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“Oh, sonowyou want to think ahead,” he muttered with sarcasm. “I thought everything would fizzle out.”
“Yeah, by the time the wedding rolls around. Right now, everyone is soobsessedover this. I don’t get it.”
“It’s not just the girls,” he murmured.
“What do you mean by that?” she snapped. “What happened?”
Ethan glanced over his shoulder to see Eli hovering a few feet away from the door. At least he had the good grace to give them some privacy to talk. “My uncle thinks I need to take some time off to spend it with you.”
“What—”
“Ethan! Hey, it’s Katrina.”
There was some shuffling and giggles in the background.
“Katrina?” he squeaked. “How’s it going?”
“Oh, just splendid. We’re at the Steer House getting drinks. You should come.”
He chuckled, if only to sound normal. “Nah, I think I’ll stay put and wait for you guys to come back.”
“Come on, Ethan. Becca misses you.”
He froze.
“And if you want to keep talking, you’re going to have to come to the restaurant to see her.”
“But I can just wait?—”
“See you soon,” she crowed. Then the phone went dead.
Ethan stared at the screen, and just as he was about to call her back, Eli’s voice stopped him.
“There, you see? You should be spending time with her. You’ve done enough for today. I’ll finish up here.” Eli pulled the stall door open and reached for the shovel.
There was no way Ethan was about to battle his uncle for a shovel to clean out the manure. He might as well do what the bride-to-be demanded and go talk to Becca in person.
CHAPTER FIVE
Becca staredhard at Katrina as they sat across from one another. That was a dirty trick to pull. She hadn’t wanted Ethan to show up here.
Then again, if he was here, she could give him her number and they could steal away for a few minutes to plan their next move.
The fact that his uncle wanted to give him some time off was surprising to say the least. If Eli Reese was getting in on this narrative, that pretty much guaranteed that Katrina had said something to her parents about what was going on.
She sighed. From what she remembered, Katrina had never felt especially close to her siblings. Becca didn’t know about Katrina’s relationship with her parents. And now that all the Reese children were either married or soon to be, it sure appeared as though their parents missed the whole matchmaking thing.
Well, that was just great. She couldn’t see a way out of this now.
Shouts filled the air and Becca lifted her eyes to see Ethan standing just a few feet from the table. Tina looked absolutelylivid. Her face looked red even in this light but no one else seemed to be noticing. Katrina jumped up from her seat and motioned for him to take it.
“Ethan, sit. You should get a drink, too.”
He held up his hands, a crooked grin on his face that made him look even more handsome—if that was possible. “I think I’ll just stay right here. Becca, you wanted to talk about something?”
“Don’t you dare,” Katrina ordered. “Just go sit.” She gasped, her eyes flying wide. “I completely forgot that I left something in my car. Girls, will you come with me?”
To his credit, Ethan looked confused. He glanced from Becca to Katrina and back. Becca only shook her head, a blush filling her cheeks. Katrina was being too obvious. And yet all the bridesmaids, in their air-headed way, giggled and agreed to go anyway.
