Meant to Be (Whisper Creek #5)(16)

Shelby smiled carefully. "Please don't apologize. I really appreciate the donuts. It's very sweet of you. And … Ma?"

"Right." Kyla shook her head. "Sorry again. You don't even know who I'm talking about. Ma's my mother-in-law, the queen-empress-boss of Whisper Creek-but with the proverbial heart of gold. This was her family's ranch, originally." 

She pointed toward the main lodge. "She's usually in the kitchen down there. She says that's the only place on the property that has enough windows for her to keep track of everybody."

"So … she saw the smoke, too?" Shelby cringed.

"Eh, no worries." Kyla shrugged like the clouds still floating around the cabin were barely noticeable. "You didn't even burn anything down, so you're already one step ahead of me when I arrived out here."

"Oh, lord." Shelby's eyes widened. "That sounds like a story."

"If you let me make you some tea, I'll tell it to you."

"Um, okay?" Shelby looked like she wasn't sure she was allowed to refuse, and Cooper felt a momentary pang of sympathy for this woman adrift among strangers.

But the pang crept away when he thought back to how these same strangers had treated him just a few months ago when he'd shown up on their proverbial doorstep. And he knew whatever had sent Shelby here was no match for the healing power of this ranch and its people.

"Joining us?" Kyla asked him as she filled the teapot.

"Nah." He rolled his eyes. "Can't stomach that stuff. I'll leave you ladies to it."

As he stepped out the door, he flashed one last look back at Shelby, who was leaning against the counter like she needed it to hold her up.

Yeah, he'd let Kyla have at it for now. But later, if he saw Shelby curled up on her porch chair, tears glistening in her eyes again, he might be hard-pressed to walk away this time.





Chapter 5


"You're worse than the paparazzi, staring like that." Cole clapped Cooper on the shoulder as he walked by him in the lodge kitchen three days later.

Cooper turned away from the window, lifting his coffee cup to his lips as he sat down at the scarred oak table. "This is what you and your brother are paying me to do. One of these days, maybe I'll know who this mystery woman is that I'm actually keeping an eye on."

"Have you looked her up?"

"No. I only know her first name, and it's probably fake, anyway. Not much to go on."

"You recognize her?" Cole filled up his own mug and joined Cooper at the table.

"Nope." He shook his head. "But I'm clueless in the pop culture arena, so the fact that I don't recognize her pretty much doesn't mean shit. She could be Beyoncé, for all I know."

Cole laughed. "She's not. I'm dead curious, though. Never thought we'd have a bona fide celebrity out here." He winked. "Maybe she's a movie star or something. Or a supermodel. You never know."

Cooper shivered at the thought. His ex had chased modeling dreams, heading out to shoots at dawn, then coming home to their apartment to eat a pea pod … and throw it back up. He'd been blind to it at first, just like he'd been blind to the rest of her shallow, narcissistic behavior. But it had all become clear quickly enough at the end, when she'd ditched both the apartment and him on the day his news had broken.

"No." He squeezed his eyes shut quickly to clear Martina from his head. "She's too short."

"Maybe she's an Olympic gymnast with a deep, dark secret." Cole raised his eyebrows. "She's defecting to the U.S. via Whisper Creek."

"Sure. Or an exiled princess-something realistic like that." Cooper rolled his eyes.

"So what are you gonna do? Kyla's not really expecting you to sit around for a month at this woman's beck and call, is she? You getting a raise for this? Because I'm pretty sure celeb-sitting isn't in your job description, no matter what she says."



       
         
       
        

"I think Kyla gets to rewrite job descriptions as she needs to." Cooper sighed, draining his cup. "But it's okay. I'm happy to help out."

"So Hollywood is hot." Cole raised his eyebrows.

"That's not why I'm happy to help out. You have a horse we can put her on, if I can convince her to ride?"

"Sure. You think she's ever been in the saddle?"

Cooper shook his head. "No clue. But I think it's time I find out. I know the trail schedule. I can take her out and keep her away from everybody else. If she's trying to stay invisible, we can make that happen outside, just as well as we can do it inside. No better therapy than the equine variety, in my book."