seemed to be talking to Biscuit, the action causing her long black ponytail to sway slightly, and Biscuit bobbed her head occasionally like she agreed with whatever Lily was saying. As if she felt the weight of his stare, Lily suddenly turned and looked over her shoulder, those black eyebrows disappearing behind her bangs when she saw him watching her.
Brady was still barking into his phone, and it sounded like he would be for at least a few more minutes, so Ethan turned Tinker in Lily’s direction. He could go ahead and get that apology out of the way.
Surprisingly, Lily met him at the fence. She looked up, shading her eyes against the sun, and though her cheeks looked a little pink, the earlier fluster was gone. Maybe the flush was from the heat.
“Is something wrong?” Concern showed in her big brown eyes as she looked over at Brady. “I thought y’all were going riding.”
He dismounted. “We are. Brady’s dealing with something at work right this second, so I came to apologize.”
“Apologize? For what?” She seemed genuinely confused.
“For this morning—”
Lily shook her head. “I think I’m the one who owes you an apology. I’m terribly embarrassed—”
“So I gathered.”
“I’d been trying to figure out how to apologize to you and then you walked in … Well, it caught me off guard.” Lily wasn’t quite meeting his eyes now.
“Well—” He was cut off as Tinker bumped him aside and nuzzled Lily’s shoulder, catching her ponytail and tugging on it. “Hey!” He scolded the horse.
Lily smiled as she scratched Tinker between his eyes—his favorite spot. She knew his horse well, it seemed. “It’s okay. You goofus,” she murmured affectionately to the horse, flipping her hair back over her shoulder out of Tinker’s reach.
Brady had pegged Lily wrong. She wasn’t terribly shy, only quiet. Just like he thought. Since Brady hated to be wrong, Ethan couldn’t wait to rub that in. He relaxed into the conversation. “I thought you said he was rotten.”
“Oh, he is. To the core.” Tinker was reveling in the attention, even butting Biscuit aside when she tried to horn in on Lily’s affection.
“He certainly seems to like you. And Tinker doesn’t like many people.”
“He knows I’m a sucker for a charming pretty boy. We got off to a bad start that day at the river, but he won me over, and we get along just fine now. Don’t we, boy?” she cooed at the horse.
“Then there’s hope for me, too,” he teased.
Lily froze for a second, then her brown eyes met his fully for the first time since that morning. A tug pulled at the corner of her mouth. “Are you comparing yourself to your horse?”
Oh, no, Lily wasn’t shy, and that knowledge sparked something in him. He waggled his eyebrows in a leer. “In many ways.”
Lily’s mouth fell open at the innuendo, but she recovered quickly. “So the rumors are true …”
He cleared his throat, a tiny bit worried. “Rumors that …?”
“That you’re a charming pretty boy, rotten to the core.”
That caused him to smile. “Guilty as charged.”
“At least you’re honest about it.”
“Honesty is important, don’t you think?”
She paused briefly. “Usually.”
How strange. “Only usually? Not always?”
The briefest of shadows crossed her face. He’d have missed it entirely if he weren’t so focused on her. “Life’s too complicated to draw lines like that. Sometimes a small lie is better than the truth.”
“I’d have to disagree with you, Lily.”
“Really?” She tilted her head sideways. “You believe in one-hundred percent honesty all the time?”
“Yep.”
She scoffed. “That’s not something I expected from you.”
He stiffened automatically, but tried to keep his voice merely curious. “And why is that?”
“You do know your family’s in politics, right?”
His loud bark of laughter had both horses looking at him in as much surprise as Lily. “Ergo my extreme desire for honesty above all else.”
She laughed as well. “Then I’ll keep that in mind.”
Brady and Spider joined them at that moment. “Well, this is certainly an improvement from earlier.”
Ethan could hear the tease in Brady’s voice, but Lily flushed and her voice dropped anyway. “Sorry about that, Mr. Marshall.” No wonder Brady thought she was painfully shy.
“No worries, Lily.” Brady winked at her, and the spurt of anger Ethan felt surprised him. “I’m sure it was all Ethan’s fault.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Brady shrugged. “Hey, the truth hurts sometimes.”
Both he and Lily laughed, leaving Brady looking confused. Finally, he shook his head and gave up. “You ready, E?”
“Yep.” He swung up on Tinker and adjusted the reins. “See you later, Lily.”
“Have fun.” She waved as they left.
Brady looked distracted as he kicked Spider into a trot.
Tinker automatically adjusted his speed to catch up. “Everything okay?”
Brady blew out his breath. “Just the usual messes. I’m going to have to head back tonight.”
“Nana will be disappointed.”
He shook his head. “Not as disappointed as she’ll be if I don’t go back to straighten this out and we lose this election.”
“Maybe he needs to lose.”
Brady sighed. “He’s a lousy father, and a sorry excuse for a human being most days, but amazingly enough he’s a damn good legislator. He learned that much from Granddad.”
The contradiction didn’t sit well with him. “Still, I don’t know how you do it.”
“I look at the bigger picture, Ethan.”
“There’s a bigger picture?”
“Yeah, it’s called the greater good. Dad isn’t afraid to champion the tough issues or stand up for the little guy. He’s doing good things, and I have to support that.”
“I’ll
