Page 62 of New in Town

He leans against the stall door as Maddie tends to Checkers. Riley is resting beside him, and Gracie has joined the group too. Would it be rude to kick them out? He can help Maddie with whatever she needs at this point. Telling Riley to take off would be easy, Gracie would be the hard sell.

“Do you two guys want to go check on Cooper up at the house?” he suggests, aiming for a breezy tone.

“He’s got more people huddled around him than he can handle,” Gracie replies.

She’s right. They had all gone up to the house when Brett and Floyd brought him in, all needing to see for themselves that he was okay. Floyd, Mary, Laurel, Brett, and Wyatt are still there with him, not to mention Laurel’s two brothers that arrived for the wedding tomorrow. At one point, Cooper had begged for everyone to “just stop staring at me.”

Maddie had mumbled about needing to run through more things for Checkers and excused herself from a very appreciative Cooper. Grey, of course, had chased after her immediately, Cooper calling behind him, “Thank god you’re so whipped, man!”

Riley had been close behind, his parting comment being, “Someone needs to chaperone those two.” And then eventually, Cooper had managed to kick Gracie out too. So here they all were, making it impossible for him to get a word in with Maddie.

“That’s okay, I’m done here anyway,” Maddie says, running her hand along the horse’s muzzle.

“You feel good about his recovery?” Riley asks.

“I do. He’ll need some time and care, but he’ll be good,” she reports through a yawn.

“Grey, get your girl home. She worked her ass off for us tonight,” Gracie says, catching Maddie in a tight hug.

Get your girl home. He watches the ladies pull apart and say their goodbyes. Was she still going to be his girl? He knew how much it hurt her that her dad chose his life here over being with her in Denver. Was she upset that he stood her up for the same way of life?

“Hold up Gracie, I’ll come with you,” Riley calls. He turns and pulls Maddie into a quick hug himself then pats Grey on the back. “See you two tomorrow.”

Finally alone, he is frantic to get her back to the cottage before anyone else crosses their path. “Do you want to head up?” he asks, pointing at his place.

“Yeah, honestly I could really use a hot shower,” she replies. He can hear the exhaustion in her voice. And he’d be lying if he didn’t feel that himself. He holds out his hand to her and she takes it, lacing her fingers through his.That’s a good sign, right?But as they walk, she’s not looking up at him. Why won’t she look at him?

They reach his cottage, greeted by an eager Pippa. Maddie stoops down to the dog and scratches behind her ears. Leaning back against the kitchen counter, he watches, trying to push down the fear that this won’t always be the scene in his home.

“I’ll get your sweatshirt for after your shower,” he says, disappearing to his room. Reaching his dresser, he pulls that old Yellowstone Park sweatshirt out he keeps on top for her. He turns to bring it out to her when she appears in the doorway.

“Thanks,” she murmurs.

“Are you okay?” Grey’s heart races wildly, nervous anticipation filling him as he awaits her answer.

“Just tired,” she replies, finally lifting her gaze to his.

He capitalizes on the moment and steps closer, wrapping his arms around her. With Maddie safely cocooned against his chest, he loosens a breath. “I need to take care of Pippa, but I’ll meet you back in here. Can we talk in bed? About tonight, and everything?”

She nods against him, bringing her hands up to rest on his arms. The comfort from her touch rushes through him. It’s the first time they’ve held each other since everything happened today.

“You know, if anything else, this shows that we’re great together,” he murmurs into her hair. Then with a kiss to her temple, he steps back and excuses himself.

He hears the shower turn on as he scoops the food into Pippa’s bowl. He wants nothing more than to jump in the shower with her, massage her shoulders, and help the stress from today wash away. But she hadn’t seemed open to that.

In need of air, he steps out onto his porch and sinks down into a rocking chair. The steady click of boots on the porch steps alerts him to the fact that he has company.

“You look like shit.”

He tips his hat back off his face to see Brett approaching him.

“Thanks, man.”

“I figured you’d be in with Maddie. That I was going to have to come interrupt.”

“She’s in the shower. I don’t know what’ll happen with us. I don’t know what she’s thinking, she hasn’t really talked to me tonight. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s apprehensive about our way of life.”

Brett settles into the chair beside him and looks out across the ranch. He doesn’t ask anything else, and he doesn’t try to tell Grey it will be okay. Brett simply nods and sits in the feeling with him, and it’s something Grey appreciates immensely.

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