Page 61 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

Was Paisley acquainted with the bride and groom? Not that Cadence knew of, but she’d gone to the wedding. No one was a stranger to Paisley Teele. Not for long, anyway.

It had made for the most relaxing day Cadence had experienced yet at Sweet River. Graham and Paisley had both been absent. Her luck had run out today at her roommate’s insistence on a horseback ride.

Now all she needed was Weston, too. The guy perpetually seemed mildly amused by something, which should have gone against his surly persona, but somehow didn’t.He must think he was a cut above the rest of creation to look down on them like that.

Weston’s horse nickered, and Cadence could hear his quiet voice soothe the gelding. She’d only ever heard him use that tone with horses. Might do him some good to try it on people, not that she’d be fooled for one red hot second.

“Ready?” Paisley stood outside Mirage’s stall, holding Enchantment’s lead.

“Yep.” Cadence checked the cinch one final time, led her mare into the corridor, then followed Paisley and Enchantment out into the bright sunshine. She swung up on Mirage’s back as Paisley mounted her horse. “Where to?”

“The trail along the Sweet River,” Paisley said quietly with a glance to the stable door.

“Good choice.” Weston came through and vaulted onto Ranger’s back. “After you.”

What on earth was going on between the two of them? Cadence wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but the awkwardness was thick like wildfire smoke and stank as badly. She didn’t wish that kind of confusion on anyone, not after the spring and summer she’d endured.

In a mere few weeks, her commitment to Sweet River would be done. What would she do then? Certainly not hang around and watch Graham try to move on. Also, no going back to Chicago. She needed to start scrounging for a job somewhere else. Something that paid well so that she could continue sending money to her parents. Not that she’d received any thanks for the check she’d sent, although it had been cashed.

Paisley led the way up the trail, and Cadence nudged Mirage into step behind the duo. She could hear Weston on Ranger behind her.

Awkward. And since her roommate seemed to be in a huff, she’d talk to the cowboy. She angled her head to speak behind her. “How was the wedding yesterday?”

“All right, as leg-shacklings go.”

Guys. Weddings. Maybe that was the best she could expect. But she could try a little harder. “Lots of people?”

“Yeah. Harper’s family is loaded.” Silence a moment. “Sort of like the Sullivans, I guess.”

She didn’t want to talk about the Sullivans. “You’re one of them.”

He snorted. “Shirt-tail relative from the wrong side of the tracks that no one wants to acknowledge.”

Cadence frowned. “Your grandfather gave you a job, same as your cousins.” Unless he didn’t pay Weston and Jude as much? That didn’t make sense, though.

“Jobs suited for country hicks.”

She angled in her saddle to see the cowboy more clearly. “I thought you loved horses.”

“Sure.”

Then what was his problem? She bit the impatient question off before she could voice it. It was none of her business. She’d be gone from Sweet River Ranch in a few short weeks, and then she’d never have to wonder again if Weston and his brother had ever found themselves in the bosom of the Sullivan family.

Right, she could tell herself that all she wanted, but Graham and his clan wouldn’t disappear out of her thoughts with a wipe of the slate.

“That ex of yours is a nutjob.”

And Weston wasn’t telling her something she didn’t already know. “He is.”

“He tried to talk me into letting him take a horse out several times while he was here.”

Cadence frowned. Paul rode? She’d never known that about him in all the years they’d dated. She couldn’t imagine him on horseback, but maybe? He was fairly athletic, at least compared to his cousin.

And there, her thoughts had circled back to Graham, just like she’d promised herself they wouldn’t. She’d be on guard. Right, nice try.

She glanced back at Weston. “Did he ride?”

“No. He wanted Ranger, and there’s no way I’m letting a screwball city slicker ride my horse. He also wanted to know which one you usually rode.”

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