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“Well, she said you would be reaching out when you got to a point you thought I could help.” Daniel chuckled. “I thought I’d take the first steps and see what you’re interested in.”
Simon itched to seek Katrina out but forced himself to continue this conversation. She wouldn’t be very pleased with him for brushing off any help her family offered.
“Yeah, um, I wasn’t quite ready to give you my questions, but I wanted to get into training. I figured I was pretty good at it with my horses…”
“That’s an excellent idea.” Daniel folded his arms and moved his feet apart, a clear sign he was in this conversation for the long haul.
Simon couldn’t seem to control the way his eyes darted to the side when a familiar figure moved into his peripheral. But she wasn’t alone. Simon’s whole body went cold. Jackson was talking to her.
Katrina’s laugh wasn’t hard to pick out from the crowd of people and Simon stiffened further. What was Jackson saying to make her laugh like that?
He turned once again to Daniel. “I guess one of my thoughts was that you’d started your own business. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind if I picked your brain one of these days on how you got your clientele.”
Daniel shook his head. “You’re forgetting that I didn’t need clientele. The coffee shop was owned by someone else. I just took it over—sorta the way you took over the dairy farm. But if you want to start offering more services…”
Katrina’s laughter once again yanked Simon’s attention and he glanced over in time to see Jackson reach out and touch her face.
Fire roared to life in his gut, hotter and more menacing than the one blazing in the darkness before him. He didn’t want Jackson touching her. He didn’t want them talking to each other. He was going to lose his chance if he didn’t just grab the moment.
“I’m sorry, Daniel.” He’d probably cut Daniel off, but he hadn’t been hearing even half of what he’d been saying. “But Katrina wanted me to find her.”
Daniel glanced over to where his sister was and returned his focus to Simon. His eyes narrowed, or at least his expression appeared to be more suspicious than it had before. Then again, Simon’s nerves were frayed from the molten feelings that were raging within him and he could be reading into every little nuance of Daniel’s expression.
“I’d love to continue this conversation tomorrow morning over coffee if you’re available? I heard Megan’s stuff is really great.”
Daniel gave him a short nod. “I think I can work that into my schedule. Let me give you my number.” He held out his hand, and Simon wasted no time in putting his phone there.
He allowed himself one more glance in Katrina’s direction, but she’d disappeared. Simon whirled around, his eyes darting back and forth. Where had she gone?
Jackson was missing, too. It wasn’t hard to assume that the two of them had slipped off together.
He wasn’t proud of where his thoughts were going at this point. If Jackson got up the nerve, he might be the one to steal that coveted kiss. Simon’s stomach swirled. He had to find her.
The second Daniel returned the phone to his hand, Simon darted away. He wasn’t proud of how he pushed through groups of people. Several called out to him to be careful, and he tossed a few apologies over his shoulder.
Still no sign of Katrina.
Dang it! He’d had all week to talk to her about how he felt and he’d blown it sky high.
“Hey, where’s the fire?” Brianne sidled up beside him and nudged him with her elbow, laughing.
If he was in a better mood, he might have played along with her ridiculous statement. “Have you seen Katrina? She wanted me to meet her here.”
“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.” Brianne’s eyes danced through the crowd, with practically no direction. “Have you tried calling her yet?”
“I doubt she’d be able to hear her phone with all the noise going on.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Well, she’ll turn up. She probably just got caught up with someone else.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered.
“What?” Brianne called back.
“I need to find her before I leave.”
“You’re leaving already?” Her wide eyes landed on him with accusation. “You’re the reason she made me promise not to make this a couples thing. You can’t just leave.”
“Sure I can. I don’t like these sorts of things.”
