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“Clover Fields! Are you up there? Your mama has breakfast ready and you need to come get it before it gets cold.”
Cloe pulled her gaze away from Rome and yelled down the opening. “I’m coming, Mimi. Don’t come up. I don’t want you to fall off the ladder.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized her mistake. Mimi loved to prove she was still spry. The creak of a foot stepping onto a ladder rung had Cloe glancing around frantically, looking for a place for Rome to hide. He took the decision from her by scooping up his hat and heading toward the open hatch doors.
She hurried after him. “You can’t—” Before she could finish, he tugged on his hat, grabbed on to the lip of the hayloft hatch, and slipped over the edge. She leaned out and watched in horror as he dangled a good six feet off the ground. For a terrifying moment, he hung there before he dropped gracefully to his feet.
“Clover Fields Holiday, what are you doing hanging over that edge? Get back before you fall out!”
Cloe glanced over her shoulder to see her grandmother standing there with a concerned look on her face. Cloe looked back at Rome. The man had the audacity to blow her a kiss before he turned and jogged in the direction of the open field where all the townsfolk had parked for the wedding.
Once he was out of sight, Cloe turned to her grandmother and pinned on a smile. “Mornin’, Mimi.”
Mimi did not look happy. “What in the world are you doin’ leaning out that hatch door? That was how your daddy broke his leg when he was eight.”
“I wasn’t leaning out that far. I was just looking for you. I heard you humming.”
Mimi’s eyes narrowed and Cloe was terrified she was going to be called out on the lie, but then, the mussed comforter and the champagne bucket caught her grandmother’s attention. “What’s all that?”
“I think Decker and Sweetie snuck up here during the reception for a little alone time.”
Mimi chuckled. “That explains the hay in your sister’s hair.” Her gaze pinned Cloe. “But that doesn’t explain why you slept up here?”
Cloe figured it was time to tell the truth. At least, about her engagement. “Brandon broke up with me and I needed some time alone.”
“He broke your engagement?”
“There was no engagement. He never asked me to marry him. I guess that was just my wishful thinking.”
Mimi sighed before she pulled Cloe into her arms and patted her back. “I’m sorry, Clover Fields. But things happen for a reason. I had a feeling Brandon wasn’t a good match for you from the get-go.”
Cloe drew back. “And how did you know that when you haven’t even met him?”
“That right there was the first warning sign. If a man is interested in a woman, he’s interested in her family. He didn’t once come out to the ranch and meet your parents and me.”
“Because my sisters put the fear of God in him about Daddy.”
“Any man worth his salt wouldn’t let a little fear stop him from doing what’s right. Hallie said he was a wienie and I think she was onto something.” Mimi gave her arms a squeeze. “But don’t you fret, Clover Fields. You’ll find the right man. God has a plan for you.”
Cloe wished she could believe that. But at the moment, she felt like all her plans for the future had been erased in one fell swoop of Brandon’s eraser and now she had nothing but a blank chalkboard . . . a blank life. She didn’t have a boyfriend. Or a place to live. She still had her job, but she wasn’t looking forward to returning to school after her leave of absence. She had already put in for a transfer, but that wouldn’t happen until the following school year. Which meant she would have five weeks after she got back to College Station of trying to avoid Brandon in the teachers’ lounge.
“Cloe! Mimi!” Liberty’s voice carried up from the lower level of the barn and, a second later, her sister’s head popped up through the opening in the floor. “Mimi, don’t tell me you climbed this ladder. If Daddy finds out, he’ll shit a brick.”
“Watch your mouth, young lady. You’ll never catch a man with a potty mouth. And I’m a grown woman who can climb a ladder if she wants to.”
“And I’m a grown woman who has no desire to catch a man. Something I can’t seem to get through my grandmother’s thick skull.” Liberty climbed the rest of the way up and rubbed her arms. “How did you spend the night up here, Clo? It’s as cold as a well digger’s as—butt.”
An image of sleeping in the cocoon of Rome’s hot body popped into her head and she felt her cheeks flame. Liberty squinted at her.
“Are you okay? You’ve been acting really weird lately. The entire thing with Rome on the side of the barn and then sleeping up here—”
Mimi cut her off. “What thing with Rome?”
“It was nothing,” Cloe quickly said. “I was just feeling a little lightheaded and Rome helped me outside to get some fresh air.”
“Belle said he helped her find you last night too,” Liberty said.
Cloe was not a violent person, but she really wanted to sock her sister. Especially when Mimi was studying her with a gleam in her eyes. “Don’t even think it, Mimi,” she said. “Rome’s just an honorable type of man. Now come on, y’all.” She moved toward the ladder. “Mama won’t be happy if breakfast gets cold.” She and Mimi were almost to the ladder when Liberty’s words stopped them.
