Page 63 of Love, Hate, Love

“She seemed nice enough,” I said, grasping on anything I could find to kill the mood forming between us. And it was a major grasp. Nothing about that woman had seemed nice.

“Now you’re really laying it on thick. No one thinks Melissa is nice, not even her mother.”

At least he hadn’t been blinded by the sex. That was something. “Why did you date her, then?”

He laughed. “Dating is a very nice term for what we did.”

Yep, it was all about the sex.

“So I guess there’ll be no grand gestures in that future?”

“No grand gestures.” He stared ahead, as if pondering this question deeply. “If I believe in anything at all, it’s the little things that happen day to day that mean everything. You do the right things, you don’t need a grand gesture.”

I watched the sunrise as his opinion settled in. He had a point.

The sound of crunching gravel drew our attention to a truck coming down the drive.

“You expecting something?” I asked.

“Not that I know of,” he said.

The driver jumped down from the cabin and called out. “Hawk Ranch, right?”

“Yeah,” Kade called back.

The guy went to the back of the truck and opened up a trailer packed to the gills.

“This a good place to unload?” the driver asked.

“Sure,” Kade said. “How much of that is ours?”

“All of it,” the driver yelled back.

“What the hell is this?” Kade mumbled, looking stumped.

“Thisis Cassie.”

“Really?” he asked.

“You offered,” I said, trying not to laugh.

It hadn’t even beena full day since Kade had offered Cassie the ranch and everything was already in a complete upheaval. She’d had so many boxes delivered with wedding items that there wasn’t even enough room to store them. Last I’d seen Kade, he was cursing as he tried to get them all moved into the tents he’d gotten brought over.

Along with wedding supplies were boxes filled with dresses from my mother, as if she imagined I’d wear a potato sack to the wedding if she didn’t help me. Or helpherwas more accurate, as she was probably much more concerned about how she’d appear if I were a mess.

“You were looking for me?” Missy asked, poking her head in the open bedroom door.

“Yes. Come in and look at some of these dresses. My mother sent me a pile of them along with Cassie’s wedding stuff. See if there’s anything you want.”

She froze where she was, eyeballing the pile like it was a snake pit. “I’m not sure I need a new dress.”

“You don’t want one for the wedding?”

She shook her head as she took a step back. “I’m not sure I’m going.”

“To the wedding? I thought Kade told everyone they were invited? He said he was going to make sure you all knew this morning. Everyone who works on the ranch can come. Plus I’m the maid of honor, which means I’ve got some pull, and Iwantyou to come. You’ve become one of my best friends.”

“But your New York friends are really fancy, right?” She was chewing on her lower lip like she hadn’t eaten lunch.

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