Page 5 of The Bride's Desire

“Come in while we get this figured out.”

She crossed the threshold, and her shoulder slid across his chest, letting her get a good whiff of his masculine scent.

“I’m sorry I got here so late. The bus had a breakdown.”

“Let’s go into the office.”

She followed him through the house and into a room at the back. It was big and wood-paneled on three walls. The back wall was painted creamy white and surrounded by a huge window that looked out onto the vast, picturesque range.

“Have a seat,” he said, indicating a chair across the desk from him.

He buttoned up his shirt and sat in the chair behind his desk.

“Let me see the emails.”

She dug into her backpack, pulled out several folded papers, and handed them over the desk.

Naomi waited while he reviewed them. Every second that passed, her nerves felt tighter, and panic grew inside her. She could see he was as shocked about the circumstances as she was. She hoped he could figure out who did it and where they would go from there.

He grunted and threw the papers down.

“You know who it was?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes. My mother.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Your mother, why would she do this to you?”

“She’s not doing it to be mean. She thinks she’s helping me out.”

“Oh.”

The silence dragged on.

She tried not to let panic take over, but being exhausted and fearful of her future made her nerves and stomach even tighter. When she couldn’t take the staring and silence, she asked the dreaded question.

“So, what do we do?”

“I’m very sorry you came all this way.”

“But you’d like me to leave?” she guessed.

He sat back with a sigh. “What are your ideas?”

She could detect a slight resentment in his tone and knew her only option was to leave. She stood abruptly.

“How far is it to town?”

“Why? How’d you get here?”

“The postman gave me a ride that you … I mean, your mother set up.”

He chuckled. “At least she was thorough.”

“Actually, she wasn’t because she forgot to include you in the decision.” Naomi looked down for a moment. “Would someone be going to town tonight?”

“No. Everyone’s wiped out from calving. I’d imagine most of them are already sleeping.”

She could feel herself getting shakier by the second, and she wanted to be gone by the time she broke down.

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