Page 82 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

Or maybe it was more.

Like Cadence was a master of romantic interaction. Look at her and Graham dancing around each other, each apparently as unsure as the other one.

For better or for worse, this was going to end.

She glanced over as he left his table, scraping much of his meal into the trash as he went by. She frowned. That was unusual. Guys, even geeky ones like Graham, rarely let anything get between them and food, and Nadine’s recipes were on par with the best.

He exited the area through the main lodge doors, not down the corridor to the office.

Cadence frowned. Where was he going, if not back to work? That’s all he ever did, make numbers troop in tidy columns. The ants go marching two by two. Hurrah, hurrah. She pushed the lyrics from the children’s song out of her mind.

Okay, fine. She had barely enough time to finish her own lunch, upload the photos of Graham, pray over the best hashtags, and get to the stable to saddle up by two o’clock.

She tuned back in to hear Maxwell, Heather, and Jordan debate the pros and cons of real stone countertops versus imitation in the rental units. Like that was something she cared about. Not.

Paisley and Kaci commiserated about a particularly difficult family whose kids had been wild monsters and whose parents had left the unit a shambles when they checked out yesterday.

Checked out. Cadence had already checked out in her mind. She stared down at the stew and the sourdough bun slathered with melting butter. She took a couple of bites, but it wasn’t sitting well. Probably nerves.

Maybe that’s what it had been for Graham, too. Was he as nervous as she was as the summer drew to a close? Did he care as much as she did about the future, or did he think his purpose in her life was over now that she was free to choose?

Hogwash.

If she were free to choose, she wanted to choose him. But… what if that wasn’t what he wanted?

Chapter Twenty-Three

“You’re here to ride?” Weston’s eyebrows disappeared into the shadow of his cowboy hat. He made a show of peering past Graham. “I don’t see anyone twisting your arm.”

Graham braced himself and smiled, though it nearly killed him. “If you have a spare horse. It’s a beautiful day, and I haven’t taken much time to enjoy it lately.”

“Sure. I believe that. You’re only here because Cadence signed up.”

“Oh, did she? I didn’t know that when I decided.” Which was entirely true.

“You’re not fooling anyone. But, yeah, if you think you can handle Ranger, you can go.”

“Uh… that’s your horse.”

“Good observation.”

“Aren’t you going?”

“Not today. Tyler is leading the group, and he’s got his own mount.”

Ranger was… restless. He was taller than most of the others and moved with a barely contained energy. He was more horse than Graham was prepared to handle.

“You afraid of him?”

“Maybe a little?”

Weston rolled his eyes. “Dude, you’re afraid of everything. Of the kayaks. Of the hills. Of little itty-bitty snakes.” He leaned closer. “Of Cadence.”

The snakes weren’t itty-bitty. Graham might not have seen one in real life, but he’d seen photos, and that was enough. Someone had told him they weren’t as likely to be spotted this time of year, though.

Okay, fine. He was afraid of a lot of things, but that was changing. Right? He would man up. In addition to jogging, he’d already lifted weights twice in the resort’s gym, late in the evening when no one else was around. Light weights, but still, they were something.

“If you think I can handle Ranger, I’m in.”

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