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He didn’t speak as he sat opposite her with a bowl, a box of Chocolate Chip Cookie cereal, and the business section of The Wall Street Journal. Didn’t even look at her as he poured his cereal and snapped open his paper. Good. They were on the same page.
By his second bowl, annoyance crept in. Ignoring the situation was fine—but he didn’t have to be so rude about it. She shifted her glare from the cereal box he’d just set down to the newspaper between them. With his ridiculous choice of food, shouldn’t he be reading the comics instead of checking stock prices?
“How can you eat that?” she blurted as he turned the paper over to the side she’d been staring at and laid it on the table. Just watching him raise the spoonful of milk-soaked cookies made her teeth hurt.
He didn’t bother to look up from his paper. “I have a sweet tooth.”
“Are you sure it’s not rotted out by now?”
He flashed a smile, showing his white, healthy teeth as he lifted another heaping mouthful.
Kendra made a sound of disgust. She slapped an envelope with his thirty-five dollars on the table and headed for the back door. “I’m going to throw down hay. Don’t worry—I won’t start feeding until seven.”
She was rolling the last bale of hay to the hole in the hayloft floor when she heard Colton’s voice below.
“Joel, hey, you got a minute? I need to talk to you.”
“Yeah, sure,” Joel replied.
Kendra’s heart leapt into her throat. She rushed over to the hayloft opening in time to see Joel frown at Colton. “I didn’t hear your car this morning.”
Scared of what Colton might say, Kendra called down, “He stayed in the guesthouse.”
Joel’s expression darkened as he looked from Kendra to Colton. “I don’t know if I like that.”
“I, uh, insisted he take the third bedroom,” Kendra hurried to explain. She didn’t trust whatever reason Colton might cook up.
Joel swung back to her. “You did?”
She saw Colton shake his head in disgust behind Joel’s back, but Noah’s protection justified this fabrication. “He mentioned that apartment fell through and I figured it’s only fair since you promised him the house. We talked about it last night, didn’t we, Colton?”
“She was very insistent,” he agreed, deftly avoiding the lie.
Joel’s gaze shifted between them before resting back on Kendra. He ran a hand through his hair, a frown wrinkling his brow. “You really don’t mind?”
Oh, she minded, but what could she say? She forced a smile, hating yet another outright lie to the one brother who’d been wonderful to her and Noah. “Of course not, otherwise I wouldn’t have offered.”
Joel’s eyes narrowed, but the phone rang in his office and thankfully he dropped the subject. She held her breath when Colton hesitated outside the office door, then breathed a sigh of relief as he moved away.
About an hour later, while she swept the barn, Britt came in carrying a sack of special grain mix for one of the pregnant mares. Kendra wondered if she’d ever be able to make it look that easy.
She stilled. A thought like that made it sound like she was planning to stick around for a while. Her birthday was in just over three weeks, and she and Noah would return to New York after that. A visit here and there wasn’t out of the question, but—
Joel hurried from his office and intercepted Britt. “You’re not supposed to be carrying that.”
“Stop it, I’m fine.” Britt cast a quick glance toward Kendra and Colton as Joel removed the bag from her grasp. The two continued their serious discussion in hushed tones, and Colton moved closer, halting near Kendra.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. The concern in his question mirrored Kendra’s.
Britt sighed, but Kendra noticed a hint of a smile lift the corners of her mouth. “Joel’s making a big deal out of something that won’t matter for a couple of months yet.”
Kendra’s tension eased and she grinned with sudden understanding. Colton looked from her to Joel and Britt. “Would someone clue me in, please?”
Her brother put an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “We’re pregnant.”
Colton’s stance relaxed. “Geez, you guys scared me. I thought something was wrong.” He strode forward to envelop Britt in a hug, then hugged Joel as well.
Kendra stood back. Seeing him embrace them only served to emphasize her distance—even though Joel was her brother. She offered quiet congratulations, until Joel pulled her close. A lump formed in her throat as she held tight. She willed the tears that hovered below the surface to remain there.
