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Clearing my throat, I said, “If you see my dad, tell him I’ll be in my office after I go for a run.”
A look of sadness swept over Rose’s face as she softly replied, “I’ll tell him.”
One month later
There was a light tap at my office door, and I looked up and smiled. “Hey, Mom.”
I went to stand, but she held up her hand. “No, don’t stand. I finished up a ride earlier and thought I would come in and say hi. Are you sure you don’t want to move your office up to your grandparents’ place? Ty Senior said his office is waiting for you.”
With a shake of my head, I replied, “Nah, I like being down here. It’s easy for the guys to find me if something is wrong. Plus, I enjoy the smell of the hay and the sweat of the horses.”
She laughed lightly. “You are your father’s son.”
“How was your ride?” I asked as I leaned back in my chair.
“Good. Gingersnap isn’t like Elly; she likes these cold days. She was itching to run, so we had a bit of fun.”
“Best to let her get it out of her system before we get a good snowfall.”
“Christmas is in two weeks.”
“I bet Aunt Kaylee and Rose have already put up trees.”
With a beautiful smile, my mother nodded. “Rose mentioned stopping by your place with Avery. They want to decorate your tree.”
“What about Morgan?” I asked.
A look of disappointment crossed my mother’s face. “You would know what’s happening in your sister’s life if you ever came to Sunday dinner, stopped by the house, or simply answered a text message.”
“It’s been busy on the ranch, Mom, you know that.”
“Really?” she said with a quirk of her brow. “You dad seems to find time to eat and to catch up on what’s happening in his family’s world. And the rest of the family meets once a week at your grandparents’ house for our weekly dinner. You’ve been absent for over a month, Blayze.”
“I’ve been…”
My voice trailed off. I had been about to repeat my earlier comment about being busy.
“You’ve been riding. Ty told me. Said you volunteered to be the headline ride in the charity rodeo.”
“Are you upset by that?”
“That my son is crawling onto the back of a bull? No, it’s in your blood and something I came to terms with when I married your father. Am I upset because you’re doing it simply because you think it will chase away your feelings for Georgiana? Yes.”
I sighed and pushed my fingers through my hair. “I’m not doing it because of that.”
She folded her arms over her chest.
“What?” I asked with a bitter laugh. “As much as you want to believe you have some weird mom power, it was never like that.”
Mom frowned. “You won’t even give the girl a chance to talk to you, Blayze.”
“I’ve heard all of this from Morgan, Ryan, Mindy, Hunter, and Dad—hell, even Rose. The list goes on. I get it, everyone’s Team Georgiana.”
She slowly shook her head. “We’re always Team Blayze. But it was clear to all of us how you felt about her, and the fact that you pushed her away so easily—”
“Should tell everyone I’m over her. It was just a fling, that’s all.”
Mom lifted her chin. “Well, that’s good, then. You’ve moved on. I’ll be sure to let Morgan know.”
“Why do you need to let Morgan know?”
A frown appeared on her face as she moved back toward the door to my office. “She’s in England. Georgiana invited her to stay for a week. She’s staying with a friend of Georgiana’s on the coast. Morgan thought you weren’t returning her texts or calls because she went to see Georgiana, but I’ll assure her it was simply because you didn’t know she was there.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry, Mom. I kind of remember Morgan telling me she was going.”
Mom put her hand on her hip, then pointed at me. “You would have known had you come to dinner last weekend. Please come tomorrow. For me?”
The guilt of avoiding my family hit me even harder as my mother gave me a pleading look. I smiled. “I’ll be there, I promise.”
She headed out of my office, then popped her head back in. “If you want to know if it’s a rumor, I’m sure Morgan can tell you.”
“If what’s a rumor?”
“Oh, that’s right, you weren’t at dinner last week, so you didn’t hear.”
I exhaled in frustration. “Heard what, Mom?”
She had an innocent look on her face. “Apparently, Georgiana was asked to stay in England by the brother of the fashion designer she went there to interview. I think it’s his beach home that she and Morgan are staying in. I believe Morgan said he’s a lord or a viscount or something along those lines. Friends with Prince William or Harry. One of the two.”
