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“Hey.” He picked a fleck of pancake off his face. “What’d I do?”

“Company manners,” she said. “You will find them. Now.”

McCord’s dark eyes flashed, but he only tightened his lips, then muttered, “Yes, ma’am,” before wrapping two sausages in a pancake and heading outside.

Fanny stared after him. “He isn’t usually…” Her voice trailed off, and the crease between her brows deepened.

“Such a people person?”

Her brow smoothed as she chuckled. “There is a reason Gina deals with the customers and Jase runs the ranch.”

“Because they’re partners.” Matt put an emphasis on the last word, which caused a return of Fanny’s frown.

“You could say that. Technically, he works for her, but they grew up together. They both love this place as much as…” Her voice drifted off again as she glanced through the window over the stove.

“Each other?”

Fanny smiled sadly and didn’t answer.

Any further opportunity for questions ended as the As screeched into the room, followed closely by the incredible cursing Hurlaheys and the father-and-son team known as the Gordons.

Chaos ensued as everyone attempted to speak at once while they helped themselves to coffee, juice, and plates of food. Matt’s ears rang. He refilled his coffee, grabbed a pancake and sausage sandwich of his own, and slipped through the back door before the As cornered him again. If he was lucky, a day of riding in the fresh, open air would tire them out so badly they wouldn’t be able to stalk him around the campfire.

But he wasn’t going to hold his breath.

Excitement flowed though him. Maybe today he’d discover the place his mother had searched for and he had found immortalized on film. Then he could tell Gina the truth and find out what she needed from him so that he would be allowed to dig. There had to be some way to make this work for them both.

Although the thought of losing the camaraderie he’d found with her as Teo Jones, phys-ed teacher, and becoming again Dr. Mecate, complete with a cadre of graduate students, archaeologists, anthropologists, big lights, earthmovers, tents, and trucks, made his chest feel as if a ten-pound sack of flour had landed on his lungs.

How strange. All he’d ever cared about was proving the Mecate theory and now …

Matt contemplated the beautiful, peaceful landscape and winced.

* * *

Gina had worried it might take some convincing on her part to get Mel and Melda to relinquish Lily and Vi to the Gordons. However, the old couple was happy to help.

“No problem, bro.” Mel lifted his hand, palm facing Gina. It took her several seconds to realize he wanted a high five. She obliged. “We don’t want the youngster to fall on his—”

“Ass,” Melda finished. “We can ride whatever—”

“Damn horses you want us to.”

“Fantastic,” Gina muttered. She was starting to wonder if the two of them had met in a Tourette’s support group.

She hadn’t been able to fall asleep for hours last night. Then once she had, she’d tossed and turned, her dreams full of the past. Now she was exhausted.

Gina gestured for Isaac to bring the two mid-level horses into the paddock so the couple could take a test drive. Lucy and Desi were harder to manage than Lily and Vi—pretty much any horse was—but they were a far cry from Spike.

Still, their riders needed to know the basics of horsemanship or risk a nasty fall when either Lucy or Desi decided she or he was too far from Desi or Lucy. Whenever that happened, one or the other would bolt, running full speed until he or she reached his or her true love. The best way to avoid this was to assign the horses to people who would be riding together anyway, preferably without any other guests who might get in the way and separate the love-horses.

Mel and Melda fit the profile. The cursing would probably keep the others away, but even without that quirk, the As only talked to each other or hot men and the Gordons had all they could do to manage Lily and Vi without adding conversation to the mix.

Isaac, his dark gaze on the Hurlaheys and the Arnazes, lifted a hand to let Gina know they were doing all right. The four of them—Isaac, Fanny, Jase, and Gina—worked together so well, each knowing what the others needed, often before they knew it themselves.

What would happen to them if Nahua Springs went under? Isaac and Fanny had never worked anywhere but here. Neither had Jase nor Gina. Besides, they were family. The only one she’d had since—

“You okay?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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