Mama,” she said, dropping her marker and turning to hug Kinley’s legs.
“Hey, honey pie,” Kinley said, stooping down to Penny’s level. “What are you making?”
“A horsey. That boy said he has his own,” Penny said.
Kinley tucked a strand of her daughter’s straight red hair behind her ear and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “There are a lot ranches around here.”
“Like Pop-Pop’s?” she asked.
Penny had seen the ranch on the many video chats they’d had with her father. And the last time they’d talked, her dad had taken his tablet into the barn and shown her his horse. The toddler couldn’t wait to visit her Pop-Pop and meet his horse.
“Just like that one. But Pop-Pop just manages the hands. It’s not his ranch.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” Penny said.
“We might not get to go out there,” Kinley said. She didn’t want to take Penny to the Rockin’ C and chance her running into Nate. She had no plans to tell Nate about Penny; he’d made it clear a long time ago where his interest lay, and it wasn’t with raising a family. “Pop-Pop is going to come to town and visit us.”
“Okay,” Penny said.
Kinley hoped that would be the last of Penny talking about going to the ranch. She visited with her daughter until snack time, and when it was over, Kinley left after giving Penny a hug and a kiss.
She got through her meeting. She’d talked the bride, Meredith, into looking at the sketches for the dress they’d already had made. Meredith liked the design but wanted a few changes. Kinley was still thinking about that as she drove over to the Bluebonnet Bakery to sample the cakes for the Caruthers wedding.
She saw a familiar pickup truck with the Rockin’ C logo on it parked out front but told herself not to jump to conclusions. The Rockin’ C probably had a lot of F-150 pickups. It was probably just Hunter.
But when she walked into the bakery, she found her gut had been right. Nate stood at the counter along with his middle brother, Ethan, Hunter and a woman who had to be Hunter’s fiancée. Derek, the second-oldest Caruthers, was a surgeon and probably not available to sample cake.
“Hello, everyone,” Kinley said.
She just had to be professional. She could do that.
“Hi, I’m Ferrin Gainer,” the woman said, stepping over to her. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“I’m looking forward to working with you and helping you plan your special day. I’ve arranged for us to have a tasting in the back room,” Kinley said, motioning everyone in the right direction. “Why don’t you go through there and I’ll be right with you.”
Everyone went into the room but Nate. He hung back.
She shook her head.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m the big brother of the groom. He asked me to come, so I did,” Nate said. “This is why I wanted us to chat earlier. Just clear the air. Like I said, I was a jerk, and I’m sorry. I don’t want anything to mess up Hunter’s wedding.”
Oh.
When he said it like that, he sounded so reasonable. And she realized that coming to Cole’s Hill had more consequences than she’d thought. She was losing her professional edge because of Nate. Part of it was the way he made her pulse speed up; another, bigger part was the fact that he was her daughter’s father and she hadn’t told him. And the cost of keeping that secret seemed higher than she might be able to pay.
“Sorry. I’m just a little short-tempered today. Must be the jet lag.” Though with only a one-hour time difference between here and Vegas, she knew jet lag was a bit of an exaggeration.
“Don’t be. It happens to the best of us. After the tasting we can get a drink and talk. It’s obvious we’re going to need to.”
She nodded. She had to check in with her nanny, Pippa, and make sure that Penny would be fine for the evening. “I have one more appointment, and then I can meet you for a drink.”
It would have been so much easier to just say no if Nate wasn’t...well, so likeable and charming. And if she didn’t have Penny. But she did. And now she was going to have make a decision that she’d thought she’d already made.
Cake tasting. There were times when Nate wondered what had happened to his family. Though he didn’t begrudge Hunter his happiness or his wedding, Nate liked things the way they’d always been: when the Carutherses were out working hard, playing even harder and making respectable mamas lock up their daughters.
“What do you think?” Hunter asked, pulling Nate aside so that they could speak privately for a moment.
“About what?”
“The cake. Do you have a preference?” he asked.
Nate shook his head. “I do like the idea of your groom’s cake being shaped like a football field.”
“That was discussed fifteen minutes ago. Where is your head?”
He looked over at the pretty redhead taking them through the different types of jam and icing that could be used between layers. Kinley. She was too much in his head. Going for a drink had stupid written all over it, but he’d never been one to back down from anything, even when it went against his own better sense.
“Don’t do it,” Hunter said.
“Don’t do what?” Nate asked. Though he knew what his brother was talking about.
“She’s practically family,” Hunter said. “Marcus is like a second dad to us. Don’t mess with her.”
Too late. Nate recalled every detail of the weekend that he and Kinley had spent together; a part of him didn’t want to ever forget it. Another part didn’t believe it could have been as good as he remembered. But he knew it was. Then he remembered that silly little handshake she’d limited him to this morning at the bank and the rush of energy that had gone through them when they’d touched.
“I’m just looking.”
“Make sure that’s all you do,” Hunter said.
He clipped his brother on the shoulder with his fist. “I don’t take orders from you.”
“You do now. Ferrin really wants this wedding to be special. And that means not letting you, Ethan or Derek screw anything up. So be good.”
“When have any of us ever been good?” Nate asked. He wasn’t going to mess up Hunter’s wedding. As much as he was against marriage himself, he really liked Ferrin and thought she was perfect for his brother. Hunter hadn’t enjoyed being single the way the rest of the Carutherses did. His college girlfriend had been murdered and suspicion had fallen
