of bedding into the wheelbarrow. “I forget you don’t always understand the language. Guess it’s because I remember the way it used to be when Paul was still around. You were more loose back then. Relaxed. Even the way you talked.”
That was before he had carried the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. “I have been away for a long time.”
An uncomfortable silence hung between them until Riley spoke again. “Did Andi tell you about me and Tess deciding to get hitched?”
“Yes. Last night. Congratulations to you both.”
“Tess told me you’re about to do the same come end of the summer.”
“It has been arranged.”
“That’s a strange way of putting it.”
Sam saw it exactly as it was, an arrangement. No emotional ties. No vows of love. “I prefer you not speak of this to Andrea until I have a chance to inform her.”
Riley lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “That’s your business, I guess, but I’m thinkin’ she deserves to know.” He appeared to go back to work, but before Sam could leave to gather more wood to brace the stalls, Riley stopped his departure. “You know, Andi’s dad was a good friend of mine.”
Sam paused and faced the open stall once more. “I remember.” He wondered where the conversation might be leading, yet he suspected it would come in the form of a lecture.
“I think he would’ve liked you a lot.”
Sam had not bargained for that presumption. “It is my understanding he was a very good man.”
“The best. And he thought the sun rose and set in Andi. Now, I’m not saying he didn’t love the boy because he did. But Paulie was more like his mother than Bob—into book learning and that sort of thing.” Riley smiled. “Andi was just like her dad, and the apple of his eye. According to him, she could do no wrong.”
Sam greatly related to that. “She is a good woman.”
“Yep, which is why I have to say something to you.”
Exactly as Sam suspected. “I am listening.”
Riley raked off his cap and forked a hand through his silver hair, then shoved it back on his head. “Chance is a good kid. He deserves the best. He deserves a dad like Andi’s. I’ve tried to be there for him, to teach him what I know and that ain’t too much. But I’m too old to keep up, which is why I’m telling you that if you can’t fill those shoes, then maybe you should consider stepping aside to let Andi find someone who can be there for him all the time.”
Sam silently cursed Riley’s interference, but he understood that it came out of protectiveness for Andrea and Chance. He also realized there was much logic in his assertions. “I will consider your advice.”
“That’s good. But I also know how hard it is to ignore a woman like Andi. Tess is much the same. Strong-willed, hard-headed, wild but in some real nice ways. It’s not easy to let that kind of woman go.”
Yet that’s exactly what Sam had to do—let her go. He’d known that all along. He had known getting involved with her again would be a grave mistake. But he had become involved, and now he would have to deal with severing their emotional ties when the time came.
“I promise that whatever I decide to do about my son, it will be best for all concerned.”
“I’m counting on that, Sam.” Riley set the shovel aside and wiped his hands on his jeans. “I’ve got to go do a few things back at the Hammonds’ place, but I’ll be back at sundown.”
“I will try to finish this stall before you return.”
“You do that.”
Sam stepped aside and allowed him to exit, but before he reached the open door, Riley turned once again. “And one more thing, Sam. Since I was Andi’s dad’s best friend, I want you to know that I’m standing in for him.” He pointed a crooked finger. “And if you hurt her, you’ll have to answer to me.”
With that he was gone, leaving Sam to ponder his words. He had no intention of hurting Andrea, if he could avoid it. But the closer they became, the more the risk increased that he again would shatter her heart. And most likely do a great deal of damage to his own.
Chapter Seven
After lunch Sam headed to the stable to resume the repairs. Andrea had only made a brief appearance in the house, grabbed a sandwich then returned to work the horses in the round pen, barely acknowledging him or her aunt.
As Sam neared the barn, he noted the red truck belonging to the man named Caleb parked in the drive. He approached the entrance slowly as he heard the sound of Andrea’s laughter, pausing outside to listen. He acknowledged that he had no right to intrude, yet he couldn’t stop his eavesdropping.
“Dinner would be great,” Andrea said. “But it will have to be in a couple of weeks. Chance will be home and my guest should be leaving.”
Her guest? Sam experienced a pang of anger that she considered him only a guest, then admonished himself for such foolishness. He was a guest, not a member of the family. Only a friend, a stranger to his son. Her lover for the time they had remaining, if he had any say in the matter.
That thought sent him forward, but he hesitated once more when the man began to speak. “I’ll give you a call next week, unless you decide you want to get together sooner.”
Sam could only imagine what this Caleb had in mind for Andrea, and he couldn’t contain the spear of jealousy hurling through him. That jealousy thrust him into the barn to find Andrea and Caleb facing each other at the stall containing the filly.
Andrea turned and met Sam’s gaze, then smiled. “Speak of the devil, here he is now.” She gestured toward him. “Caleb, this is Sam, a family friend.”
Sam reluctantly accepted the handshake offered by the cowboy but did not return his smile.
“Nice to meet you, Sam,” Caleb said. “Andi tells me you’re some kind of a prince.”
“A sheikh,” he said as politely as his current mood allowed.
“That’s great.” He gave his grin to Andrea. “Keep up the good work, Andi. I’m pretty pleased with you so far.”
Sam wondered what other pleasure he had in mind for Andrea. Forcing the thoughts away, he moved aside and gladly let the man take his leave.
When they were alone once again, Sam lost the tenuous grasp he’d placed on his control. “You will be dining with him after I leave?”
Andrea picked up a plastic box containing supplies and walked into the tack room. “Looks that way.”
Propelled by his insane envy, Sam followed her inside. “Will Chance be in attendance?”
“Yes,” she answered curtly.
“Does our son like this man?”
“He’s
