Page 47 of A Cameo for a Cowgirl

Either way, this conversation felt like she was playing with fire, and she had no desire to get burned. “Have a good day, Harrison.”

“You too, Ms. James.”

She nodded, then hurried out of there, itchy with awkwardness.

That night, she returned to the ranch house early to find her youngest sister frantically packing. “What’s going on?”

Her mom looked up from where she was stirring green beans, ready for a casserole. “Poppy got a call from her friend Bailey, you know, the one she worked with at the dance school in Winnipeg? Apparently she got some amazing opportunity that means Poppy is catching a flight at 7:30pm.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of opportunity requires that?”

Her mother shrugged. “I don’t think Poppy even really knows. But it’s happening and it’s now or never, which is how that world seems to be.”

Like the world Harrison lived in. His world wasn’t like hers, bound by the age-old rhythms of the seasons. His was frantic, fast-paced, snatching at his big break when it came, not tied to anything, not grounded, not like her at all.

Her heart panged. See? Too different. It could never work. “I’ll check if she needs a hand.”

She went upstairs and asked Poppy what she knew.

Poppy shrugged. “Bails asked me, and she sounded panicky, which made me feel panicky, because she’s usually so perky and cool. But I had some summer classes cancel so I could make it. And in this industry, opportunities pass, they don’t pause, so when they come by you have to do all you can for your chance to get noticed. So I’m helping Bails out while she gets her big chance.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

Poppy straightened, her suitcase crammed full with clothes. “Help me shut this monster?”

Cassie chuckled, and struggled to zip it while Poppy sat her petite backside on the top cover. “I don’t know anyone who has as many clothes as you.”

“That’s because you and Jess”— Poppy gritted out as she helped tug the fastener—“are tomboys.”

“Although according to Ainsley Beckett, I scrub up alright.”

“Scrub up?” Poppy’s nose wrinkled. “Who on earth says that? I bet Ainsley didn’t.”

“Well, no. She said I looked gorgeous,” Cassie said as meekly as she could.

Poppy grinned. “And you did.” She finished zipping with a flourish and a “Victory!”

Temptation filled her to share what a certain somebody else had described her as. But that would only fuel speculation, and after the last encounter between Cassie and Harrison that Poppy had witnessed, she had no wish to invite more.

Especially when she’d clearly misunderstood things. Embarrassment writhed. Had he thought she was angling for a date? She blinked the memory away. Refocused on her sister. “You’re a good friend to Bailey.”

Poppy grinned. “That I am.”

Friend. The word propelled her thinking straight back to the someone she really didn’t want to be thinking about. How had she misjudged his invitation to dinner? Had it been so long she’d forgotten the cues and secret clues of dating?

Poppy paused. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Clearly not nothing. Come on, spill.”

She shook her head.

Poppy’s gaze narrowed. Then she went to the top of the stairs. “Mom? You don’t need to miss your Bible study now. Cassie just said she’s taking me to the airport.”

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