Page 19 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

Cadence dashed her paddle against the surface and sent water arcing toward Graham.

“Oh, girl, do you seriously want to start something?”

She giggled. “I bet you couldn’t catch me.”

Graham chuckled. He probably couldn’t.

“Here.” She pulled her phone out of a pocket in her life vest. “Come around behind my kayak, and I’ll take a selfie of us to upload to social media.”

“Do I have to be in photos?” Yikes, he sounded like a whiny kid.

“You do.” She pulled her paddle backward, lining up their watercraft. “Smile. Pretend you’re having fun.”

He tried, but it would probably look like a grimace. After she’d put the phone away, he said, “we don’t even have a social media presence.”

“We will by morning. I’ve been dreaming up a plan.”

Of course, she had.

“How’s Stephanie’s mom doing?”

Graham stared at Cadence for a moment, trying to follow the change in topics. “Have you even met Stephanie?”

“Once. She was in the dining hall with Jamie. He’s sure a cutie.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Tate’s charge was barely more than a baby, and his vocabulary was limited to maybe a dozen words and an impressive array of grunts. Maybe someday when the kid was older, Graham could carry on conversations with him.

“Men,” Cadence muttered.

“What? Just because I’m not that into other people’s kids…”

She pivoted her kayak and stared at him. “You have kids of your own?”

“Of course not.” And hopefully she couldn’t see the heat that flared up his face.

“Well, I think it’s a great thing Tate and Stephanie have done for his nephew, getting married to give him a stable home. I hope they love each other, too.”

“I’m sure they do.” At least, Tate seemed crazy about his wife.

“It must be hard for them to be apart. Which is why I asked about Stephanie’s mom. They asked for prayer for her in church this morning, remember?”

Yeah, Graham remembered. He was just surprised Cadence had noticed. “Stephanie was supposed to go to Chicago with Tate this week, but then a doctor said her mom might have cancer. They’re doing surgery to remove the mass for biopsy this week.” See? He’d been paying attention. He cared about what was going on with Tate and his family.

Cadence eyed him. “Gala of the Stars is a big thing for Stephanie to miss now that she’s married to Tate. Everyone who’s anyone in social circles will attend. Not to mention, word hasn’t gone around yet that he’s married, so everyone will want to meet Stephanie.” She’d gone with Paul last year. This year, they were supposed to be on their honeymoon instead. Narrow escape.

Graham shrugged. “Tate is mostly home to meet up with Justin Chesterman about a merger Sullivan’s been working on with Chester Hotels.” Not exactly a merger. More like an amicable buyout.

“I hope everything works out okay for them.” Cadence pointed her paddle down to the beach by the cottages on Dragonfly Lane. “Let’s head over that way.”

“Whatever.” She might be able to make him get outside, but he didn’t have to like it.

Chapter Six

Paisley jogged up to Cadence. “Have you uploaded any photos yet?”

“No, I need to go through them and edit them and see which best represent—”

“Grab your phone and do some candid shots. My kids are putting on a little rodeo over at the corrals.”

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