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Sutter shook his head at his mother. “Thanks, I appreciate it. You’re coming with Gray, right?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss one of our grand openings. I don’t want to interrupt your last few halcyon days, dear, but I had lunch with Alison Nichols and she mentioned that Tanya was back in New York. She’s starting at Columbia in September and we thought it would be nice for the two of you to connect again. See if you can rekindle the flame.”
Sutter scoffed quietly and shook his head at his mother’s perpetual attempts to set him up with her friends’ daughters.
“Tanya’s hardly an old flame, Mom. I think I took her on two dates in high school before she dropped me for that hockey player.”
“Brenn Arbor.” My mother huffed. “Goodness, Alison had a lot to say about him. On again, off again with Tanya for years in high school and all through college. He invited her to his parents’ place in the Hamptons for the weekend. Poor Alison was sure he was going to pop the question. Instead, he told Tanya he’s been called up to play for some team in Canada and he’s leaving! Can you imagine?”
Sutter bit his lips to keep from laughing at his mother’s indignation.
“Sounds like she’s on the rebound, Mom. I’ll pass. Besides, there’s something here that’s… happening.”
“What do you mean by that, Sut?”
He’d occasionally wondered if his mother knew about the Ranch, but then dismissed the idea. She was the whitest of vanilla as far as he could tell, and he didn’t care to speculate about her husband’s predilections. “Just that I’ve met someone and we’re exploring where it might go.”
“Dear, you’re leaving in less than two weeks.”
“I know. We could figure out something long distance.”
His mother tutted, a sound all her children knew and feared. “Don’t do that to her, or yourself. You know you’ll be paying your dues for the next few years. You’ll barely have time for a girlfriend, dearest, much less a girlfriend two-thirds of the way across the country. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment like that. I know you have your father’s dreamy, romantic soul, but you have to be realistic about this.”
Sutter knew better than to argue with his mother. Moreover, he could hear the thin thread of worry in her voice. “Paying your dues” was their code for her elaborate revenge scheme. She didn’t want him getting off track.
“You’re probably right. I’d better go do evening stables, Mom.” He’d already done them when he’d finished his ride, but his mother didn’t know that. “See you in London.”
“Alright, dear. Are you sure you don’t want me to invite Tanya Nichols? It wouldn’t hurt for you to have a date to dance with. It’s a nightclub we’re opening, after all.”
“No, Mom. That’s a real no, too, okay?”
She blew a kiss into the phone. “Of course. Safe travels.”
“Safe travels, Mom,” Sutter echoed back to his mother.
I want someone in London with me, he realized.I want someone to dance with. To stand beside me during the hours of hand-shaking. Someone whose hand I can hold.
But it wasn’t Tanya Nichols, whose face he could barely remember, but he certainly hadn’t forgotten the sting of her rejection.
I want someone devoted to me. Someone whose world revolves around her Daddy.
He knew that wasn’t Saoirse. Not yet. She was just discovering her Little-self. But the promise was there.
Maybe this is the first hurdle: convincing her to come to London with me. Even if she won’t, I don’t want to waste a minute of the time we have left.
Resolved, Sutter flicked his thumb over the face of his phone until he found Saoirse’s number and dialed.
The feelingthat had been tugging in his chest all day, thewrongness, dissipated as soon as Saoirse ran down the front steps of the Ranch’s main building to his truck. With her bright eyes, her deeply tanned skin, and wide smile, Saoirse was shining. He wasn’t sure what had happened since he’d dropped her off that morning, but happiness poured out of her.
He’d gotten out of the truck to open the door for her. Instead, he opened his arms.
She ran straight into them and hugged him, her glossy bangs flipping against her cheeks as she bounced on her heels.
“Someone’s had a good day,” Sutter said, hugging her back and enjoying the press of her curves.
“I have,” she said breathlessly. Her eyes narrowed as she peered up into his face. “Have you?”
He nodded. “Went riding. Got a reminder not to waste a minute.”
