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“Here?” Michael asked, pulling her from the beautiful daydream with his somewhat reedy voice.
“No, keep going,” she said. He always tried to drop off the lumber in the most convenient location for him. He kept going though, and Ginger directed him all the way down the road to the last bird blind. “Here.”
“We’re really far out here,” he said, peering through the windshield. “You sure this is still your land?” He grinned at her and got out of the truck before she could respond. It wasn’t a question that needed a response anyway.
She got out too, her phone chiming as she did. It was Nick, and he’d said,Can I take Nate to town tonight for steak and seafood? He says he’s never been to Maddox. Can you imagine?
Ginger shook her head at her cousin. He really was innocent about a lot of things.Just you and him?
And Spencer and Connor. Maybe Bronco if he’ll stop texting Katie.
“Oh, Katie,” Ginger said, making a face. Her brother really could pick out some of the worst women to date. And she’d thought his last girlfriend would definitely be the worst. Then he’d brought Katie Holbrook to the ranch, and the woman had obviously thought he was taking her to get a salad and that the ranch would be the dressing.
Ginger had never seen such a look of disgust. She’d never been back to the ranch, and Bronco bent to her whims.
So can we go?Nick asked.Nate said we had to ask you.
Yes, she sent back.Go. Have fun.
She wanted to go and have fun too, but she knew better than to invite herself. Number one, she’d never gone on their steak and seafood excursions before. Number two, maybe Nick could stop at the grocery store and get the cereal Nate wanted.
See if you can get his cocoa crispies while you’re in town, she sent next, the deafening crash of wood on wood alerting her to the unloading process happening on the other side of the truck.
Okay, Nick said.Thanks, Ginger.
She stuck her phone in her pocket and rounded the truck to find a pile of lumber that would take her hours to sort through.
“Just need your signature right here,” Michael said, sliding up to her with a clipboard and a pen—and that smile that told her she wasn’t going to like what he said next. As she signed, he asked, “What are you doin’ tonight? Wanna grab a drink or a bite to eat?”
“Oh, I can’t,” she said, making her voice sugar-sweet. “I just made plans with my brother.”
“Oh? What’s Bronco got himself into this time?”
“Well, he’s dating this woman who’s just all wrong for him. So I need to talk to him about her.” Not entirely a lie, and she had just made plans to talk to him about Katie. Just now. Just the moment Michael had asked about going out with him.
“Good luck with that,” Michael said with a smile, but Ginger didn’t know what he meant.
“Yeah,” she said anyway, handing the clipboard back. “And I have a meeting with my activities staff I need to be to in ten minutes. I can hitch a ride with you on the way back, right?”
“Sure thing.” He looked over his shoulder to George. “George, you drive us back, all right?” He grinned at Ginger like he’d just won the lottery, but she groaned way down deep in her gut.
She’d have to sit on her hands to make sure he didn’t hold one of them, and walking back to the ranch sounded like a better idea than getting a ride.
But she’d already asked, and Anderton Lumber was the best in town. So she hitched her smile in place, turned to go back around the truck, and hunched her shoulders as she sent the emergency word to Emma.
As she climbed into the truck and sat beside Michael, her phone rang. “Oh, I have to take this,” she said, swiping on the call. “Hey, Emma, what’s up?”
“How long are we talking?”
“Oh, I’ll be back in ten minutes or so.” Ginger used her left hand to hold the phone to her ear, creating a semi-barrier between her and Michael. She put her elbow on the armrest of the door on the right side and leaned even further from him. “The Anderton brothers delivered our lumber, and they’re giving me a ride back.”
“Oh, that sneaky Michael Anderton. Did he ask you out again?”
“Yes,” Ginger said. “It’s in the drawer in the bottom of my desk.”
“I swear, I don’t know how he doesn’t know you’re not interested. Maybe I should just pull him aside and tell him.”
“Don’t you dare,” Ginger said, perhaps a little too forcefully. She cut a glance at Michael, who was watching her. “I put that chocolate in that drawer for a rainy day, and it’snotraining.”
