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“Sure.”
His gaze ran over her face admiringly. “That’s something I’d like to see,” he admitted quietly.
“We’ll have to come back in July.”
Something flickered across his stark features that made her mirth fade. She studied her gloved hands on top of the dark red wool blanket, silently railing at herself for her impulsive words.
“Yeah,” he said before he flicked his wrist and chirruped to Maybelle and the taut moment had passed.
* * *
Mrs. Addy McGraw possessed the kind of face that was easy to like—open, weathered and nearly always smiling. Her girth was wide, but Addy appeared to be in robust health from her regular labor in the stables.
Addy met them in the turnabout near the stables when they returned late that afternoon. She wore boots, a parka and a beat-up old brown suede cowboy hat on her short gray hair. Addy directed Nick into the designated area of a large red barn, where they descended from the wagon. She started to greet Deidre, but became distracted when she noticed Nick starting to unharness Maybelle.
“Now, you’re a paying guest here, you leave that to Evan and I,” she scolded Nick. “You two run on inside to the kitchen. I’ve got some hot buttered rum on the stove for you. Evan and I will be there in a jiff, and we’ll have ourselves a nice early dinner,” she said, beaming at Deidre.
The kitchen of the handsome, white-shingled farmhouse was comfortably old-fashioned, with Formica countertops, a colorful tablecloth and dozens of interesting appliances that appeared to be manufactured anywhere from the 1950s to the 1970s. A divine aroma of chicken and vegetables emanated from the oven. Nick and Deidre sat at the kitchen table and sipped the delicious hot buttered rum and tried to guess at the purpose of some of the more unusual-looking appliances.
He looked so appealing to her sitting there, his hair windblown, his casual clothing perfectly fitting the farmhouse kitchen.
“I find it hard to believe you’re a CEO of a huge company when you look so comfortable here.”
He blinked and glanced around. “In a kitchen?”
“No,” she said laughing. “In a country setting. I remember thinking the same when I used to see you on the grounds at The Pines or in Lincoln’s stables.”
“I do miss the country when I’m in the city. But being comfortable in the country doesn’t mean you can’t also be a good businessman. There’s a lot in common between working with horses, for example, and being a CEO.”
Deidre laughed, sure he was kidding. When he sipped his buttered rum, however, his expression entirely somber, she asked, “You’re not joking? What do working with horses and being a CEO have in common?”
“Instinct. I can read people because I learned how to read animals first.”
Deidre opened her mouth to reply, but paused at the sound of the back door opening and the stamping of boots on the back porch. Nick and Deidre stood from the table when Addy and Evan entered the kitchen. Nick started to introduce Addy and Deidre, as there hadn’t been the opportunity when they arrived.
“You don’t have to tell me who this girl is,” Addy boomed, surprising Deidre by giving her a big hug. “I recognized you the moment I saw you in the wagon. You’re Brigit Kavanaugh’s girl, Deidre. Who else could you be, looking like you do? I’ve got the perfect horse in mind for you, too,” she added confidentially.
Deidre laughed, feeling bewildered. “I didn’t realize you knew my mother.”
Addy looked taken aback. She gave Evan a meaningful glance. “Knew her? Brigit’s daughter is standing here, saying she didn’t realize we knew her mother,” Addy said to Evan as if Deidre had been babbling nonsense. Nick noticed both Deidre and Addy’s confusion and intervened.
“Your mother has been a regular rider at the McGraw Stables a long time, Deidre,” Nick said.
Deidre looked at him, her brow crinkled. “How did you know that?”
He shrugged. “Addy and I got to talking.”
“I first met your Mom twenty-eight years ago,” Addy explained as she pulled a casserole from the oven. She seemed
forever in motion. “Isn’t that right, Evan?” she asked her husband as he sat at the table and sipped some coffee.
“That’s right,” Evan agreed, nodding and smiling at Deidre. “Finer horsewoman I’ve never witnessed. You certainly do have the look of her.”
“Evan has always had a little crush on your mama,” Addy told Deidre with the air of someone telling a mischievous secret. Evan muttered under his breath and blushed.
“Deidre hasn’t been in Harbor Town for years now,” Nick tried to explain to the McGraws. “She’s been—”
“In the Middle East, and recently Germany, doing her nursing. We know all about it,” Addy assured him. “Deidre, the plates and glasses are in that cabinet there, the silverware in that drawer. Would you mind?”
