Page 50 of Silent Heart

“I’m more of a hunter than a fisherman,” Kole said.

That launched into a lively debate about sportsmanship. I tuned them out and focused on the dinner rolls and milk. Kole was making brownie points with everyone, even if he hadn’t driven the boat over, much to my cousins’ disappointment. His truck, however, impressed the hell out of them. Especially when they saw the mud up in the wheel wells. They didn’t expect something like that from a pretty cidiot. When Kole said his brother blew up his last truck, their eyes went wide. He left the explanation vague, but something about a prank at a storage unit that resulted in the vehicle’s destruction had them awestruck.

I liked that he could tell tall tales.

In fact, Kole seemed completely at ease with the flow of things. Maybe his rich family was just as crazy as mine. The urge to know consumed me.

Crappola, I’m in over my head.This was more than a summer fling if I felt this strongly about knowing his family. But there were so many questions!

Right as the youngest cousins began to clear the dishes, Aunt Beatrice sat back in her seat and brought down the temperature with her question. “So, Dad, I heard the developer out of Lake Forest made you an offer on this place.”

The braver souls shot my grandfather glances.

“Bea,” Gran scolded. “Can we talk about this later?”

“Why? Martin is here, so is Jacob. That’s three of your kids, and we can relay the message to the others,” Beatrice countered before taking a long pull of her New Glarus—one of the only acceptable beers allowed at the dinner table. It was my aunt’s fourth, and knowing her, she’d likely made a mixed drink with some of the cousins downstairs before dinner began.

“Dad, we know you’re having trouble coming up with the taxes,” Martin began.

“I’m not entertaining the idea of selling.” Grandpa cut his hand through the air. “Drop it.”

That was our signal to go. All thoughts of grabbing a third dinner roll vanished as I scooted from the table with a handful of the other cousins.

“I’m going to saddle my mare, if you’re still up for that trail ride?” I asked Kole quietly.

His focused gaze steadied me. “Sounds perfect.”

It took dodging questions and turning down cousins’ and their kids’ offers to come with us before we escaped to the barn. Even then, Abigail’s five youngins begged to go on a horsey ride.

“Have your dad saddle one of the ponies and put him in the corral,” I said with exasperation, shooing them out the barn door.

I already had my mare and the biggest quarter horse we had partially tacked in anticipation. I moved quickly to their stallsto finish the job so we could escape before any more little ones bothered us.

“This is my mare, Lilac, but I call her Lila. You’ll ride Governor,” I quickly made the introductions.

It was sexy the way Kole walked right up to the beast of a quarter horse and began to pet him. He was good around animals too. A family and animal man? Where did creatures like him grow?

Shouts had me hurrying. The kids would be back here any moment, and if I knew my cousin, which I did, he wasn’t going to saddle a pony for them. I tugged on the saddle cinch. But lazy brute that he was, the quarter horse only wanted more oats. He puffed himself up, resisting my efforts to secure the saddle. I had to use my knee to make the gelding suck in his stomach.

“You like kids?” Kole stroked the horse as I tightened the cinch around Governor’s belly.

“I do,” I huffed. “But there’s a lot around here, and their parents seem to think it’s okay for them to run wild because we’re on a farm. That means they get into trouble, and I’m not their babysitter just because I’m the old maid auntie.”

Kole’s voice lowered, the rich sound sliding over my skin like a caress. “You’re not an old maid.”

“I’m thirty-four and single. That equates to an old maid.” I yanked the strap and managed to buckle it before the quarter horse got any more ideas about puffing his belly out, the sneaking brat.

A sudden buzz at my back told me Kole was right behind me. His touch drew down my arm, over my elbow, and brushed on the inside of my wrist. “You’re wild and untamed, Harley. Not the same thing.”

I sighed. “I wish that was true.”

“You know what you want and you go for it with unapologetic determination.” Kole’s fingers inched back up my arm, tracing over the spaghetti straps of my top. “I admire that about you.”

His hot breath fanned over my neck. His mouth hovered over my pulse. Heat spread between my legs, and I shifted back into his body.

A yell, a scream, a child bursting into tears—the little ones shattered the moment.

Letting out a strangled groan, I gathered the reins. The sooner we left the mess that was my family behind, the sooner we could go back to more touching.

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