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“And their attorney,” Brendon added. “That’s even worse than being part of the family.”
“He’s trying to work out a compromise between our family and theirs,” Georgia said. “Grandpop built his house on their property. Clayton and Marnie are just trying to sort out the mess he left for us.”
Both brothers were looking at her now. Joshua had stayed behind at the ranch, so at least it was only her against two of her brothers. In a strange twist, her mom seemed to have her back.
Brendon tossed his coat on the seat with their mom’s coat. “I’m sitting here. Everyone else can do whatever they want.” With that, he plopped down in a seat, picking up the cup of popcorn that he’d set on the floor when this whole thing began.
“Everything okay?”
At the sound of Clayton’s voice, Georgia spun around. She tried not to have a reaction to him being in the same room, but she had a feeling she wasn’t doing a very good job of disguising her feelings.
“Fine,” Georgia’s mom said. “You just sit wherever you want.” As though Clayton needed her permission. “But I think you need company.”
Georgia squeezed her eyes shut. If this wasn’t the most embarrassing moment of her life, she didn’t know what was. Her mom didn’t even pull this stuff when Georgia was a teenager, going on a first date with a boy.
“What’s gotten into you?” Sawyer asked Mom. Then he turned his attention to Clayton, way at the back of the theater. “Forget it. Georgia’s sitting with me.”
She stared at her oldest brother, and that stare soon became a glare. Sawyer never acted like this—until their dad died. Sure, he’d always been protective, but now he seemed to think he ran everything from the dude ranch to the inn to her personal life.
Yeah. Justno.
“I do believe your sister is free to make her own choices.” Clayton was still standing at the back of the theater, his coat draped over his right arm and popcorn and drink in each of his hands. His voice didn’t sound all that menacing, but he’d take Sawyer on if he had to…for her. He didn’t have to, though. She could fight her own battles.
She whipped her head around and looked at Sawyer, Brendon, and her mom in turn. Determination sent adrenaline pumping through her. She spun on one heel and marched up the aisle toward Clayton.
Their eyes met and held as she walked toward him and somehow, in that moment, she knew this signaled a huge shift. It wasn’t just making a statement to her family that she was in charge of her personal life and the part of the family business she ran. No, she was also showing Clayton that she was ready to do this—wherever it led.
She wanted to start a relationship with him. At this point, she couldn’t imagine spending another day without him by her side. It was funny, but he’d been around for the past decade, and it’d taken her this long to realize he was what had been missing in her life all along.
10
Max greeted Clayton as he pulled into the gravel lot in front of the Cupid Ridge Inn. He searched the porch for signs of his girlfriend, but even as he did so, he knew better. He wouldn’t find her hanging out on the porch this week. Not as busy as she was.
And that was why he was here to help. The good news, as Clayton climbed out of his truck and started toward the inn, was that his was the only vehicle aside from Georgia’s. That meant the guests hadn’t descended on the inn yet. At least he’d be on site to offer another pair of hands.
Just inside the door, he stopped, putting his jacket in the family coat closet and closing the door before heading toward the kitchen. The Knott family still hadn’t come to terms with the fact that he was dating the only daughter of the Ludingtons, but he was being completely upfront about it.
He’d offered to assign their case to another attorney—he had several colleagues he trusted to handle things. They might even do a better job of mediating than him. But Gus and Phoenix Knott would have none of it. Not just because he was like part of the family, but also because of his friendship with the attorney handling the Ludington side of things. Gus Knott had specifically said if anyone could talk sense into “that stubborn Bobbie Ludington,” it was Clayton’s friend Marnie.
Things were as busy as ever in the kitchen. Georgia somehow managed to keep things running, thanks in part to an interim kitchen manager she’d hired recently. Georgia also had help in the dining room. She’d hired a couple of teenagers who took part-time shifts and a full-time server and hostess. And, of course, Bobbie Ludington helped out as much as she could.
Luckily, they only had to worry about dinner since breakfast was standard continental style with oatmeal and cereal and muffins from a local baker. Lunch was salad and soup. Sometimes lunch and dinner were handled out on the ranch, cooked over a campfire as part of the dude ranch experience.
“You’re working too hard,” he said, standing in the doorway.
Georgia was chopping vegetables for the salad. It turned out, this group was arriving just in time for lunch.
She turned to look at him and her shoulders relaxed slightly. Relief. She was relieved to see him. She also had a big smile for him.
Setting the knife down, she stepped back, wiping her hands on her apron. “Thank you for taking time out of your workday to help us.”
He shrugged. “It would be my lunch break anyway. I have a meeting at two, but I’m all yours until then.”
He was all hers forever. They’d been dating for almost two weeks, and he’d never been more in love in his life. They were still the talk of the town—the Knott family friend and attorney who was now dating the enemy. But so far, nobody in the Knott family had cut off contact with him. Although they didn’t support who he was dating, they pretty much kept their mouth shut about it, and that was probably as good as it would get for now.
“They’re going to be trickling in throughout the day,” she said. “So it’s not a huge emergency, but we have forty guests all packing into this inn.”
“Forty?” His eyes widened.
