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4
“Daddy,” Gretchen said, exasperation exploding through her. It seemed to multiply with every half-second that passed. “My daddy,” she said, throwing a look in Will’s direction. She couldn’t look at him, so she looked past him. “Reginald Bellows.”
“Pleasure to meet you both,” Will said diplomatically.
“I knew a guy named Will once,” Daddy shouted, and Gretchen pressed her eyes closed in a long blink. She could say the next part.Served with him in Korea.
“Served with him in Korea,” Daddy said, mimicking her thoughts. “He had a fake leg, that one. He’d hide things in it. Up to no good.” He slid his eyes down to Will’s legs, and Gretchen wanted the ground to swallow them both right into a hole that went all the way to Korea. “Do you have a fake leg, son?”
“No, sir,” Will said, a smile in his voice. Gretchen dared to peek at him, and sure enough, he wore a smile on his face. That so wasn’t fair, because he was already stunningly good-looking while growling about his sticky shirt or griping about sitting in chocolate and caramel. Why did he have to be blessed with perfectly straight, white teeth too?
Will held up his hands, the ridiculously flowered gloves plain to see. “I just came to see about some weeds back here.”
“Sounds suspicious,” Daddy said. “Beth didn’t mind the weeds. She said it gave the garden character.”
“These weeds are choking out her strawberries,” Gretchen said, doing her best not to roll her eyes. “Come on, Will. Let’s get it done.”
“Wait,” Aunt Patty said, and Gretchen might just leave her here. She glared at her aunt, but she really needed to work on heating her gaze, because Aunt Patty didn’t care at all. She continued with, “I want to hear how Gretchen’s going to answer your question.”
All eyes landed on her then, including Will’s and Howl’s. Gretchen heated from head to toe. She had no good reason to be attracted to Will, other than his physical looks. The man was a god, and he had to know it. He was single, and he had asked her out, and Gretchen would need a very good reason to say no.
He’d been helpful at the tent event at Sweetspot, and at some point during all of their interactions, she’d caught glimpses of sweetness behind all of his rougher exterior.
“It’s fine,” he mumbled, dropping his eyes to the ground. “It’s no big—”
“Yes,” she said over him. He raised his eyes back to hers, and Gretchen saw the hope and desire swimming there. “I’ll go out with you.” Her own surprise mingled with his, and they smiled together.
“Great.” He cleared his throat. He looked from her to Daddy and Aunt Patty, then back to her. “I’ll go start on the weeds.” He walked away, leaving Gretchen with her family.
All three of them watched him walk away, his hatted head held high. Gretchen sighed and said, “Not a word, either of you.”
“I’m surprised you said yes,” Aunt Patty said. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Yeah, well, me either,” Gretchen said, tugging her gloves on a little tighter. She tore her eyes from Will’s back and faced her daddy and his sister. “Please, try not to burn the house down while I weed your strawberry patch.”
“Oh, go on now,” Daddy said with a hint of gruffness in his voice. “We’ll be fine here.” He turned away, dragging his oxygen tank with him.
Aunt Patty shot stars out of her eyes, and Gretchen did let her eyes roll then. “It’s nothing,” she said. “I’m not talking about this on the way home. If you’re going to do that, I’m not taking you.”
“You wouldn’t dare leave me here with Reginald.” Aunt Patty’s glee dropped ten notches as her fingers tightened on the top of the railing.
Gretchen took a step. “I would, Aunt Patty,” she said over her shoulder. “I totally would.” After all, she’d just said yes to a date with a man she hardly knew. A cowboy she’d never really had a good interaction with. A handsome cowboy she also couldn’t stop thinking about, despite the hiccups between them.
Maybe she had something to smile about too.
* * *
The following evening,the bell on the door rang at the sweet shop just as Gretchen slid another tray of double chocolate brownies into the case. She wasn’t working the counter for the nightly sweet tooth rush, and she turned to head back into the kitchen. She could monitor the status of trays from there.
She happened to glance up, catching sight of the cowboy hats who’d just entered. Just about every man in Sweet Water Falls wore a cowboy hat, but somehow, Gretchen recognized one of them.
The man wearing it was Will Cooper. That cowboy seemed to have only North Pole magnets in his body, and they were all attracting her South Pole ones.
She stalled, and their eyes met. He reached up and touched the brim of his hat. Gretchen smiled at him, her feet carrying her further behind the candy counter, right to the very end. “Howdy, Will,” she said, her gaze stuck on his. “Travis.”
“Ma’am,” Travis said, but she didn’t even look at him. She jolted, realizing how very much she was giving away, and she dragged her eyes over to Will’s brother. He grinned like he’d just found out he held the winning lottery ticket, and Gretchen’s face heated.
He indicated himself and Will, who hadn’t said hello yet. “We heard you had some new treats in the store today. Grasshoppers?” He scanned the trays of candy in the case between them.
