“What are you doing,TiaEvie? Out here in the barn, just the two of you! It’s three o’clock in the morning!”
“Now, Teddy, it was all perfectly innocent.”
“Perfectly innocent!” he scoffed. “He’s standing there with half his shirt open. It’s indecent. And you know nothing about him!”
“That’s not true, Teddy. I know plenty about him. He seems to be a genuinely nice person.”
“I don’t trust him. There’s something…not right.”
Evie laughed. “Marisol is right. Youarean old woman.” She sobered immediately. “I’m an adult, Teddy. I can take care of myself.”
That didn’t appease him at all. She knew Teddy was determined to protect her, perhaps because he was the oldest and felt responsible for her. Right now, he was worked up, thinking the worst seeing them together, thinking she needed protection from Jake.
“You need to stay away from Hannigan. Especially at three in the morning alone in a barn.”
“I don’t need you to look after me. I’m a grown woman.”
“But what do you know about men like him, Tia? You have no experience with men. You?—”
She cut him off. “Excuse me? When did you become my keeper? When were you put in charge of making decisions for me?”
“When I find you alone in the barn with a stranger. Someone has to protect you.”
Facing Teddy’s anger with her own had never been the way to deal with him. She knew that, had known it from when he was younger. Teddy needed calmness and logic, not emotional outbursts, but still, it infuriated her that he should issue such an order. “Go back to bed, Teddy. We’ll discuss this in the morning.”
He didn’t move, not one inch. In the glow of the lantern, his expression left no room for doubt, his dark eyes shined with determination, his mouth set in a grim line. “I’m not going back in the house without you. I’m not leaving you out here…with him…alone.”
“Go back to bed,” she repeated, forcing her voice to stay calm when she felt anything but.
He still didn’t move, holding his ground in front of the barn door, almost blocking her from going back inside.
She hadn’t lied when she told Jake she was stubborn. Regina had been stubborn, too. It ran in the family. Teddy seemed to have received a double dose, and at this moment, it was quite clear he would not be leaving her alone with Jake.
Which left her three options. She could simply ignore him, go around him and back into the barn, though she had no doubt he would follow her and act as her chaperone. She could stand here and argue with him, at three in the morning, which would only succeed in angering them both further, something she didn’t want to do. Or she could go in the house.
When the sun rose on a brand-new day, there would be time to sit down and have a serious discussion. Just the two of them. She could gently explain, when he wasn’t so angry, her point of view. Perhaps, he would actually hear her words then because he definitely wasn’t hearing them now.
But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. This was one time she wasn’t about to back down. She folded her arms across her chest and just glared at him.
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, clearly uncomfortable, yet unwilling to give an inch.
“As I said, wewilldiscuss this in the morning. For right now, I’m going back into the barn and continue my conversation with Jake. You can stay or you can go. The choice is yours.”
He seemed startled, his expression now one of puzzlement. “What? You are going back in there with him?”
“I think I made myself perfectly clear but I’ll say it again. I am a grown woman. I am more than capable of making my own decisions, which I’ve been doing for a lot longer than you. I am not stupid. I’m not some starry-eyed young girl sneaking off to see the boy her parents have forbidden her to see, Teddy. And I will not be told what I can or can’t do.”
He said nothing. Had she shocked him? Perhaps so.
For a moment, it didn’t seem like he would move out of her way, but then he did with an exaggerated bow. He opened the door for her, leaving it wide open once more. Jake was still in the stall with Spitfire, but he wasn’t brushing the horse. He leaned against the railing, his gaze on her as she strode down the central aisle. His eyes flicked to Teddy, who remained by the door, then back to her. There was no smile on his face now, just deep concern as she drew closer.
“I’m sorry. Did I get you in trouble with your nephew?”
She shook her head and smiled. “Don’t worry about Teddy. He’s just being…well, himself. I guess, over the years, he’s gotten it into his head that it’s his job to protect me. I just needed to remind him that I can take care of myself.” She took a step closer and looked into his warm amber eyes and the desire to melt into his arms rushed through her, but now was not the time or the place. “I just wanted to say goodnight and thank you.”
“Thank me? For what?”
“For caring so much about the horses...and for the conversation. I’m going to head in now. The storm has passed.”She glanced toward Teddy still standing in the doorway, although now he was inside the building and not outside. In another moment or two, she was certain he’d be striding up the aisle toward them, find a convenient bale of hay and sit there, making his unhappiness known. She looked back to Jake. “At least one of the storms has.”
