Page 34 of Home to the Cowboy

“So that’s why my son isn’t here.” Hayden smiled as he bent down to kiss his wife. “He’s reading, I should’ve guessed.”

Dylan wasn’t listening anymore as he quickly made his way to the study, Daisy at his heels. June and Luke were lying on their tummies on the carpet, a book open in front of them. With a yelp, Daisy charged closer. She was clearly excited to see June and Luke.

Dazed, Dylan took in the scene in front of him. June was laughing at something Luke had said as she petted Daisy. The little boy was lapping up the attention. The image of her among the kids in the library also crossed his mind. She’d be great mom.

“What’s going on here?” Hayden said behind him and Luke jumped up.

“Dad!” He ran to his dad and Hayden caught him in his arms. With a wink, Hayden turned and walked away.

They could still hear Luke’s excited voice. “June read me a story. It’s a travel mystery, she says. You see, the dog kept disappearing …”

Still baffled and upset at the picture of June and the little boy and not quite sure why, he extended a hand to help June up. “Hey you.”

Within seconds she was in his arms. He hadn’t planned on it, but she looked so pretty in a cute pink dress that ended above her knees, the necklace he’d given her around her neck, her smile so wide and welcoming, he simply had to kiss her. It’s what he’d been thinking about doing all morning. Just a quick taste, he’d thought, then he’d be okay. The problem was though, the moment their lips met, he lost all sense of time and place.

A hard knock on the door brought him back to earth. “Come on you two, we’re hungry!” Becket called out.

Gasping, June tried to tidy her hair. “They’re all going to know what we’ve been up to!”

“You go,” Dylan grimaced. “I need a minute.”

Frowning, she looked at him. “Why …?” Her eyes dropped down and blushing she put her hands around her face. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” he muttered, turning his back on her. “See you inside.”

*

Frowning, June walked to the dining room. Was she imagining it, or was Dylan ticked off about something?

“There she is,” Rose called out motioning to the two empty chairs next to her. “Come on, you two can sit over here. Where’s Dylan?”

“On his way,” June said as she got food for herself from the sideboard before she sat down.

Looking up, she was just in time to catch the sideway glances of the women. Was her hair still messy? She probably should’ve gone to the bathroom first.

“You look gorgeous,” Ellie said.

“And glowing,” Rose added.

Fortunately, Dylan arrived and nodding to everyone he also helped himself to food before he sat down next to June.

The conversation around the table moved to other topics. June took part but Dylan was quiet throughout lunch. He’d put his hand on her leg and kept it there, but he didn’t even look at her, let alone talk to her.

“Carson,” she said at some point. “I saw your beautiful photographs at the Summer Festival. If you ever think about putting some of it in a book, let me know.”

Carson’s eyes lit up. “That would be great. I’d love to talk to you.”

By the time the dessert had been served, she was ready to burst into tears. Seriously, she didn’t need this in her life. Last night Dylan couldn’t get enough of her, and now he had nothing to say?

When Ellie got up to gather plates, Becket jumped up. “You gals sit, I’ll bring more wine. It’s our turn to do the dishes today.”

She waited until all the men have disappeared before she got up. “Thanks, Arlene, that was lovely. I will definitely miss this when I leave. Will you please excuse me? I have manuscripts to read.”

Surprised, everyone looked at her. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” Arlene asked.

Feeling close to tears, she turned away. “Everything is fine, I’ll see you around.”

Hurrying toward the front door, she only had one thing on her mind—getting away as soon as possible before she burst into tears in front of everyone.