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Chapter Twelve
As soon as they got back to the ranch, Ellie unpacked her cookbooks and started to plan dinner. She shooed the men off to get on with the chores, since they’d missed a morning of work, assuring them she didn’t mind.
If she was honest, she needed a little time alone to get her head around this new turn of events and exactly what it meant for her.
There was no sign of Cora, Carly, and Sheri; the trifecta were most definitely gone, but that didn’t mean she’d found her own happy ending. She still had the very real issue that each of the brothers was looking for a wife. And while they each appealed to her in a wildly different way and all of them lit her fuse, she honestly didn’t know which one she preferred, since they were all completely different.
She didn’t even know exactly what they had in mind. Maybe they would make things easier for her. After all, she needed to take their feelings into consideration too. Maybe the way they felt aboutherwould decide the situation.
She also couldn’t help wondering if they were planning to do any more advertising. After her recent experience, she wasn’t sure she wanted a repeat with another couple of women. Was that selfish of her?
As she cooked and baked, she turned all those different thoughts over in her mind. Oddly, the one thing she didn’t dwell on was her recent change in fortune. There were some things money just couldn’t buy. Sure, it gave her a safety net if things didn’t work out and she wasenormouslythankful for that, but beyond providing the basics, there were more important things in life.
There was still a lot to talk about. Dinner tonight was going to be an interesting experience.
It came around before she was ready, but not soon enough; such was her ambivalence.
They ate the steak pie she served them with gusto and talked in generalities. She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.
When they were done, she surprised them with the jam tarts and custard she had made with the left-over pastry. It was basic fare, but they were genuinely appreciative and that was all that mattered.
At the end of the meal, she got up to fetch the coffee, but Syrus stopped her and went to get it himself. When they were all finally settled, Cody started talking and she knew the time of reckoning had come.
“Okay, I know we talked a bit this morning and I don’t really want to rehash any of the unfortunate stuff. If we can all agree, let’s cross that out and move forward.
There was general consent all round, and Ellie was more than okay with what he was saying. Constant blame and recriminations wouldn’t do any of them any good. It had happened; they had apologized, and it was time to leave it in the past.
“One thing I have to say, is that there was another, minor reason, regardless of all the deceit and manipulation, why we came to the decision we did.” He took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye. It took everything she had not to look away from his dominant gaze.
“And that was, unlike the others, you, Ellie, never really favored any of us, so it was hard for us to know where your interest lay.”
And there it was; her guilty secret had now become the elephant in the room. Well, she couldn’t tell them what she didn’t know herself, so she’d have to go with the truth and see what reaction she got.
“Well… the thing is,” she hedged. “I felt a little awkward pursuing anything with any of you, since the others had kind of already staked their claims and it seemed a lot like poaching.”
The three of them looked at her seriously and nodded their heads in understanding, but said nothing. It looked like she was most definitely in the hot seat.
She took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. “The other problem was that I don’t really have a clear favorite.” She cringed and ducked her head. It sounded even worse out loud.
“Was oris?” Cody asked astutely.
Ellie closed her eyes and refused to look up.
“Is,” she confirmed in a near whisper. Thankfully, none of them asked her to repeat herself, but the next minute, Syrus had scooted right up next to her and tucked his crooked finger under her chin to raise it.
“Sweetheart, please, that’s not the end of the world,” he said coaxingly. “In fact, I’m pretty sure each of us is flattered and pleased to know that we’re all still in the running.”
She met his eyes then; saw the genuineness in them.
“What does that mean?” she murmured, trying not to be distracted by the feel of his fingers on her face.
“It means that the three of us talked it over on the drive to town to find you earlier, and we all admitted what seems like an equal amount of interest in pursuing a relationship with you.”
“It certainly doesn’t hurt to know that we’re all still in with a chance.” Ezra added his own thoughts with a cheeky grin that brought a smile to her face and lightened the tension that had built.
“Then it’s settled,” Cody announced decisively. “We will each try our best to win your affections.”
“Are you sure? It seems… immoral somehow, like I’d be leading you all on, or something.”
