True Love at Silver Creek Ranch(67)

“You couldn’t have known, Brooke,” Monica said with sincerity.

“It’s not like they’ve done more than hang out a few times,” Emily insisted. “But . . . Steph likes him and wants to help. I understand her—hell, don’t women always want to help? But I was so relieved she confided in me that I promised my silence without thinking things through. I did insist that the moment I thought Tyler could hurt her, the secret was done. And she agreed and hugged me and thanked me and said Tyler was trying to get away from a bad group of guys, and she wouldn’t go anywhere with him, only see him at school—” It was her turn to groan. “I’m a sucker. Who knows if he’s lying to her? How can I keep something from my dad when we’re only just getting to know each other?”

Brooke leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “Tyler could be lying to her—we all know that.”

Monica looked from Emily to Brooke. “And we all know someone who really was trying to get away from a bad crowd, and who stole a car, before getting his act together.”

“But as long as Steph doesn’t go hang out with this bad crowd of Tyler’s,” Brooke continued, “I don’t think it’ll hurt your dad too much for you to keep Steph’s confidence. If she trusts you, she’ll tell you things, right? If she’s mad at both you and your dad, she might be worse off.”

“Do you think so?” Emily asked with hope.

Brooke tried to infuse reassurance in her smile. “She’s a smart kid. I think you can give her the benefit of the doubt. She wasn’t joyriding, after all.”

“You’re both making me feel better,” Emily said. “All right, I’ll cut Steph a little slack. But I’ll keep an even closer eye on her.”

“From Nate’s cabin?” Monica asked innocently.

“Maybe Steph and I can have a sleepover!” Emily said, as if she hadn’t heard.

Brooke and Monica exchanged an amused glance.

Brooke woke up to a foot of powder up on the hills Monday morning. She and Josh had a long-standing deal, alternating who got to go skiing and enjoy the occasional powder day in Aspen. They took turns covering for each other, and today it was her day to take off.

Josh and Adam had already loaded down the retriever with enough hay for the first couple pastures, and they’d be dropping mineral pellets as well, later on. She felt a little guilty—but not that guilty.

Carrying her skis over her shoulder, she ran into Adam in the yard.

“Aren’t you the ski bunny?” he said.

He gave a slow, thorough examination of her body with half-lidded eyes. She was wearing pink ski pants and a blue shell.

“Those pants nicely accent your ass. I’ll be thinking about it all day.”

She felt a rush of heated memory, and they kept staring at each other. It had been a few days . . . She found herself wishing she could invite him to go along, but besides the fact that he was working, she had their “no dating” rule to remember. And maybe he didn’t even know how to ski—after all, it wasn’t like his family had had the money. She imagined how it must have felt to know so many of your friends were doing what you couldn’t. And here she was, rubbing his nose in it again.

But Adam was smiling at her, that cleft in his jaw so masculine, his eyes alight. She knew if she got closer, she could see the gold flecks in their centers . . . but no, she wasn’t getting closer.

“Hey, you should have told me in the feed store that Josh’s belts were for sale there,” he said. “I would have liked seeing the display. He told me all about it.”

“He’s getting so popular. Have you been in Monica’s Flowers and Gifts? He’s got a whole display all to himself. He’s even considering an offer from an Aspen boutique.”

Adam gave a low whistle. “Impressive. No wonder your dad hired me. Sounds like Josh could hit the big time.”

“I hope so!” She glanced down at Ranger, sitting patiently at Adam’s feet. “Your constant companion nowadays?”

He lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, you have first dibs on my bed.”

And then they were looking at each other again, yards apart, but the air between them seemed to smolder.

“Come to me tonight,” he whispered.

Almost breathless, she whispered back, “I promised I’d go out with Monica.”

“No problem,” Adam said, rubbing his hands together. He looked over his shoulder and saw Josh heading for the retriever. “Gotta go. Have a fun day.”

Brooke sighed and turned away, only to see Nate coming out of the truck shed.

He glanced at Adam, then her. “Everything okay?”