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CHAPTER23
Shaking Tanner wiped the best-tasting strawberry cake he’d ever had from his mouth and face. Licking his fingers, he sighed. What if he’d just made a big mistake?
Had he been right to break it off with Emily? Or was he letting his Aunt Rose persuade him?
Didn’t it serve his Aunt Rose right that she was losing her best cook? Now, instead of losing just him, she was also losing Emily.
Taking the towel, he rubbed the dessert off his face and clothes. His heart ached with the knowledge she would be leaving. No more kisses, no more laughing until they were rolling on the bed. No more late-night talks or cuddling.
Emily had been the closest he’d come to happily ever after and that’s what frightened him the most. Just the thought of her accidentally getting pregnant was enough to make him end it all. He wasn’t cut out to be a husband or a father.
There was no way he would endanger people he loved.
Desiree walked in. “Where’s Emily?”
“She just walked out,” he said, realizing that this was going to cause quite a stir at the dude ranch today.
“Oh, good, I can catch her still,” Desiree said as she pivoted to run out the door.
“You better hurry, she’s leaving,” he said.
With a halt, she turned back to him. “Why are you wearing cake? What are you talking about?”
Standing there, he was ready to confront her. Only two people could have known that they were having sex in the kitchen.
“I’ll answer your question if you’ll answer mine,” he said. “Did you tell Aunt Rose that Emily and I were having sex under this table?”
Desiree’s face made an ugly expression. “What? Eww. No.”
“Would you have any idea who would have said something to her?”
“No,” she said, her face scrunching up. “Did you guys…”
“Yes, we did,” he said. “You and Travis walked in right after it happened. I had just had an episode and she comforted me. Then we started kissing, and the next thing I knew, we were having sex right there.”
He pointed to the table.
“That’s crazy,” Desiree said. “This is where our food is prepared.”
“Yes, it is,” he said, knowing that Emily would have cleaned the whole place very well.
Staring at him, she shook her head. “What have you done, Tanner? Why would you break it off with her? She was the best thing that’s happened to you in a long time.”
That’s what Travis said, and it was true, but he was too afraid. First, his Aunt Rose threatening him, and then Travis’s news sending him over the edge. He had to end it with Emily for their own good.
“Aunt Rose suspended me and told me not to see Emily any longer, that I was risking us being sued for sexual harassment.”
Desiree started laughing. “Are you kidding me? Don’t you realize she’s just jealous? Sometimes she gets a mean streak in her, and I swear, it’s like a demon takes over. So you came over here and broke it off with Emily, who proceeded to smear a cake that looks absolutely delicious on your face.”
“Yes,” he said. “But Aunt Rose also told me that someone told her that we did it in the kitchen. You and Travis were the only ones who came in when we were cleaning up.”
She shook her head and stared at him.
“It wasn’t me. Uncle James checks the footage from cameras once a week. But I didn’t think there were cameras in here,” she said. “Have you told Emily?”
“Kind of,” he said. “I knew it would send her running, and it did.”
“Tanner,” Desiree said, “you and Emily are good together. Reconsider what you’re doing. You’ve been happier than I’ve seen you since before you left for the war.”
