“Hey, sport.” He pulled a bandanna from his back pocket and gave it to him. “Looks like you could use this.”
He scrubbed his face. “I’m not s’posed to run over there, but I seed you, and….” He sniffed, blew his nose on the bandanna and handed it back.
Wadding it up, he returned it to his back pocket. “And here I am.” His throat was tight and something funky was going on with his heart.
“My apologies.”
Zinnia’s soft voice caused him to look at her for the first time. He’d been so wrapped up in Tex’s misery he’d ignored the woman who’d occupied his thoughts all day. That was startling.
The anxiety in her green eyes wasn’t good news. She didn’t want Tex getting attached and he’d just demonstrated he was extremely attached.
He cleared his throat. “It’s fine.”
“I didn’t realize he’d take off like that. I guess I should have. You were in the middle of a game, weren’t you?”
“No problem. I’d just taken my turn.”
“We gots you a present.”
“Thank you, sport. That was very generous.”
“Mommy wrapped it but I put on the tape.”
“I can’t wait to see what it is.”
“We gots it in the truck. But you gots to wait.”
“I know. We usually?—”
“Hey, you guys.” His mom arrived with Graham. “Graham and I had an idea. We just talked the horseshoe players into pausing the game so Cole can do his thing.” She glanced at him. “We’ll repeat it later, of course, since it’s very cool to see when it’s dark, but Tex and Zinnia have never seen it, so why not go ahead and enjoy it now?”
“Good plan.” Family to the rescue.
Or family as matchmakers? Were they putting it all together now that they had eyes on Zinnia and her son? He hadn’t figured out the optics of this situation until this very minute.
Everyone at the party lived on the ranch except for Tracy’s parents, who’d driven over from their place bordering Laughing Creek. It was a big group but a tight group. That gave his invitation to Zinnia and Tex significance.
And now they’d all seen Zinnia. Stunning Zinnia. And her adorable kid, who clearly idolized him. They couldn’t be blamed for jumping to conclusions.
Because of his thoughtless gesture, Zinnia and Tex were smack-dab in the bosom of his family. The Bridger Bunch would fall in love with these two and make assumptions about his intentions.
What had he done?
Chapter Twenty-Four
What had she done? When Zinnia had accepted Monty’s birthday party invitation two days ago… had it only been two days ago? Sadly, yes. How little time it took to turn her life and Tex’s upside down.
She’d accepted because she’d known her cowboy-obsessed son would love it here. Experiencing this gorgeous ranch would be the equivalent of Disneyland for him.
And it was. So many cowboys, so many horses grazing in the pasture. A ranch house with a long front porch and rocking chairs just like in the movies. A barn right out of the movies, too.
While Monty’s brother-in-law Cole headed up to the apartment above it so he could set up the Beaver Bunch show, Monty introduced her and Tex to the rest of the family. And they were all family at this party.
Somehow she’d missed that she, Tex and Uncle Graham would be the only people here who weren’t connected to the Bridgers by blood or marriage. This wasn’t just a birthday party. It was a family gathering.
He’d invited her on impulse driven by lust. She hadn’t cared about his motives if it meant Tex could come along. Two days later, she was on a runaway horse. She’d lost control of the narrative.
Clearly his family had decided she and Monty were a couple. Some already knew about the foaling but others were just finding out that Monty had spent the night in Uncle Graham’s barn.
