crew.”

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