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“Where have you been? I’ve been calling and texting you the last couple of hours.”
She lifted her chin and started up the stairs to her porch. “I went for a run and then sat down by the river for a bit to think.”
“Do you always make it a habit to leave your phone behind? What if something had happened to you?”
She gave me a glare, then turned to her door. I watched as she punched in the lock code, and I committed it to memory.
“If it’s any of your business, I left my phone behind by accident. My mind was…clouded earlier.”
I followed her in, and Zeus stopped at the door. Bristol looked at him and then gave me a questioning look.
“He’s not sure if he is allowed in, so he’s waiting for you to invite him.”
A wide smile broke out over her face. “Come on, boy! Come on in!”
Zeus flew into the house, ran around Bristol a few times, and then set off to sniff and explore every inch of her place.
“Drake mentioned you weren’t feeling good. Are you okay?”
Bristol looked at me with a surprised expression. “Um, yeah. I was a bit tired. I’ve been really busy all week.”
I nodded.
“Did you want a beer or anything?” she asked as she made her way through her house and to the kitchen.
“Sure, I’ll take one. You’ve got an amazing place here, Bri.”
She smiled over her shoulder at me. “Thank you. When it came on the market, I knew I had to have it. My folks helped me buy it, so I’m in debt to them, but with how well the tea room is doing, I’m hoping to pay them off in the next few years and then get the loan paid down on the tea room.”
My chest ached knowing I could have easily bought this for her and not have thought twice about it. I made a mental note to have Lanny research how much Bristol still owed on the place.
“I’m glad to hear it—you always were a planner. Did you hear back from Annie?”
Bristol froze for a moment then shook her head. “Not yet. I’m afraid that deal most likely got ruined by Ida sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong.”
I frowned. Bristol adored my grandmother, so I was stunned she would speak ill of her in any way.
“What do you mean?”
She sighed and then turned to face me. “Anson, are we going to pretend last Saturday night didn’t happen? Is that what we’re doing here?”
I jerked my head back and replied, “No. I haven’t had a chance to speak to you. My father gave us a scare, Bri. I was busy trying to help out at the ranch while at the same time trying to get the stubborn ass to talk to me.”
“Did he? Talk to you?”
“Some, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
She nodded and reached in for a beer. One for her, one for me. I guess she wasn’t worried about the whole pregnancy thing if she was drinking.
Mindy’s words came back to me, and I decided to clear things up right away before I went any further.
“My manager’s assistant had to fly in yesterday for me to sign a contract for a benefit record I’m doing. They needed my actual signature before things could move on. She flew right back out after Lanny and I took her to the airport in Kerrville.”
That brought a little bit of color back into those cheeks. “Your manager’s assistant is the woman you met with?”
I pulled a drink from the beer bottle and nodded. “Granddad needed his truck, so I asked Drake to give me a drive to Kerrville so Lanny didn’t have to swing by and get me out at the ranch. Hard to believe how much that town has grown in six years.”
She stared at me for a moment then let out a soft chuckle as she shook her head. It was clear she had been jealous when she heard I was meeting with a woman from Nashville.
“Yes, it’s grown a lot.”
We stared at one another for a few moments before she finally sighed and looked away. “Anson, we need to talk.”
“That’s why I’m here. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to break away, but I had something to prove to my father this past week.”
She frowned slightly. “Prove? What do you mean?”
“I stayed at my folks’ place all week. Got up at the ass crack of dawn and worked damn near until the sun went down.”
“Did you work alongside Nick?”
“I did. I’ll admit I didn’t like the little cocky bastard at first, but he’s a damn good worker. He’s been doing a lot for Dad but told me he thinks my father needs to slow down. After this whole scare with his heart, I agree.”
“What do you mean?” she asked with a worried expression.
